USA > Massachusetts > Franklin County > Deerfield > History of Deerfield, Massachusetts: the times when the people by whom it was settled, unsettled and resettled, vol 1 > Part 29
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A PLAIN STATEMENT OF FACTS.
that are in place of power: yet I would lay open our case before your Excellency as it is; we have been driven from our houses & home lots into the fort, (there are but 10 house lots in the fort). Some a mile some 2 miles, whereby we have suffered much loss, we have in the alarms several times been wholly taken off from any business, the whole town kept in, our children of 12 or 13 years and under we have been afraid to improve in the field for fear of the enemy, (our town plat & meadows all lay exposed to the view of an enemy if they come at any time on the mountains). we have been crowded togath- er into houses to the preventing of indoor affairs being carryed on to any advantage, & must be constrained to expend at least 50f to make any comfortable provision of housing if we stay togather in cold weather: so that our losses are far more than would have paid our taxes; the people have been very ready & forward to pay their taxes, & know sensibly that the present curcumstances of the coun- try call for & require great taxes, & would not in the least grumble, but i lay it before your Execellency, to move your Compassions of us : Strangers tell us they would not live where we do for twenty times as much as we do, the enemy having such an advantage of the river to come down upon us, several say they would freely leave all they have & go away were it not that it would be disobedience to author- ity & a discouraging their bretheren: The fronteir difficulties of a place so remote from others & so exposed as ours, are more than be known, if not felt. i am very sensible that if they have no ease as to their rates under these circumstances, the people must suffer very much; when the Country abated them their rates formerly, i was yet moved from certain knowledge of their poverty & distress, to abate them of my salary for several years togather, tho they never askt it of me; & now their children must either suffer for want of clothing, or the Country consider them, or i abate them what they are to pay me: i never found the people unwilling to do when they had the ability, yea they have often done above their ability; i would request your Execellency so far to commiserate, as to do what may be en- couraging to persons to venture their all in the fronteirs, their charge will necessarily be trebled, if this place be deserted: i would humbly beg they may be considered in having something allowed them in making the fortification : we have mended it, it is in vain to mend & must make it all new, & fetch timber for 206 rod, 3 or 4 miles if we get oak: The sorrowful parents, & distresd widow of the poor cap- tives taken from us, request your Excellency to endeavour that there may be an exchange of prisoners to their release; i know i need not use arguments to move your Excys pitty & compassion of them & endeavours to have them returned; the blessings of them yt are ready to perish will surely come upon you, in endeavours of this kind: i pray God direct & every way assist & encourage your Excellency in the great work before you, in a day of so great exercise & trial as this is: my duty to yourself and Good Lady, with due respects to your Honorable family, requesting forgiveness for any failure in my writing as exercising your patience, begging prayers for me & mine, i rest your Excellency humble sevant,
[P. S. on the back. ] JOHN WILLIAMS:
The people of the town earnestly requested me to draw something
1 7
---
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QUEEN ANNE'S WAR-1702-1713 ..
to present to your Excellency & the assembly in their behalf & desire this may be presented in their name both to yourself, Council & Representatives.
Your Excelancys humble servant. [Mass. Archives, 113-350. ]
This letter and the following from the Northampton min- ister, doubtless accompanied the petition of Partridge, and both were written for the same end. There seems to be a good deal of force in Stoddard's recommendation to train dogs to track the enemy, particularly in the suggestion that the men, being relieved from the danger of ambush, could follow the savages so much more effectively. A practical objection, however, may have existed in the difficulty of teaching the dogs to distinguish between the enemy, and the friendly Indians employed as scouts.
These letters are given entire, not only as presenting pic- tures of the sad condition of our town, but because they con- tain much of value from other points of view.
Rev. Solomon Stoddard to Gov. Dudley :-
Excellent Sr
The Town of Deerfield has suffered much formerly from the In- dians: of late two of their young men are car. into Captivity: this makes great impression on the Spirits of the people & they are much discouraged. This puts it upon me to make two proposals to your Excellency ---
The first is that they may be put in a way to Hunt the Inds. with dogs-Other methods that have been taken are found by experience to be chargable, hazzardous and insufficient: But if dogs were trained up to hunt Inds as th do Bears; we sh. quickly be senseble of a great advantage thereby. The dogs would be an extream terrour to the Inds; they not much afraid of us, they know they can take us-& leave us, if they can but get out of gun-shot, th count themselves in no great danger, however so many pursue them they are neither afraid of being discovered or pursued; But these dogs would be such a terrour to them, that after a little experience it wd prevent their comming & men would live more safely in their houses & work more safely in the fields and woods: In case the Inds sh. come near the Towne the dogs wd readely take their track & lead us to theni: Sometimes we see the track of one or two Inds but cant follow it; the dogs would discover it and lead our men directly to their ene- mies; for want of wh help we many times take a good deal of pains to little purpose-Besides if we had dogs fitted for that purpose our men might follow Inds wh more safety, there would be [no?] hazzard of their being shot at out of the bushes, they would follow their dogs with an undaunted spirit, not fearing a surprise; & indeed the pres- ence of dogs would very much facilitate their victory : the dogs would
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DOGS AS INDIAN HUNTERS.
do a great deal of execution upon the enemy, & catch many an Ind that wd be too light of foot for us.
If it should be thot by any that this way is impractible & that dogs would not [deavor?] to do what we expect from them, these two things may satisfy them, one is that in a time of war with Inds in Virginia, they did in this way prevail over them, though all attempts before they betook themselves to this method proved in vain; the other is that our Hunters give an account the dogs that are used to hunt Bears, mind no other track but the track of a Bear; from whence we may conclude, that if dogs were used to persue Indians they would mind nothing else.
If the Indians were as other people are, and did manage their warr fairly after the maner of other nations, it might be looked upon as inhuman to persue them in such a maner. But they are to be looked upon as theives and murderers, & they doe acts of hostility, without proclaiming war, they dont appear openly in the field to bid us bat- tle, they use those cruelly that fall into their hands, they act like wolves, & are to be dealt withall as wolves.
There must be some charge in prosecuting this design, something must be expended for purchasing suitable dogs, & their maintenance, the men who spend their time in this service must be paid, but this will not rise in any proportion to the charge of maintaining a suitable number of garrison soldiers-I have taken advice with several of the principal persons among us & they looke upon this way as the most [favorable?] expedient in this case.
The other proposal is that the town of Deerfield may be freed from Country Rates during the time of the war; their circumstances doe call for commiseration: sometimes they are allarmed & called off from their businesse, sometimes they dare not goe into the fields & when they doe goe, they are fain to wait till they have a gard; they cant make improvement of their outlands, as other Towns doe, their houses are so crowded, sometimes with souldiers, that men and wom- en can doe little businesse within doors, & their spirits are so taken up about their Dangers, that they haye little heart to undertake what is needful for advancing their estates: it seems to be a thing accepta- ble to God, that they should be considered & freed from Rates; Your Excellency will not take it amiss that I take my accustomed freedom & am so officious as to tender my advice before it is asked.
The Good Lord guide y' Ex'cy & the Genrl Assembly; to do that wh shall be servicable to this afflicted Country wh is the hearty prayer of your humble servant. SOLO: STODDARD
Northampton Oct 22d 1703.
Since I wrote: the father of the two Captives [Godfrey Nims] be- longing to Deerfield, has importunately desired me to write to y' Ex'cy that you wd endeavour the Redemption of his children-I re- quest that if you have any opportunity, you wd not be backward to such a work of mercy.
The Assembly record for Nov. 26th, 1703, contains the fol- lowing :----
Considering the extraordinary impoverishing circumstances the
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QUEEN ANNE'S WAR-1702-1713.
Town of Deerfield is under by Reason of the present War, Resolved, that the sum of Twenty Pounds be allowed and paid out of the pub- lick Treasury towards the support of the ministry in the said Town of Deerfield for the yr curt.
The weeks dragged slowly on. The green robes of sum- mer had been changed to garments of scarlet and gold, among which the painted and plumed warrior could lurk un- seen ; but the town was unmolested. The blasts of autumn had laid this gaudy screen, seared and dry, upon the ground, forming a russet carpet, which not even the soft moccasined foot of the Indian could traverse undiscovered. The snow of winter piled unusually deep, and the wooded wilderness, stretching two hundred miles between the settlement and Canada, seemed a safe barrier; and with each changing sea- son the feeling of security grew stronger. The settlers breathed more freely and gradually resumed their wonted ways of life, believing that the warnings of invasion were founded on unreliable reports.
Among the interesting events of the winter were the suc- cessful attempts of two Deerfield maidens to secure "French and Indian captives." The affairs were settled by treaties of alliance, which were ratified by Pastor Williams. The vie- torious contracting parties were Abigail Stebbins with James Denieur-one of three Frenchmen from Canada living here -and Elizabeth Price, with "Andrew Stephens ye Indian," of whom nothing more is known, save that he was killed in the assault of Feb. 29th.
Another notable marriage was that of John, son of Ensign Sheldon, to Hannah Chapin. Their wedding journey was a winter's horseback trip from Springfield to the since historic "Old Indian House," the bride on a pillion behind the groom. What but the great love which binds a woman's heart to her husband could have induced her to leave her secure home in Springfield, to brave with him the dangers of this doomed frontier? Of the six persons married as above, five were, within a few weeks, swallowed up by death or captivity.
The guard of twenty men, allowed by the Council in May, 1703, were now here quartered among the inhabitants, two of them in the house of the minister. The winter wore away, even to the last day, and no enemy had been seen ; the only alarm being the supernatural one, already noted. Mr. Wil-
293
MR. WILLIAMS DOES WHAT HIE CAN.
liams, the pastor, did not share in the general feeling of se- curity, and did not attempt to conceal his anxiety. He urged caution and vigilance, and above all, counseled the people to repentance of sin, and to walking in the ways of the right- eous, that the wrath of God might be averted. He says :-
I set apart a day of prayer, to ask of God, either to spare, and save us from the hands of our enemies, or prepare us to sanctify and honor him in what way soever he should come forth towards us * * * The places of Scripture from whence we were entertained were Gen. Xxxii. 10. 11. I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies, and of all the truth which thou hast shewed unto thy servants. Deliver me, I pray thee, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau: For I fear him, lest he will come and smite me, and the mother with the children, (in the forenoon. ) And Gen. xxxii. 26, And he said, let me go, for the day breaketh: And he said, I will not let thee go except thou bless me (in the afternoon. ) From which we were called upon to spread the causes of fear, relating to ourselves, or families, before God ; as also, how it becomes us, with an undeniable importunity, to be following God, with earnest prayers for his blessing, in every condition. And it is very observable, how God ordered our prayers, in a peculiar manner, to be going up to him: to prepare us, with a right Christian spirit, to undergo, and endure suffering trials.
His people had need of all the Christian faith and forti- tude with which this devout man could inspire them, for the day of trial was come.
The tale of the assault on Deerfield, Feb. 29th, 1703-4, shall be told in the words of those who gave or felt the stroke, or were contemporary witnesses. No attention will be paid to any modern versions conflicting with these. The specula- tions are my own.
THE CAPTURE OF DEERFIELD, FEB. 29TH, 1703-4.
Governor de Vaudreuil writes to the war minister at Paris, Nov. 14th, 1703, that he should send a strong party against the English in the spring, "were it only to break up the meas- ures the English might be adopting to induce the Abenaquis to conclude peace." And again, one year later, Nov. 17th, 1704,-
We had the honor to report to you last year, my Lord, the reasons which had obliged us to embroil the English with the Abenakis, and the heavy blow which, with that view, we caused Sieur de Beaubassin to strike. Shortly after he had retired, the English having killed some of these Indians, they sent us word of it, and at the same time demanded assistance. , This obliged us, my lord, to send thither Sieur de Rouville, an officer of the line, with nearly two hundred
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QUEEN ANNE'S WAR-1702-1713.
men, who attacked a fort, in which, according to the report of all the prisoners, there were more than one hundred men under arms; they took more than one hundred and fifty prisoners, including men and women, and retreated, having lost only three men and some twenty wounded.
That the true motive of the expedition against Deerfield has been thus given, is shown by another letter from Vau- dreuil to the Minister, Nov. 16th, 1704, in which he speaks of "the success of a party I sent this winter on the ice as far as the Boston government at the request of the Abenakis." Charlevoix, in his history of New France, tells the story of an attack by the English on the Abenakis, whose
chiefts called on M. Vaudreuil for aid, and he sent out during the winter 250 men commanded by the Sieur Hertel de Rouville * * * who, in his turn, surprised the English, killed a large number of them, and took 150 prisoners. He himself lost only three Frenchmen, and some savages.
In the letter of November 16th, quoted above, Vaudreuil commends de Rouville, and asks his promotion, complacently adding, "Sieur de Rouvilles party, My Lord, has accom- plished everything that was expected of it; for independent of the capture of a fort, it showed the Abenakiss that they could truly rely on our promises ; and this is what they told me at Montreal on the 13th of June, when they came to thank me."
Thus this representative of a Christian nation, sent an army through the wilderness, not to fight an English force, but to surprise and butcher the settlers of an English plantation three hundred miles away, merely to keep on good terms with a savage tribe, and gratify his own ambition. It was an act of hardly less than cold-blooded murder. De Rou- ville's command was made up of two hundred French, and one hundred and forty Indians, part French Mohawks, or " Macquas " of Caghnawaga-probably in civilized dress-and part Eastern Indians in native costume. The oft-told tale that the Indians for the love of their favorite valley, came back to punish the white intruders, is pure romance ; for not a Pocumtuck or the son of a Pocumtuck appears on the scene. On the contrary, the Macquas were the hereditary enemies of the Pocumtucks.
The invaders were provided with moccasins and snow shoes, and brought an extra supply for the use of captives
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FEBRUARY 29TH, 1703-4.
Provisions were brought along on sleds, some of which were drawn by dogs, and each man carried a pack upon his back. Their food becoming exhausted, the whole force was scanti- ly supported on game killed by the Indian hunters. When De Rouville reached this vicinity, the French were half starved, almost in a state of mutiny, and would doubtless have surrendered to the English at discretion had the attack on the town been unsuccessful.
The route of the invaders was probably up the Sorel river and Lake Champlain, and by French river over the Green Mountains, and down the Connecticut river. On reaching the mouth of West river, at the foot of Wantastiquat Moun- tain, the sleds and dogs were left with a small guard. The main body pushing rapidly on, reached Petty's Plain, Febru- ary 28th, at night. Skirting the foot of West Mountain along the bluff overlooking North Meadows, a halt was made, prob- ably near or on the farm now occupied by Lucius B. Wise, a mile and a half northwest from the fort. Here, sheltered by a low ridge from possible observation from the town, their packs were deposited, the war paint put on, and other prep- arations made for the assault. Creeping down the hill, and crossing the Pocumtuck on the ice near Red Rocks, spies were sent towards the fort, and the advance regulated by their reports. The following, published in 1726, is from Penhallow, who gives as his authority Rev. Solomon Stod- dard, whose son John,-afterwards the famous Col. Stod- dard,-was one of the two soldiers in the house of Mr. Wil- liams that night.
PENHALLOW'S ACCOUNT OF THE ASSAULT.
Towards morning, being February 29th, the enemy sent scouts to discover the posture of the town, who observing the watch walking in the street, returned and put them to a stand; after awhile they sent again and were advised that all was still and quiet; upon which two hours before day, they attacked the fort, and by advantage of some drifts of snow, got over the walls. The whole body was above two hundred and fifty, under the command of Monsieur Arteil, who found the people fast asleep, and easily secured them. The most considerable part of the town thus fell into their hands. They left no garrison unattacked, excepting that of Capt. Wells; but at Benoni Stebbins they met with some repulse and lost several. Sixty Eng- lish fell whereof many were stifled in a cellar, and a hundred were taken captive, who with melancholy countenance condoled each others misery, yet durst not express the anguish of their souls. That
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QUEEN ANNE'S WAR-1702-1713.
day and night were spent in plundering, burning and destroying. The next morning they withdrew to the woods.
The writer's mistake as to the time the enemy spent in town, which has been followed by other writers, is corrected in the next extract.
REV. JOHN WILLIAMS'S RELATION.
On Tuesday, the 29th of February, 1703-4, not long before the break of day, the enemy came in like a flood upon us; our watch be- ing unfaithful, an evil, whose awful effects, in a surprisal of our fort, should bespeak all watchmen to avoid, as they would not bring charge of blood upon themselves. They came to my house in the beginning of the onset, and by their violent endeavors to break open doors and windows, with axes and hatchets, awakened me out of sleep; on which I leapt out of bed, and running towards the door perceived the enemy making their entrance into the house; I called to awaken two soldiers in the chamber, and returned to my bedside for my arms; the enemy immediately brake into the room, I judge to the number of twenty, with painted faces and hideous exclama- tions. I reached up my hands to the bed-tester for my pistol, uttering a short petition to God for everlasting mercies for me and mine, * * * expecting a present passage through the valley of the shadow of death. Taking down my pistol, I cocked it, and put it to the breast of the first Indian that came up; but my pistol miss- ing fire, I was seized by 3 Indians who disarmed me, and bound me naked, as I was in my shirt, and so I stood for near the space of an hour; binding me, they told me they would carry me to Quebec. My pistol missing fire, was an occasion of my life being preserved. The judgment of God did not long slumber against one of the three which took me, who was a Captain; for by sun-rising he received a mortal shot from my next neighbor's house, [ Benoni Stebbins] who op- posed so great a number of French and Indians as three hundred, and
yet were no more than seven men in an ungarrisoned house. *- * The enemy fell to rifling the house, entering in great numbers into every room. * * The enemies who entered the house were * all of them Indians and Macquas; insulting over me awhile, holding up hatchets over my head, threatening to burn all I had; but yet God, beyond expectation, made us in a great measure to be pitied ; for tho some were so cruel and barbarous as to take and carry to the door two of my children and murder then, as also a Negro wom- an; yet they gave me liberty to put on my clothes, * gave liberty to my dear wife to dress herself and our children. About sun an hour high, we were all carried out of the house for a march, and saw many of the houses of my neighbors in flames, perceiving the whole fort, one house excepted, to be taken. * * Upon * my parting from the town, they fired my house and barn. We were carried over the river to the foot of the mountain, about a mile from my house, where we found a great number of our Christian neigh- bors, men, women and children, to the number of an hundred, nine- teen of whom were afterwards murdered by the way and two starved
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THE MEADOW FIGHT.
to death near Cowass, in a time of great scarcity or famine, the sav- ages underwent there. When we came to the foot of our mountain they took away our shoes, and gave us in the room of them Indian shoes to prepare us for our travel. * * * After this we went up the mountain, and saw the smoke of the fires in town, and beheld the awful desolations of Deerfield. And before we marched any far- ther they killed a sucking child of the English. There were slain by the enemy, of the inhabitants of our town, to the number of thir- ty-eight, beside nine of the neighboring towns.
Whilst we were there, the English beat out a company that re- mained in the town, and pursued them to the river, killing and wounding many of them; but the body of the army being alarnied, they repulsed those few English that pursued them. I am not able to give you an account of the number of the enemy slain, but I ob- served after this fight no great insulting mirth, as I expected; and saw many wounded persons, and for several days together they buried of their party, and one of chief note among the Macquas. The Gov- ernor of Canada told mne, his army had that success with the loss of but eleven men, three Frenchmen, one of which was the lieutenant of the army, five Macquas and three Indians.
At Quebec Mr. Williams learned through "the soldiers both French and Indian, that they lost above forty, and many others wounded, among whom was the Ensign of the French.'
WELLS AND WRIGHT'S STORY OF THE AFFAIR.
The next paper, copied from the original in the Massachu- setts archives, is also by those who took part in the events of that day :-
To his Excellency the Governor, together with the Hond Council & Representatives, met in the Great & General Assembly at Boston, May 31, 1704 :-
The Humble Petition of Jonathan Wells & Ebenezer Wright, in behalfe of the Company who encountered the ffrench & Indians at Deerfield, ffeb. 29, 1703,
Showeth-ffirst, That we understanding the extremity of the poor people at Deerfield, made all possible haste to their reliefe, that we might deliver the Remnant that was left & doe spoil on the enemy.
2dly, That being joyned with a small number of the inhabitants and garrison souldiers, we forced the enemy out of town, leaving a great part of their plunder behinde them; & persuing them about a mile & an halfe did great execution upon them; we saw at the time many dead bodies, and we & others did afterwards see the manifest prints on the snow, where other dead bodies were drawn to a hole in the river.
3dly, That the enemy being reinforced by a great number of fresh men, we were overpowered & necessitated to run to the fort, & in our flight nine of the company were slain, & some others wounded, & some of us lost our upper garments which we had put off before in the pursuit.
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