USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > North Brookfield > History of North Brookfield, Massachusetts. Preceded by an account of old Quabaug, Indian and English occupation, 1647-1676; Brookfield records, 1686-1783 > Part 13
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An order of the Council dated Nov. 16, authorized Capt. Appleton to return with the main body of his troops to the Bay. They add a post- script : " If you should come home by Quabauge, we hear there are there about the house many swine and some cattle, which if you can order some of your men to drive home, it would be a relief to poor peo- ple that are concerned therein and are fain to live on others' charity."
Capt. A. placed garrisons in the surviving towns as follows : at Spring- fied, 39 men, Westfield, 29, Northampton, 26, Hadley, 30 (under Capt. Poole), Hatfield, 36, and marched homeward about Nov. 24.
The campaign had cost the colony very dearly in men and means. Three frontier towns were destroyed. Of citizens and soldiers, not less than 140 were killed or mortally wounded. The following List is com- piled from the most authentic data now accessible :
At Brookfield 12
" Whately . 9
" Deerfield . 2
" Squakheag 8
" Beers' Plain
21
At Bloody Brook 64
" Springfield 5
" Northampton 6
Hatfield IO
" Westfield . 3
A source of perplexity and weakness to the English in the campaigns of this fall, was the division of counsels between the Captains command- ing in the field, and the Commissioners at headquarters. The Commis- sioners, especially those of Connecticut, held and ordered that the troops should be used mainly in scouring the woods and seeking the enemy in their hiding-places, and thus "destroying them," rather than protecting the inhabitants of the towns by garrisons. But the Captains
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TIMOROUSNESS OF SCOUTS.
learned by experience that the savages could never be discovered in their lurking-places, and that they and their men were the ones likely to be " destroyed " by an Indian ambush. Maj. Pynchon writes : " Oct. 4 I had called off all our soldiers which were at Springfield, leaving none to secure the town, because the Commissioners' order was so strict ; " and adds in a postscript : " To speak my thoughts - all these towns ought to be garrisoned, as I have formerly hinted. To go out after the Indians in the swamps and thickets is to hazard all our men, unless we know where they keep ; which is altogether unknown to us." Capt. Appleton writes Oct. 12, on accepting the chief command, that he agrees with Maj. Pynchon in regard to present methods, and asks that the Commis- sioners revise that part of their instructions which strictly prohibits fixing soldiers in garrisons. Oct. 17, he writes again : "On the 13th and 14th we used all diligence to make discovery of the enemy by Scouts, but by reason of the distance of the way from hence [Hadley] to Squakeage, & the timorousness of the Scouts, it turned to little account ; thereupon I found it very difficult to know what to do. Our orders were to leave no men in garrison, but keep all for a field army, which was to expose the Towns to manifest hazard. To sit still and do nothing is to tire ours and spoil our soldiers, and to ruin the country by the insupportable burden and charge. All things layed together, I thought it best to go forth after the enemy with our present forces."
And this last letter reveals another source of weakness, viz. "the timorousness of our scouts." Secretary Rawson wrote Sept. 30 : " Capt. Wayt marched from Marlboro yesterday ; we intended 120 men by him, but we understand there is not so many gone. Some escape away from the press, and others hide away after they are impresst. Some have been punished for it, and others shall. The slaughter in your parts has much damped men's spirits for war." Maj. Pynchon wrote the same day : "We are endeavouring to discover the enemy, daily send out scouts, but little is effected. We sometimes discover a few Indians & sometimes fires, but not the body of them, and have no Indian friends here (altho we have sent to Hartford for some) to help us .... Our English are somewhat awk and fearful in scouting out and express- ing, but we do the best we can. We find the Indians have their scouts out. Two days ago two Englishmen at Northampton having gone out in the morning to cut wood, and but a little from the house, were both shot down dead, having two bullets apiece shot into each of their bodies. The Indians cut off their scalps, took their arms, and were off in a trice : though the English run thither presently, on the report of the guns, but could see nothing but the footing of two Indians. Last night our scouts who went out in the night to discover at Pocomtuck, about midnight being within 4 miles of Pocomtuck met 2 Indian scouts coming down
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FIRST SETTLEMENT, 1660-1676.
this way to the towns, but it being dark they were both one upon another within 2 or 3 rods, before either discovered the other, which made both parties run, & nothing else done."
But the chief cause of the miscarriage of this campaign was the fact that our English Captains learned nothing of caution by repeated disaster, and walked heedlessly into the enemy's traps. The ambushment of Capt. Hutchinson and Wheeler is well named a " a Surprise," and it ought to have been a Lesson. But Aug. 25, Capt. Lathrop and Beers pursued the savages, who had just out-witted them, " at a great pace," and with- out any precautions ; and their first intimation of danger was when the Indians " let fly about forty guns at them " from a swamp by the road- side. Ten days after this, Capt. Beers, forgetful of, or scorning the les- son taught him at Wequamps, marched with 36 men to the relief of Northfield, with neither vanguard nor flankers thrown out, directly into an ambuscade of 130 Indians commanded by Sagamore Sam. The same thing was repeated Sept. 18, at Bloody brook. "Capt. Lathrop and his men moved along the narrow Pocomptuck path through the primeval woods - brave, fearless, foolish. The soldiers crossed the brook and halted, while the teams should slowly drag their heavy loads through the mire ; 'many of them,' says Mather, ' having been so foolish and secure as to put their arms in the carts and step aside to gather grapes, which proved dear and deadly grapes to them.'"- Hon. George Sheldon. Captains Lathrop, and Beers, and Mosely were brave ; but scornful of their foe. They could not get over the cherished idea that the Indian was an inferior being, and unworthy of the notice of a true soldier, and worthy only to be stamped out. His successful strategy did not undermine the prejudice ; and English temerity and blamable im- prudence cost a fearful and needless sacrifice of life.
THE INDIANS' WINTER QUARTERS. - About the time when Capt. Appleton left the Connecticut valley, the Indians went into winter quar- ters. A considerable number went to Wabbaquasset, where was great store of corn and safe hiding-places ; and later they joined the Narra- gansetts. The River Indians gathered at Coasset, which was a piece of pine woods on the west bank of the Connecticut a little above the South Vernon railroad station (then in the town of Northfield, Mass., now in Vernon, Vt.). Philip and his band were here with them for a short time ; but he soon moved off towards Albany with his own warriors, and a considerable part of the Pacomptucks, under command of Sancuma- chu their chief sachem. Probably the old men and some of the women and children of Philip's party and of the Pacomptucks, staid at Coasset. Food was plenty. The cattle and hogs captured at Squakheag and at Deerfield lasted for a while. The corn and wheat taken at the same places lasted longer. And it is an attested historical fact that deer and
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GARRISON AT QUABAUG.
other game were unusually abundant, and owing to the depth of snow, were easily caught. The Quabaugs and Nashaways took up winter quar- ters at Menameset.
Winter set in early and with uncommon severity. Travel was next to impossible, except on rackets ; and both whites and Indians kept in close quarters till the latter part of January, when a sudden thaw cleared off the snow.
RE-ESTABLISHMENT OF THE GARRISON AT QUABAUG.
Early in November, the Commissioners of the United Colonies had obtained what they deemed sufficient evidence that the Narragansetts were in league with Philip and the hostile Massachusetts tribes, and resolved to destroy them before they should form a union of forces. To this end, an army of 1,000 men was raised - 527 in Massachusetts, 158 in Plymouth, and 315 in Connecticut - and put under command of Gen. Josiah Winslow of Plymouth. After a march of great hardships, from deep snow and intense cold, the English reached the Narragansett fort on Sunday, December 19. The assault was bravely and skillfully made ; and the defence was no less brave and stout. The fort, which was a palisade, and enclosed about 6 acres of ground, was burnt, with all the wigwams that could be crowded within this large space. Many Indian warriors, with hundreds of old men, women and children, per- ished by sword and fire. Eighty of the English were slain or died of their wounds, and 130 others were wounded. The larger part of the Narragansetts, viz. those that adhered to Canonchet and Pessacus (who was a brother of Miantonamoh) and Quinnapin (who had married Weetamoo a sister-in-law of Philip) retreated to the northward, and joined the Quabaugs at Menameset, in the latter part of January, where we shall shortly find them.
The authorities at Boston were in ignorance of the places of rendez- vous, as well as the intentions and temper of the inland tribes, at this date. To gain the necessary information, Maj. Gookin was instructed to employ some friendly Indian spies, who should traverse the Nipmuck country, and go as far as Quabaug. He employed Job Kattenanit and James Quanapohit, two Christian Indians who had been educated by the apostle Eliot. Their reward was to be five pounds apiece. Fortu- nately for history, the official Reports of these spies are preserved, the brief Relation of Quanapohit in our State Archives, and his full Report in the Connecticut Archives. The latter gives a succinct account of the Indian's side of the causes and course of the war, as well as of the con- dition and doings and plans of the Quabaugs, Nashaways, and their allies. It is invaluable as furnishing details not found elsewhere ; as supplying data for fixing important localities ; and as explaining the
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FIRST SETTLEMENT, 1660-1676.
motives and motions of both English and Indians. Its direct connec- tion with our local annals, as well as its more general importance, justify its insertion here ; and though lengthy, it is given without abridgement.
JAMES QUANAPOHIT'S RELATION.
The examination & relation of James Quannapaquait, allias James Rumny- Marsh beeing one of the chtian Indians belonging to Natick; taken the 24th day of Janry 1675-6, on wch day hee returned from his jorny, [for this man and another called Job of Magungoog, a chtian man also] were sent forth by order of the councill of Massachusetts vpon the last of December, [as spyes ], to discover the enemyes quarters & motions & his state & condition, & to gaine what intelegence they could ; for wch end they had particuler instruc- tion. Though when first they were moved to goe this iorny, they saw it would bee a hazardous undertaking, & that they should runne the hazard of yr lives in it, yet they were willing to venture upon these & like considera- tions, (I, that they might declare yr readines to serve the English. 2ly on of ym namly Job had 3 children [even all hee had] yt were carried away wth the Hassanameshe indians &, as hee conceived were with the enemy, & he was willing to know yr state as wel as ye condition of ye praying indians of Has- sameske & Magunkoog yt were hee thought in the power of ye enimy. 3d They hoped to sugest somthing in order to ye enimies submision to the English & making peace if they found ye enimy in a temper fit for it & if yt could bee effected then they hoped the poore chtian Indians at ye Deere Island & in other places posibly might bee restored to yr places againe, & bee freed from much suffering they are now in by this warre, & therby the jelosyes that the English have now of ym might bee removed, these & other reasons induced ym to runne this adventure for wch also if they re- turned in safty they had a promise of a reward.
They doubted the indian enimy would mistrust ym for spyes, & yt they would move ym fight for them against ye English, vnto wch doubts they were advised to tell ye Indian enimy a lamentable story [& yt agreable to truth] if yr deepe sufferings by the English; that Job was imprisoned severall daies [as hee was] where hee suffered much, though hee had served the English faithfully as an interprter & in actull armes being wth ye Mohegins at ye fight neare Secunke wth Philip, the begining of August last, but impris- onment & suspitions ye English had of him was part of his reward for yt service to the English & as for the other James he & his brother went out wth Capt Prentis wth their horses & armes at the first going out against Philipp in June & had done faithfull service for the English as his captains had testified by yr certificate & contined in yr service many weekes & was in sevrll fights & yt his bro: Thomas had kild on of Philip cheefe men & brought in his head to the Gov'nor of Boston, & had also in the service by acedent lost the use of his left hand & yt both James and his brother Thomas had since in November last [beeing called to it] was out wth Capt Syll in the Nipmuck contry & [as his captaine had certified] had performed faithfull service ; & was instrumentall to recovr an English captive Peter Bentts servant from ye enimey, & his brother savd ye lives of two English men at a
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JAMES QUANAPOHIT'S RELATION.
wigwam at Pakachooge vizt Mr Mackarty servant a sirgion to Capt Hench- man & one Goodwin a soldier of Charlestowne, as they both could & would testify yet after all these services both they & their wives & children & all yr country men yt lived at Naticke were mistrusted by the English & there- upon [at a few houres warning] brought away from their place & fort & houses at Naticke & car'ed downe in boats to Deare Iland, leaving & loosing much of yr substance, catle, swine, horse & corne, & at the Iland were exposed to great sufferings haveing litle wood for fuell, a bleak place & poore wigwams such as yey could make a shift to make ymselves wth a few matts, & here at ye iland had very litle provision, many of ym, & divers other sorrowes & troubles yey were exposed too, & were about 350 soules men women & children ; & that now haveing an oppertuny to get of ye iland they came to see how things were wth the indians in the woods; & if they prfrd them to fight wth & for ym they were advised to manifest al readines & forwardnes & not shew any aversnes. Things being thus prpared these 2 spyes were sent away without armes excepting hatchetts & wth a litle parcht meale for provision, & they tooke yr jorny from Cambridge the 30th of December, & from Naticke they set forth the 31th of December being Friday early in the morning. That day they past through the woods directly to Hassomesed where they lodged yt night, on Saterday morn, being the first of Janury they past ovr Nipmuck river & lodged at Manchage yt night. On the 2 Janury they went forward to Maanexit wch is about 10 miles & .there they met wth seaven Indians of the enimy : some of ym had armes ; haveing confered wth these indians they were conducted by those indians next day to Quabaage old fort where they met severall other Indians of yr com- pany's ; & by them the next day were conducted to the enimies quarters wch is about twenty miles norward of Quabauge old fort at a place called Menemesseg,I wch is about 8 miles north where Capt Hutchison & Capt Wherler was woonded & sevel men wth them slayn (in the begining of August last) as these indians informed them ; At this place among these Indians they found all the chtian Indians belonging to Hassannmiske & Magunhooge wich are about forty men & about So women & children ; these praying indians were carried away by the enemy some went willingly, others of ym unwillingly as they told him for befor they went away they were in a great strait, for if they came to the English they knew they shold bee sent to Deere Iland, as others were, & their corne beeing at such a distance about 40 miles from Boston it could not bee caried to susteyne yr lives & so they should bee in danger to famish & others feard they should bee sent away to Barbados, or other places & to stay at Hassanamesho yese indians or enimies would not pmit ym, but said they must have ye corne, but prom- ised yem if they would goe wth them they should not die but bee prserved ; these beeing in this condition most of ym thought it best to goe wth them though they feared death every way : only Tukuppawillin [ye minster, hee
I In the copy of this Relation lodged in the Mass. Archives, it reads: "Next day we crossed over on this side Quabaug and travelled one day, and in the night came to 3 Indian towns, the farthest not above 3 miles distant from the other, . . . and lie about 30 miles from Lancaster. The place is called Menemesseg. They have bark wigwams for shelter, and some mats; have pork, beef and venison plenty : the corn he thinks will fall short."
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FIRST SETTLEMENT, 1660-1676.
lamented much & his aged father the decon & som others & would faine have come back to ye English after they were gon as farr as Manchage but the enimy mockt him, for crying & drew him . . the rest yt were unwilling along wth yem: These things or spyes vnderstood from the p[raying] indians here. The enimys yt hee was among & live at the afforsaid places are in . . . small townes about 20 wigwams at a place & they are all within 3 miles com[pass ], and do consist of about 300 fighting men besides duble as many women & children . . . they have no fort, but wigwams only, some covred wth barks & som wth matts. The Indians yt are heare are the Nip- muk indians, the Quabaag indians, the Paca-[choog] indians, the Weshakum & Nashaway indians. The cheefe sagomeres & captains are Mawtaamp, John with one eye & Sam [of Weshukum or Nashaway] Sagamore John [having on legg biger yn the other] of Pakachooge. Here also is Matoonus & his sonns. Of the Hassanamesho & chtian Indians, hee saw here Capt Tom allias Wattasakomponin & his son Nehimiah [they say yt the enimy have solic[it]ed Vm to take armes & fight against the English but they told James they would not fight against the English, the will rather die. Here hee also saw Tukuppawillin yr pastor & his aged father yr decon, whome he saith mourne greatly & daily read ye bible wch is yr greatst comfort. Also he ther saw James Printer brother to ye minister, & Joseph & Sa . . two brethern [sons to Robin of Hassameshe decesed] hee also saw Pumhamun & Jacob of Magunkoog wth divers others yt hee could have mentioned but those are the principal.
Some of the Indians [or enimies] mistrusted that these two men were spies especially Matoonus & his sonnes & some others : these solicited James to borrow his hatchet & his knife [when he saw they needed none] which made him cautious of himselfe & suspitious of yr evill intentio to him, but James [at the second towne] he came too met wth John with one eye, of Weshakum [a stout captaine among ym] this man knew James & said thou hast been with mee in the warr wth the Mauhaks & I know thou art a valiant man & therfore none shall wrong thee nor kill the here, but they shall first kill me. Therefore abide at my wigwam & I will protect thee, So this man entertained him kindly, & protected him. Job his companion stayd at Pumhams wigwame wher his 3 children were kept: hee and Job aboad wth these indians severall daies & sometimes went forth to hunt deere not farr of & returnd againe. hee laubored to gaine what information hee could of their affayres, & was informed by Capt John [wth one eye] his host & others said things, vizt. that Philip was quarterd this winter within halfe a dayes iorny ... fort Albany [The same thing is certifyed by a letter from Maior Andros Govnor of New York sent Mr Leet deputy Govnor of Con- ecticut dated 5th of Jannury (75) wch letter beeing sent to Govnor Winthrop by Mr Leet was read in or Councill on Thursday last 23 instant. This also may tend to confirme the truth of James his intelegence, as wel as divers other passages both before & aftermentioned] morever they informed or spy that the Hadly Northampton & Spinkfeld Indians had yr winter quarters between ym & Philip & som quartered at Squakeake. They told him also that a cheefe captaine named - of Hadley & Norhampton indians who was a valiant man had been a cheefe captaine in the Mawhak warre had
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JAMES QUANAPOHIT'S RELATION.
attempted to kill Philip & intended to do it ; aleaging that Philip had begun a warr with the English that had brought great trouble upon them. Hee saith that these Indians told him that it was som of their number yt were in the Nipmuck country, to get the corn & yt the English came upon ym in the wigwam at Hassunnamesuke & there the killd two Englishmen, & that they had got & caried away all the corne at Pakuahooge & in the Nipmuck coun- try, vnto their quarters, vpon wch they had lived this winter & upon beefe & porke they had kild about Quaboage, & venison [of wch there is great store in those parts & by reason of ye deep snow yr beeing [mid thigh deep] it is easy to kill deare without gunns, hee saith that ere long, when yr beefe & porke & deere is spent & gon, that they wilbe in want of corne, but they intend then to com downe vpon the English townes, of Lancaster Marlborow Groaton, & particulely they intend first to cut of Lancaster bridge & then say they there can no releef com to ym from Boston nor the people cannot escape & their they hope to have corne enough. Hee saith they have store of armes, & have a gunsmith among ym a lame man that is a good workman & keeps yr gunns wel fixt They have some armes among ym that the tooke in the 2 fights when Capt Beeares & Capt Lothrop was slayne. As for amunition they have some but not great store yt hee saw : Capt John wth one eye shewed him a small kettle full of powder about halfe a peck & 2 hornes full besides. hee asked them where they got yr amunition, hee answered som wee had from the English were kild, & som from fort Albany, but (said hee) ye Dutch will not sell us powder but wee give or bever & wompon to the Mawhakes & they buy it & let us have it of ym, they told him yt they had sent to ye Wompeages & Mawquas to ayd them in the spring, that the Wampeages promised them helpe, but the Maquaws said they were not willing to fight wth English, but they would fight with the Mohegins & Pequets that were bretheren to the English. Further hee saith that they told him that the Frenchman yt was at Boston this sumer [vizt Monsir Normanvile] was with Phillip & his company as hee went back at yr quarter about Pokomtuck, after hee returnd from Boston. And yt in their sight hee burned certene papers that hee said were letters from Boston to ye French saying what shall I doe with these papers any longer, Hee said to the Indians I would not have you burne the English mill, nor the meeting houses, nor the best houses for wee [ie the French] intend to bee with you in the spring before planting time & I will bring three hundred of yor countrymen yt are hunters & have bene three yeares at the French. And wee will bring armes & amunition enough, for wee intend to helpe you against the English & posses our selves of Keneckticut river & other English plantations, and our King [ie ye French King] will send shipps to stopp sup- plyes from coming by sea [from their King] to Boston.
Hee saith that they told him that the Pennakooge indians were quartered about the head of Keneticut river, & had not at all ingageed in any fight with the English, & would not, their sagamors Wannalancet & others restrayned the young men (who had an opptunity to have destroyd many of Capt Moselys men when hee was at Pennakooge last sumer but their sagamores would not suffer them to shoot a gunne.
Further hee saith that hee understood by the cheefe men & old men
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FIRST SETTLEMENT, 1660-1676.
yt they were inclinable to have peace againe with the English, but the young men [who are their principal soldiers] say we wil have no peace wee are all or most of vs alive yet & the English have kild very few of us last summer why shall wee have peace to bee made slaves, & either be kild or sent away to sea to Barbadoes &c. Let us live as long as wee can & die like men, & not live to bee enslaved. Hee saith there is an English man a young man amongst them alive named Robert Pepper, who being woonded in the legg in the fight when Capt Beares was kild hid himselfe in the crotch of a great tree yt lay on the ground ; where an Indian called Sam Sagamore of Nash- away, found him alive & tooke him prisoner & hee became his master hee lay lame severll weekes but beeing well vsed by his master & means vsed hee is now wel recovred, hee saith yt once since hee was wel his master [carring him abroad with him] left him at Squakeake neare where hee was taken prisoner his Mr wishing him to goe to the English [whether yr was a cart way led] but Robert Pepper told James hee was afrayd his master did it but to try his fidelity to him to intrap him, & yt if hee should have gon away towards ye English they would have intercepted him & so his life had beene in danger, so hee went after his master & enquired after him & at last found him out, hee saith Rob Peper would bee glad to escape home and hopees hee shall meet with an oppertunity, when the Indians march nearer the English. James said [his master told him hee would send him home when hee had convenient opptunety. Also hee was informed that there are two more English men prisoners with Philip & Hadly Indians, one is of Boston servant to a shipcarpenter Grenhough, the other hee remembers not his name.
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