In 1779, Congress and General George Washington planned a major offensive against the Seneca, Cayuga, and loyalists. Washington chose Major General John Sullivan to lead an expedition up the Susquehanna River, while Brigadier General James Clinton led a smaller force from Albany. When Clinton joined Sullivan at Tioga, the combined force totaled approximately 5,000 Continental soldiers. The campaign's only major battle took place at Newtown on August 29, 1779. Sullivan's army then moved through the Finger Lakes, destroying more than 40 Seneca and Cayuga villages and burning vast quantities of crops. Thousands of Seneca and Cayuga refugees sought relief at British-held Fort Niagara, and many died that winter from starvation and exposure. The cost of caring for so many displaced Native Americans added to the war's growing unpopularity in Great Britain. Soldiers in Sullivan's army were surprised to find cultivated fields and beautiful orchards, and after the war many returned to settle there. Some historians contend that opening Indian lands for settlement was Washington's ultimate purpose for the expedition.