Timeline October 1779

Events in October 1779 4

• 1745 – 1779 Casimir Pulaski (1745-1779) Died 11 October 1779, aged 34 Casimir Pulaski was a Polish nobleman and cavalry commander who fought in the Bar Confederation before going into exile. In America he organised the Continental Army's cavalry and became known as the father of the American cavalry. He was mortally wounded during the assault on Savannah.
• 1779 Sullivan Expedition Continental Army campaign against the Iroquois On George Washington's orders, Major General John Sullivan led a Continental Army campaign against the Iroquois nations allied with Britain. The expedition defeated a Loyalist and Iroquois force at the Battle of Newtown and destroyed more than forty villages and their crops. The destruction forced thousands of Haudenosaunee to flee to British-held Fort Niagara.
• 1779 Siege of Savannah Franco-American attempt to retake Savannah fails French forces under d'Estaing and American forces under Benjamin Lincoln besieged British-held Savannah, Georgia. Their main assault on 9 October was repulsed with heavy losses, and Casimir Pulaski was mortally wounded. It was one of the bloodiest allied defeats of the war.
• 1779 Premiere of Sheridan's The Critic Burlesque of theatre opens at Drury Lane Richard Brinsley Sheridan's satirical afterpiece The Critic, or a Tragedy Rehearsed premiered at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. It mocks playwrights, critics and the fashion for overblown tragedy. It became one of the most enduring burlesques in English drama.