committed the colony to armed resistance following the Battles of Lexington and Concord in 1775, Johnson remained loyal to the Crown and worked to control the Tryon County courts, assisted by fellow loyalists Sir John Johnson (Sir William's son) and Colonel Daniel Claus (also a son-in-law of Sir William). These three also commanded three regiments of the Tryon County militia. But, American Patriots in the Mohawk Valley soon drove the three Loyalists out of power. Johnson received a letter from British commander General Gage, ordering him to take as many Iroquois warriors as he could recruit to Canada to join forces with General Carleton for a joint attack on New England. In May 1775, Johnson fled with about 120 other Loyalists, along with 90 Mohawk under chief John Deseronto, to British-controlled Canada. Along the way, he worked to secure the allegiance of the Iroquois League at a council at Oswego, New York in July. Johnson's wife Polly had died (and likely buried) at Oswego. He and the remainder of his party reached Montreal on 17 July. In September 1775, John Campbell was appointed in Montreal as the superintendent of the Canadian Indians. General Guy Carleton, Governor-in-Chief of Quebec, told Johnson that he had no authority over any Indians in Canada and that the Iroquois were not to fight outside the Province of Quebec. Johnson decided to travel to England in November 1775, accompanied by the Mohawk leader Joseph Brant, to appeal his case directly with the British lords. The Lords appointed Johnson as the permanent superintendent for Indian affairs in the northern colonies, but with no authority in Canada. Johnson and Brant returned to North America, landing in New York City in July 1776 after the city had been retaken by the British. He was ordered to stay in New York since he had no position in Canada. Johnson finally persuaded his superiors to let him do his "duty," and he returned to Canada in 1779. He led forces against the colonials in the Mohawk Valley frontier, and his subordinates carried out the actions in what the Americans called massacres at Wyoming and Cherry valleys. This was also known as the "Burning of the Valleys". Back at Fort Niagara in 1779, Johnson helped to provide for the many Iroquois refugees made homeless by the Sullivan Expedition that year, which laid waste to their villages and food stores in western New