Little has been written about the disposition and maneuvering of Loyalist and British regular troops during the Sullivan Expedition. British documents reveal considerably more activity than what has been recorded in most histories of the campaign.
Above is a map of western New York, with the movements of both American and British / Loyalist forces plotted (apologies for the poor quality).
The bright red (solid) arrows represent the known movements of British / Loyalist forces during the campaign, while the dashed red arrows represent the attempted British landing at Sodus Bay and the proposed advance to Tioga.
Blue arrows show the known and conjectured movements of American forces following the Battle of Newtown.
As can be seen, there was ALOT of British activity near Lake Ontario. Knowing full well that the British would try to land troops from the lake, it would be imperative that Sullivan send scouts to reconnoiter the most likely landing places.
A detachment of the 8th Regiment of Foot and a pair of light cannon were in fact sent to reinforce Butler's Rangers, via Irondequoit Bay. They were apparently stymied by the presence of American troops nearby, as the detachment "from the route they came, must have barely escaped falling in with the rebels."
Another landing was belatedly attempted at Sodus Bay, but was thwarted by the weather.
The local history tells the story of a part of Sullivan's army returning from Lake Ontario through Galen, then pursuing Butler's Rangers to a point a bit west of Clyde. There, a six-pounder cannon is said to have been sunk in the Clyde River. It is known that Col. John Butler made a request for a "small brass gun" for use against buildings, in June 1778. It is also known that a party of Indians and Rangers were located north of Sullivan's position, and in the general area of the Clyde River, on September 11, 1779.
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