USA > Connecticut > The history of Connecticut, from the first settlement to the present time > Part 12
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In 1667, Governor Winthrop declined a re-elec. tion, but was persuaded to continue in his office by the urgency of his friends. His salary was raised to £110.
In the year 1669, the New-England Indians en- gaged in a great military enterprise against the Mohawks or Five Nations. They raised an army of 600 or 700 men, under a principal chief of the Massachusetts Indians, named Chickatawbut, or Jo. siah, and marched for the West, beyond the river Hudson. The Rev. Mr. Eliot and Mr. Gookin, of Massachusetts, used every exertion to dissuade the Christian or praying Indians from accompanying them, and with such success that only five joined the expedition. The army was soon in the Mo- nawk territory, and laid siege to one of the forts of that tribe : but, after a few days, their provisions and ammunition being spent, and sickness having
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RHODE ISLAND BOUNDARY.
[1669.
appeared in their camp, they began their retreat. The Mohawks pursued : but were resisted with great bravery. They, however, killed about 50, and, among others, Chickatawbut himself, driving the invaders back to their own country. The fall- en chief is said to have been " a wise and stout man of middle age, but a very vicious person." This was the last general battle fought between the New- England Indians and the Mohawks.
William Leet, Esq., was chosen deputy-govern- or, and Major Mason, after serving in that office a long time, was made a magistrate. In consequence of the great population of the colony, the Assembly resolved this year that the freemen might meet at Hartford on the second Thursday of Mav, either in person or by proxy, and consummate the election of governor and other officers. Regulations were also adopted for the freemen's meetings.
A committee was appointed by the Assembly to settle the long-disputed boundary with Rhode Isl- and; and, as they were unable to come to a deter- mination with the gentlemen from that colony in a meeting held at New-London, they went into the disputed territory under their instructions, and de- manded the submission of the people. The case, however, was a complicated one. The patent of Lord Say-and-Scal and others had extended the colony to Narraganset Bay and River : but the ar- bitrators in England, to whom the subject had been referred in 1663, by Mr. Winthrop and Mr. Clark, the agent of Rhode Island, had agreed to name , Pawcatuck River Narragance or Narraganset, al- though it had no bay. The boundary, however, remained unsettled more than 60 years.
167
1672.]
HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT.
Governor Winthrop still wished to resign his of- fice : but, by great exertions, he was prevailed on to hold it, and remained at the head of the colony till his death. His salary was raised to £150; and he received presents of several tracts of land from the Assembly at different times.
In 1672, another of the most conspicuous of the first planters closed his public services. This was Major John Mason, who declined a re-election as deputy-governor on account of his advanced age and infirmities. Mr. John Nash was chosen in his place.
Major Mason had a military training for some time under Sir Thomas Fairfax in the Dutch Neth- erlands, and accompanied the Rev. Mr. Warham and his company to New-England in 1631. In 1636 he joined the first planters of Windsor. He was commander of the first military expedition in which the infant colony of Connecticut engaged, viz., that against the Pequods ; and, although he recommended a plan of operations different from that proposed by the court, which was at first pre- ferred by his officers, he persuaded the latter to adopt his own, and came off with success, as we have before related.
Major Mason was for a long time at the head of the army of the colony. He is spoken of as a man of uncommon size, of great bravery, skill, and ac- tivity in military affairs, strict, moral, and very pru- dent. He was chosen a magistrate in 1642, and continued to be one till 1660, when he was elected deputy.governor. He took up his residence at Saybrook, at the request of the people, in 1647, for the defence of the place ; and removed to Norwich
168 NEW-YORK TAKEN BY THE DUTCH. [1673.
in 1659, where he died in 1672 or '3, in the sev- enty-third year of his age.
The first edition of the Connecticut code of laws was printed this year at Cambridge, Mass., forming a small folio volume of above 60 pages. The in- troduction was written in a very serious and reli- gious tone, distinctly avowing that the object of the planters was the service and glory of God. It is addressed " To all our beloved brethren and neigh- bours, the inhabitants of Connecticut ;" and de- clares that those " who settled these foundations," did it for the maintaining of " religion according to the Gospel of our Lord Jesus," which " ought to be the endeavour of all those that shall succeed, to uphold and encourage to all generations." Every family in the colony was required by the Assembly to possess one of these law.books.
In the year 1673 Richard Smith was appointed a commissioner at Narraganset, and made a ma- gistrate for that country. A court of commission- ers was appointed there, and he was made chief judge, with cognizance in cases not exceeding £20 : those over 40 shillings being tried by a jury.
Again the fear of bloodshed arose in the colonies, in consequence of the war declared by England against Holland in the preceding year; and a troop of horse was ordered to be raised in each county. A small Dutch fleet arrived at New- York on the 30th of July, 1673, commanded by commo- dores Everste and Benkes; and, on coming into the bay, Manning, the commander of the fort and island, surrendered them without resistance. New. York and New-Jersey readily submitted. The Dutch took a Connecticut vessel in the Sound.
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1674.]
HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT.
The assembly met, and ordered that the troops (which amounted to 1570, and 500 dragoons ) should be ready for service ; and sent a letter to the Dutch commodores to inquire what they intended to do, and to say that Connecticut would be faithful to her trust, which was to protect New-York. A committee of war was also appointed.
A reply was soon returned by the Dutch com- manders, who said they should obey their orders in doing all the harm they could to the enemies of their country ; and endeavour to reduce the Long Island towns, if they should not obey their sum- mons to submit. The committee, however, were so energetic in sending immediate aid to Long Island, that no attempt was made upon it; and, although an invasion of Connecticut was appre- hended, the Dutch did not think proper to approach that territory : all the troops being ready to march at half an hour's warning. The Long Island towns had been taken under the jurisdiction of Connecti- cut the preceding October, at their request.
The same was done with Narraganset in 1674, while a court was formed at Stonington to prevent the people there from living " in dissolute practi- ces, to the dishonour of God, and to the scandali- zing of the very heathens."
New-England was supposed to contain at this time about 120,000 souls, 16,000 of whom were able to bear arms. The militia of Connecticut amounted to 2070 men. In all New-England, as we learn from a contemporary writer, there were five iron- works, but no guns were cast. There were fifteen merchants, worth about £50,000, or £500 apiece. No house had above twenty rooms ; and not twenty
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170
SIR EDMUND ANDROSS.
[1675
in Boston ten rooms each. The worst cottages had lofts. There were no beggars. Not three persons were put to death annually. There were no musicians by trade. A dancing-school had been set up, but was promptly put down. A fencing- school, however, was allowed. All cordage, sail- cloth, and nets came from England. No cloth was made worth four shillings a yard ; and no linen above 2s. 6d. "No alum, copperas, nor salt was made by their sun."
CHAPTER XXI.
A new Patent granted to the Duke of York, embracing the Territory of the Colony west of Connecticut River .- Sir Ed- mund Andross arrives as Governor of the Duke's Possessions, -Beginning of Philip's War .- Andross goes to Saybrook with Troops, and demands the Surrender of the Fort .- Manfully repelled by Captain Bull.
THE year 1675 brought new alarm and difficulty upon New-England, in which Connecticut had to endure her share. News arrived from England that the Duke of York, the king's brother, not sat- isfied with the territory assigned him by the com- missioners, had received from his majesty a new patent, dated June 4th, 1674, embracing the same territory as the former. He immediately gave to a Major Andross a commission constituting him the governor of New-York, and all his territories in those parts. It is remarked of this man by Mr. Smith, in his history of New- York, that "he knew
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1675.] HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT.
no law but the will of his master; and Kirk and Jeffries were not fitter instruments than he to exe- cute the despotic projects of James the Second." It may be presumed that Charles was well inclined to see the institutions and designs of the Pilgrims thwarted, or at least controlled ; and the people of Connecticut were not disposed to submit to op- pression, especially from that race of kings. Yet what could they do ? The duke once more laid claim to the chief part of the colony, viz., from New. York to the western bank of the Connecticut River ; and Andross was preparing to bring it un- der his authority. As the master had set at naught all reason in instituting such pretensions, what jus- tice or moderation was to be expected from the servant, especially as he had all the common mo- tives of bad men to counteract the designs of the good ? In case of opposition, the colony had no- thing better to expect from him than an invasion.
But by this time things were in preparation for the most terrible Indian war that New-England ever knew. It will be remembered that Massa- soit, sachem of a Narraganset tribe, befriended the Plymouth and Massachusetts settlers from the first, and remained their faithful ally till his death. His two sons, Alexander and Philip (as they were named by the English), had sworn attachment to them : but the latter possessed a spirit of enmity to the white intruders, as the disaffected Indians regarded them; and it was now discovered that he had been for some time plotting a sudden and general massacre in all the settlements. It is to be borne in mind that a party had, ere this, arisen among the Indians, to which the mass of the say-
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172
MURDER OF SAUSAMAN.
[1675.
ages were greatly opposed. These were the Pray- ing Indians, as they were called : that is, those who had been converted to Christianity through the ex. ertions of Eliot, the Indian apostle, and his associ- ates. Most of these had been collected in settle- ments, about thirteen of which were placed in a line in advance of the older towns of Massachu- setts colony. Eliot had successfully trained them to agriculture, and many of the religious, social, and civil habits of the English ; and there was a fair prospect of their becoming a permanent, civil- ized, and Christian people. Already they had some magistrates of their own race; and enough had been done to prove that the Aborigines are as susceptible as any other men of speedy improve- ment by means of Christianity. These interest- ing people, however, had violent enemies among the pagan Indians, being regarded both as allies of the English and as deserters from themselves. They necessarily kept up some intercourse with each other; and this, in existing circumstances, tended to increase the enmity of the latter, who knew themselves to be worthy of suspicion.
One of the Christian Indians, named Sausaman, having become acquainted with the plots of the pa- gans, made them known to the English at Massa- chusetts. Philip employed some of his Wampano. ags (of which tribe of the Narragansets he was the chief) to murder Sausaman ; and, although his body was sunk in a pond under the ice, the murderers were found and executed. This probably hasten- ed the breaking out of the insurrection. On the 20th of June Swanzey was attacked, and afterward other towns were assaulted, numbers of people were
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1675.]
HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT.
killed, and other tribes in different parts of New. England showed signs of hostility. Troops were sent into Philip's country (near Bristol, R. I.): but he had hastily fled, burning and murdering on his way.
Governor Winthrop was at this time attending a meeting of the commissioners at Boston ; and the council sent troops to Stonington, to defend the neighbourhood from the Indians.
Just then it was ascertained that another en- emy was about to assail Connecticut from a differ- ent quarter : for Andross was reported to be com- ing down the Sound with armed ships, to enforce his authority, and occupy the territory which he claim- ed for the duke. Detachments of militia were hur- ried to Saybrook and New-London : the former under the command of Captain Thomas Bull, of Hartford, a man of undaunted spirit. Before he reached his place of destination, the people of Say. brook, on the eighth or ninth of July, descried the squadron of Andross ; and, having ascertained his hostile designs, after a little hesitation, in conse- quence of having received neither orders nor warn- ing, they began to make active preparations for de- fence. At this moment the intrepid Captain Bull arrived with his men. For some reason, Andross delayed until the 11th, and then brought up several armed sloops before the fort, and ordered the peo- ple to surrender both it and the town. This, how- ever, Captain Bull refused to obey ; and, display- ing the king's flag, he paraded his men, and stood ready for action. Andross quietly maintained his position until the next day.
On the 9th the Assembly had met at Hartford ;
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CAPT. BULL REPELS ANDROSS. [1675.
and they drew up a protest against Andross, say. ing that, at that juncture, when the Indians were devastating and murdering in Plymouth colony, and threatening the others, in faithfulness to his majesty, and in obedience to his commands in their charter, they could do no less than protest against him and his abettors as disturbers of the common- wealth. They warned " the said Major Andross" to beware, as they should lay to his charge all the blood that might be shed by him and by the sav- ages encouraged by him ; and required the people to aid in resisting him, as they should answer the contrary at their peril. They concluded with the usual words, " God save the King." This protest was sent by express to Captain Bull, with orders to propose to Andross a reference of the dispute to commissioners.
When the messenger reached Saybrook, he found the English major about to land with his officers, having received permission to do so. Captain Bull proposed a reference as he was directed : but this was refused ; and Andross ordered the Duke of York's patent to be read, as well as his own commission. The captain commanded him to de- sist, in the name of the king ; and, seeing that he was disposed to proceed, repeated his order with such a resolute air that it was obeyed. The cap- tain then read to him the Assembly's protest. An- dross, addressing himself to the captain, inquired his name.
" My name is Bull, sir," replied the captain. " Bull !" said he : " it is a pity your horns are not tipped with silver." If by this expression he meant to convey the idea that the captain might have been
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1675.]
HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT.
bribed to neglect his duty, he proved himself no less misjudging than base : for the men who enjoyed the public confidence in Connecticut attained it by their virtue and intelligence, and, therefore, were incorruptible. Andross, finding the people as well as the government determined to oppose him, said he should take no more measures against the col- ony ; and, returning to his vessels, steered for Long Island.
The General Assembly noticed this flagrant of- fence by publishing a resolution, which stated that John Winthrop and James Richards, Esqs., or ei- ther of them, on their intended visit to England, would take with them the documents relating to this affair, and furnish their explanation.
To return to the Indians. Commissioners were sent by the colonies into the Narraganset country to make a treaty with them ; and one was signed on the 15th of July by the Sunk Squaw and the six principal sachems. It promised perpetual peace, the restoration of stolen goods and fugitives, war against Philip and his men, and the payment of 40 coats to any Indian who would bring him in alive, o. twenty for his head, and two coats for every sub- ject of Philip, or one for the head of each. But this treaty was not much to be relied on, having been made in the presence of the army.
An attempt was now made to seize Philip on Pocasset Neck, where he and his followers had re- treated to the forest and swamps : but, after a fruit- less skirmish, the English injudiciously retired, leaving only a few soldiers to watch the isthmus ; and the Indians had skill enough to escape, by what means is a problem to this day. No certain trace
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ATTACK ON SPRINGFIELD. [1675.
of Philip could be found for some time : but he con- tinued to be very active in inciting the different tribes to hostility ; and many of the more exposed settlements were so closely watched by his allies, that many persons were surprised and captured, or killed, even when they strayed but a short distance from home. In some instances the Indians ap- peared in great numbers ; and several towns were besieged, or assaulted and burned. Connecticut happily suffered nothing on her own soil : for no part of it became a seat of war. Her inhabitants, however, had a share in the hazards, alarm, ex- pense, and risks of soldiers. The savages, at dif- ferent times, attacked Brookfield, Hadley, Hatfield, Northfield, Springfield, and Deerfield, all in Massa- chusetts, but some of which had been settled from Connecticut ; and the last two were almost entirely burned. The most severe calamity which befell the colonists was the battle of Bloody Brook : for there about 100 men, the flower of the county of Essex, Massachusetts, were cut off by a body of 700 or S00 Indians, who laid an ambush for them while they were on their way from the ruins of Deerfield, with wagon-loads of grain that had been left at the deser- tion of the ruined settlement.
The attack on Springfield displayed the charac- teristic subtlety of the Indians. Those in the vi .. cinity had lived in peace and harmony with the settlers about forty years, but they admitted about 300 of Philip's warriors into their fort one night, and would probably have taken the town by sur- prise, had not a faithful Windsor Indian, named Toto, given a seasonable alarm at that place. Messengers were immediately despatched to Ma-
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1675.]
HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT.
jor Treat at Westfield, to hasten on with the Con- necticut troops under his command, and to Spring- field, to give warning to the inhabitants. Tradi- tion says that Soto, on his important errand, pass- ed at night through a large encampment of Indians, sagaciously eluding their vigilance by lying down as if one of their number, and pretending to sleep, when afraid of their observation.
The people of Springfield would not suspect their Indians of treachery : but Lieutenant Cooper, the commander of the post, with another man, having imprudently ridden to the fort, were fired upon, and the latter was killed. The former, however, lived to ride back to town, and apprized the incredulous irhabitants of their actual danger. The savages immediately attacked the town, began to set fire to the houses and barns, and were about to slaughter the terrified inhabitants, who were entirely unpre- · pared and in great consternation : but Major Treat arrived in time to save almost all the habitations, except thirty, and the lives of the people, as he soon drove the enemy away. Mr. Pelatiah Glo- ver, the minister, lost his house and a valuable li- brary.
The Assembly of Connecticut met on the 14th of October, and appointed Major Treat commander of the troops of the colony, and returned him thanks for his useful services on Long Island, in Massa- chusetts, and at Springfield.
There was soon an alarm of Indians at Norwich, and Major Treat set out for that place : but he was ordered back, and sent to Northampton, as the dan- ger was still greater in that vicinity ; and several of the neighbouring towns were furnished with gar-
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TROOPS RAISED. [1675.
risons. On the 19th of October he was called to Hadley by the desperate state to which the inhab- itants were reduced by about 800 Indians, who as- sailed the town on all sides at once. By their own exertions and the aid of their friends, the Hadley people were protected, and the enemy repulsed with such loss that they were discouraged in their hopes of effecting anything in that part of the country, and returned to Narraganset.
It is reported that, in the midst of the fight at Hadley, and at a moment when the savages were gaining ground, a stranger of a commanding as- pect appeared among the terrified people, and fell upon the Indians with such spirit and skill that he checked them in their advance, and so encouraged the defenders that they followed him and expelled them from the town. On looking round for him after the fight, he was not to be found ; and it was subsequently ascertained that he was one of the regicide judges, General Goffe, who was living concealed in the house of one of the principal in- habitants, and whom the common danger had drawn from his hiding.place, and excited again to deeds of valour.
The General Assembly, in consequence of the in- telligence that the Indians were prepared to attack most of the frontier towns of Connecticut, ordered that 60 dragoons should be raised in every county, fully accoutred. Captain Avery was appointed to command 40 men from New. London, Stonington, and Lyme, with as many Pequods as he should think proper ; and Captain John Mason 20 Eng- lishmen and the Mohegans, for the defence of the eastern parts; while 120 dragoons were placed un-
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1675.]
HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT.
der Major Treat, for the general defence of the colony. Every town was required to be fortified, and provided with the best places of protection they could make, to which the women and chil- dren were to retreat on the first alarm; and fee- ble persons near the frontiers, unable to defend themselves, were advised to remove to places of greater security.
But still greater sufferings were threatened as the spring approached : for, as the commissioners ascertained, the Narragansets proved faithless to their late treaty, harboured the fugitive enemy, and had some wounded young men of their own tribe returning from the scenes of warfare. The Nar- ragansets alone could muster about 2000 warriors, and it was believed that they had about 1000 mus- kets. Of course the colonies had melancholy pros. pects for the next campaign, which would commence with the spring : for how could they resist such a force, added to the greater number which Philip might incite against them ?
In the numbers here estimated, it is pleasing to say, we are not to include Ninigrate nor his men : for he at length cast off his double dealing and took the side of the English, which he faithfully kept through the war-
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A FAST OBSERVED.
[1675.
CHAPTER XXII.
Expedition of the United Colonies against the Narragansets .- Situation of the Fort .- They destroy it, with a great Slaughter of the Indians .- Continuance of Hostilities .- Measures for Defence and Resistance .- Settlements destroyed .- Expedi- tions cut off .- Capture and Death of Canonchet.
ON the 12th of September, the commissioners gave orders for the raising of 1000 men to attack the Narragansets. Massachusetts furnished six companies and a troop of horsemen, all amounting to 527 men, under Major Appleton ; Plymouth 158, under Major Bradford and Captain Gorham ; and Connecticut, although her proportion was only 315 men, sent 300 Englishmen, and 150 Pequods and friendly Indians, under Major Treat, in five companies, under Captains Seely, Gallup, Mason, Watts, and Marshall. The whole of these forces were placed under the command of Josiah Wins. low, Esq., as commander-in-chief. The Connecti- cut troops were ordered to rendezvous at New- London by the 10th of December, and there to await the commands of Mr. Winslow.
. The commissioners appointed a fast for the 2d of December, saying that "it was an humbling providence of God that put his poor people to be meditating a matter of war at such a season :" for they knew the great hazards of sending troops on such an enterprise, as a single night without shel- ter, or one of the frequent heavy snowstorms would probably destroy the army.
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1675.] HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT.
On the 17th of December the Connecticut troops left New-London, and reached Pettyquamscot, but found that the Indians had burned the houses and barns, and killed ten men, and five women and children. On the 18th they joined the rest of the army ; and that night also, though cold and stormy, was spent without shelter. They were now with- in fifteen miles of a swamp in which the Narra- gansets were assembled ; and in the morning, which was the Sabbath, they marched to attack them. The Massachusetts troops took the van, those of Ply- mouth had the centre, and the Connecticut compa- nies the rear. They met a party of the enemy a lit- tle distance from the fort, who retreated into it after returning their fire. Although the soldiers had marched without stopping till one o'clock through the snow, they hastened on to attack the enemy in their strong position. The fort was on a small hill rising from the swamp, surrounded by a pali- sade and a hedge about a rod in thickness, so that it seemed vain to attempt to enter it at any place except that by which the fugitives had entered it. This was a narrow opening, the only passage to which was by a log laid five or six feet above the ground, over which two persons could not go abreast. A blockhouse was placed in front, and a kind of flanker was advantageously situated for the enemy to fire from.
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