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were in the rear on the opposite side, where was a narrow place destitute of pallisadoes, leaped over the fence of trees, and fell on thẹ rear of the enemy. This decided the contest. They were soon totally routed.

As they fled, their wigwams were set on fire. Instantly 600 of their dwellings were in a blaze. Awful was the moment to the poor Indians. Not only were they flying from their last hope of safety, and from their burning houses; but their corn, their provisions, and even many of their aged parents and helpless children, perished in the terrible conflagration. They could behold the fire, they could hear the last cries of their expiring families; but could afford them no relief. Seven hundred of their warriors they had left dead on the field of battle; 300 more afterward died of their wounds.* They had been driven from their country, and from their pleasant firesides : now their last hopes were torn from them; their cup of sufferings was full.

Sad was the day of victory to the English. Six brave captains fell before their eyes; 80 men were killed or fatally wounded; 150 were wounded who recovered. Twenty fell in the fort, 10 or 12 died the same day, on their march back to their camp, which they reached about midnight; it was cold and stormy, and the snow deep; several died the next morning, so that this day, December 20, they buried 34 in one grave. By the 22d, 40 were dead, and by the end of January, 20 more. Of the 300 from Connecticut, 80 were killed or wounded. Of their 5 captains, 3 were killed, and 1 so wounded, that he never recovered. In the fort they had taken a large number of prisoners, about 300 warriors, and as many women and children. It was supposed that 4000 Indians were in the fort when the assault was made.

The Indians never recovered the loss of this day. The destruction of their provisions in the fort was the occasion of great distresses in the course of the winter. But a thaw in January, gave them some relief, when a party fell on Mendon, and laid it in ashes. In February, they received some recruits from Canada, when they burned Lancaster, and took forty captives, among whom was Mrs. Rowlandson, the minister's wife, he being on a journey to Boston to obtain soldiers for their defence. Marlborough, Sudbury and Chelmsford soon felt the terror of their arms. February 21, they penetrated as far as Medfield, burned half the town, and killed about 20 of the inhabitants; in four days they were in Weymouth, on the sea shore, and in the same month, they dared to enter Plymouth, and to destroy 2 families. Had they been so disposed 50 years before, instead of 2 families they might easily have destroyed the whole colony. In March they were in Warwick, and burned the town. They were pursued by Capt. Pierce, with 50 English and 20 Indian

*Hubbard.

soldiers, but he was overpowered by numbers, himself and 49 of the English, with 8 of the Indians, being slain, after they had killed 140 of the enemy. The same day, Marlborough was in flames, and several people were killed at Springfield.

While detached parties were thus carrying terror through the towns in the oldest settlements of the colony, others were ravaging further west. In March, 1676, Northampton was assaulted, 5 persons killed, and 5 houses burned. They soon attacked Sudbury, and burned Groton ; exclaiming to the garrison," we have burned your meeting-house; what will you do for a house of prayer ?”

In some of these skirmishes, the Christian Indians were very helpful, and displayed great presence of mind. In the action in which Capt. Pierce was killed, one of them fled and concealed himself behind a rock, but observing that he was discovered, and that an enemy lay ready to fire on him the moment he should move, he took a stick and gently raised his hat in sight; the other instantly fired a ball through it; when, dropping his hat, he rose and shot his adversary. At the same time, another Indian saved himself and the only Englishman, who was saved, by running after him with his hatchet, as if he intended to kill him. Another rescued himself by this stratagem. He besmeared his face with wet gunpowder, by which the enemy mistook him for one of their own party, who were painted black.

Wandering parties of the enemy still continued their depredations. The 28th of March, they burned 40 houses in Rehoboth, and the next day 30 in the town of Providence. In April they did mischief in Sudbury and Andover. At Sudbury about a dozen persons were killed; and Captain Wadsworth, going to their assistance, was suddenly assaulted by 500 of the enemy, when he, Capt. Bruklebank, and more than 50 of their men, were slain. Five or six of this compamy were made prisoners, who were scourged, tortured and killed in the most cruel manner.

This was a most distressing time in New-England. The war had been raging almost a year; the towns all over the country had been in a constant state of alarm and terror; the enemy appearing in different and distant places at the same moment. The season of planting was at hand; to neglect this service would produce a famine; to call home their troops would be only to invite the enemy to destroy them. Parties must be sent out, garrisons must be manned; the labours of the field must be performed. In this crisis a spirit of prayer was remarkably conspicuous through the country. Fervent supplications were offered by the churches of New-England.

About this time their Powah told the Indians nothing more could be done; a spirit of dissention and discouragement seized them; they had been driven from their best planting ground the year before, and from their most considerable fishing places; hunger and sickness followed, which was very mortal. In their difficulties they acted without system or energy. To complete their miseries, the Mohawks fell

upon them with incredible fury. They were now routed in every part of the country. Troops from Connecticut, which colony had been preserved from their cruelties, took and killed above 60 at one time, and 44 at another. Capt. Denison commanded one of these parties. Among his captives was the terrible Nanunttenoo, son of Miantonimoh. A Pequot first arrested him; a young Englishman soon came up and asked him some questions; his reply was, "You too much child; no understand matters of war. Let your captain come; him I will answer." When he was told that he was to be put to death, "he said he liked it well, that he should die before his heart was soft, or he had said any thing unworthy of himself." They were repulsed from Bridgewater, a town which lost not a man in this war. Near Medfield and Plymouth their parties were put to flight; another party above Northampton, on Connecticut River, was vanquished, and 100 of them killed. Immediately after, Capt. Turner with a party killed 300 of them, himself and 30 of his men being slain on the field of battle. They were driven from Hadley, Hatfield, and Rehoboth. June 29, 1676, was a day of public thanksgiving through the colony to bless God for the comfortable prospect, that their troubles were drawing to a close.

About this time, the Mohawks fell upon Philip, and killed 50 of his men. The occasion of their hostilities was singular, and tends to develope the character of Philip, who was a deep politician, with a heart glowing with love of his country, and burning with indignation against the prosperous strangers, who were extending themselves over the inheritance of his fathers.

Philip, after his flight from Mount Hope, had visited the Mohawks; and to rouse their vengeance against the English to make a common cause of the war, had murdered several of their people from time to time, and persuaded them it was the English. But in one instance, not effectually executing his business, the bruised Indian revived, returned home, and accused Philip as the murderer. Thus Philip himself was the means of turning the fury of the Mohawks from the English against himself and his people. The despairing monarch fled to his former dwelling, a most unfortunate, unhappy man, deserted by his allies, assaulted by a powerful neighbour, on whose help he had depended; his own people discourged and scattered, suffering and dying, strangers triumphing in his distresses, and seizing his possessions. Had his father possesssed his foresight and courage, perhaps his posterity might long have enlivened the palace at Mount Hope.

About this time the churches in Plymouth colony set apart a day to renew their covenant with God and one another. The next day Major Bradford, with the Plymouth forces, after escaping an ambush, obtained a victory without losing a man. July 21, the Connecticut troops, in Narraganset, took and killed 180 of the enemy, without the loss of a man. In the Plymouth colony, 200 submitted to the English; and a party, assaulting Taunton, was repulsed without any

loss. At this time Capt. Church distinguished himself; in one week, with a small party of 18 English and 22 Indians, he fought four battles, killed and took 79 of the enemy, without losing one of his own men. July 25, from Dedham and Medfield 36 Englishmen and 90 christian Indians took 50 prisoners, without any loss of their own party. Two days after, Sagamore John, with 180 Nipmucks, submitted to the English. Four days after this, a company from Bridgewater fell upon a company of Indians, who snapped their guns, but all missed fire; they fled, excepting 10, who were killed, and 5 made prisoners. The 1st of August, Capt. Church took 23 more; the next day he arrived at Philip's head-quarters, where he took and killed 130 more; Philip fled, leaving his family. Capt. Church pursued, and found him in a swamp; attempting to fly, an Indian shot him through the heart. His head was sent to Plymouth, where it arrived on the day they had devoted to solemn thanksgiving. So fell one of the most valiant captains of the New World; and so will the arts of civilized men always triumph over the simple savage. In a few weeks Capt. Church subdued several hundred

more.

The same success attended the colony at the eastward. In September, 400 Indians were made prisoners at Quocheco; one half being found accessories in the war, were sold; the other half were set at liberty. Peace soon followed. One of their warriors, taken prisoner, observed; "You could never have subdued us, but, (striking his breast,) the Englishman's God makes us afraid here."

Never has New-England seen so dismal a period as the war with Philip. About 600 men, the flower of her strength, had fallen in battle, or been murdered by the natives. A great part of the inhabitants were in mourning. There were few families who had not lost some near relative. In Massachusetts, Plymouth, and RhodeIsland, 12 or 13 towns had been utterly destroyed, and others greatly damaged. About 600 buildings, chiefly dwelling houses, had been burned; a large debt had been contracted, and vast quantities of goods, cattle, and other property had been destroyed. About every eleventh family had been burned out, and an eleventh part of the militia throughout New-England had been slain in the war.* So costly is the inheritance we have received from our valiant forefathers. The land we sow has been stained with their blood.

In this war, which threatened the existence of New-England, Mr. Benjamin Church was a distinguished commander, and his memory deserves the notice of posterity. He was born in Duxbury in 1639. His father, Joseph Church, with two brothers were among the early settlers of Plymouth colony. In 1674, Benjamin removed to Seconet, now Little Compton, the first English settler in the place. Being in the neighbourhood of Philip, his influence was of vast impor

* Trumbull.

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tance in counteracting the designs of that cunning foe, at the commencement of hostilities. Philip sent 6 men to Awashonks, squawsachem of Seconet, to engage her in the intended war. According to the custom of the savages, when any matter of great importance is to be decided, she called her subjects to a great dance, and invited Mr. Church to attend. He found several hundred Indians assembled, and Awashonks herself in "foaming sweat" leading the dance. She immediately sat down, called her nobles around her, ordered Mr. Church to be invited into her presence, and, after compliments were past, informed him of the message received from Philip. Mr. Church repelled the charge that the English meditated war, and made a favourable impression on her and most of her people. Though the agents of Philip were very daring, and Little Eyes, one of her council, joined with them, she desired Mr. Church to visit the Plymouth government on her behalf. Promising to see her soon, he set off, and at Pocasset, now Tiverton, he met Peter Nunnuit, husband of the Queen of Pocasset, who told him that Philip had held a dance of several weeks, that the young men from all parts of the country were eager for war, and Philip had promised them that the next Lord's day, when the English would be at public worship, they might kill their cattle and plunder their houses. The next morning Church was in Plymouth, and the governor ordered the captains to march with the greater part of their companies, and rendezvous at Taunton. Church, with a detachment of English and friendly Indians, was in front. On the Sabbath the Indians began their depradations, and soon proceeded to indulge their thirst for Englishmen's blood.

At Swanzey they killed 10 persons, beheading, dismembering and mangling them in a most horrid manner. The garrison of the place was roused; a party of horse pursued the enemy, but fell into an ambush; a chief officer was wounded, and the troop fled. Church hallooed, and stormed, and told them it was a shame to leave a man wounded among the enemy. Two returned with him, but before they reached the man, he fell lifeless from his horse. While the two men bore him away, Church pursued his horse, going off to the enemy. Having taken it, he called to his company to come and renew their pursuit. The enemy soon saluted him with a volley; yet providentially every shot missed him; though one of his company across the river was wounded. The troops marched down upon the Neck. At Kekamuit they took down the heads of eight Englishmen, raised upon poles according to the savage custom. They soon found that Philip had crossed the river, with all his people, to Pocasset. A council of war determined to build a fort. Church was much disgusted at the business of "building a fort for nothing, to cover the army from nobody," being impatient to cross the river and kill Philip. This he declared was the surest way of maintaining Mount Hope. He was more restless, because he had promised the Queen of Seconet to visit her. At length Capt. Fuller received orders to cross the river with 6 file of men, and to take Capt. Church as second. The

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