History of the Connecticut Valley in Massachusetts, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Vol. I, Part 18

Author: L.H. Everts & Co
Publication date: 1879
Publisher: Philadelphia : Louis H. Everts
Number of Pages: 700

USA > Massachusetts > History of the Connecticut Valley in Massachusetts, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Vol. I > Part 18

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THE NARRAGANSETT SWAMP-FIGHT.

The white inhabitants of New England now began to con- sider that with them it had become a matter of life and death. It was evident to their minds that should the powerful Nar- ragansetts unite with the other tribes in the war, the days of civilized New England would soon come to a tragie end. To prevent such a union of the tribes, no less a project was deemed necessary than to break at once and forever the power of the Narragansetts. The Narragansetts had already broken their treaty made but a few months before, and were already making hostile demonstrations.

The commissioners of the United Colonies met at Boston on the 2d of November. They accordingly made a formal declaration of war against the Narragansetts, ordered one thousand men to be raised from the several colonies, appointed Governor Winslow, of Plymouth, commander-in-chief, agree- ing that the second in command should be appointed by the General Court or Council of Connecticut when the forces should be in that colony. The Commissioners further ordered that the Connecticut soldiers should rendezvous at Norwich, Stonington, and New London, and those of Massachusetts and Plymouth at Rehoboth, Providence, and Warwick, by the 10th of December. They also recommended to the several colonies to appoint the 2d of December following a day of humiliation and prayer for the success of the enterprise in which they were about to engage. We again quote from Mr. Moors :

"The Narragansetts were the most powerful of the New England tribes. The colonists regarded them as their most dangerous enemies, and a thousand men, levied in the colo- nies, invaded their territory, came stealthily upon their cluster of wigwams, which were speedily set on fire, and not only were the savage warriors slain, but their old men, their wives and little ones, perished by hundreds in the flames. Much blame has been attached to the English for this act of cruelty, equaling almost in barbarity the conduct of the savages them- selves. It was a terrible thing to do, but we have learned, even in our day, that war in its very nature is full of cruel- ties, and we certainly can have a feeling of charity, if not of full forgiveness, for our fathers, who had reason to know that there was no safety for them or their families except as this savage element was rooted out of the land. It had become a war of extermination on both sides."

The "Swamp-Fight" occurred on the 19th of December. Winter bad then already set in with great severity, travel was almost impossible, and both whites and Indians remained in

HISTORY OF THE CONNECTICUT VALLEY.

elose quarters till the last of January, 1676, when a sudden thaw took off the snow.

IV.

THIE CAMPAIGN OF 1676 IN THE VALLEY.

After the destruction of their fort, the Narragansetts deter- mined to unite their fortunes with Philip against the English. So, when the January thaw had cleared the ground, a large part of this tribe set out, under the lead of their sachem Ca- nonehet, for the Nipmuck headquarters at Quaboag, now Brookfield. They reached Brookfield about the middle of February, and remained there about two weeks.

But the English troops were also in motion, and the mounted men under Maj. Thomas Savage, and the Connecticut troops under Maj. Treat, reached Brookfield about the 2d of March.

THE GATHERING OF THE TRIBES AT SQUAK-HEAG IN THE SPRING OF 1676.

Upon learning of the near approach of the English the Indians left Quaboag and went northward. This band com- prised the Narragansetts, the Nipmucks, and the Grafton In- dians, a " miscellaneous crowd," numbering in all about two thousand souls. The English pursued, but the Indians by a feigned attack drew them off on a wrong trail, so that the whole body of the Indians was safely across Miller's River before the English came to the fording-place, on the 6th of March. The stream was swollen by the spring floods, and the English dare not eross in pursuit. The Indians reached Squak-heag on the 7th of March, and found Philip and his allies already there. In February, Philip had been attacked by the Mohawks, and driven back to the valley of the Con- nretient. This gathering of the tribes at Northfield in the early spring of 1676 was one of the most notable events of the war. King Philip, chief sachem of the Pokanokets, was there with all the allied tribes. The Indians as well as the whites were conscious that the coming struggle was one of life or death. With Philip were his kinsman, Quinnapin, and Canonchet, the son of Miantonomo, the hereditary sachem of the powerful Narragansetts. With Philip were San-cum- a-cha, a sachem of Non-o-tuck, who was the leader of the Pa-comp-tucks and _tgawams, and Mautamp, chief of the Nipmucks. With Philip also were large numbers of strag- glers from the broken tribes, making in all, with the Squak- heuys, a mixed multitude two thousand five hundred strong.

On the 27th of April a captured Indian told Samuel Marsh- field that the Indians " had three forts this side Wassquack- heag ; that the number of Indians at Deerfield and on the river was three thousand, of whom one thousand were men."*

Early in May the Indians separated into four parties. One remained at Squak-heay for planting and fishing; one went to the Pa-comp-tuck meadows to plant corn ; one to Puquayug, now Athol, for the same purpose; and a large crowd gathered at Pas-quam-scut, now Turner's Falls, to fish. It was against those at Pas-quam-seut that evil was impending.

The Indians at Pa-comp-tuck began their corn-planting, as was their usual custom, on the JOth of May, and planted-it was estimated at the time differently-from one hundred to three hundred acres. Early in the spring of 1676 an order or request was made by the Court at Boston for the outlying towns in the valley all to remove to Springfield and Hadley. This movement was so stoutly opposed by Westfield and Northampton that on the Ist of April the order was rescinded and the plantations allowed to remain.t

THE FALLS FIGIIT.

By far the most important action of the war in the year 1676 which occurred in the valley took place at Pas-quam-

seut Falls, the great Indian fishing-ground, on the morning of the 19th of May, O. S., corresponding to our 3Ist.

In the opening of spring a large English force, consisting of four Massachusetts companies and four from Connecticut, were stationed in the towns of Northampton, Hadley, and llatfield. From time to time small parties of Indians attacked their outposts, but gained no considerable advantage. Hear- ing of the large gathering of Indians at the Falls, an expedi- tion was planned against them. We again quote from the Rev. Mr. Moors' historical address.

" It was resolved to make a night-attack upon the Indian camp at the Falls. A force of one hundred and sixty mounted men, under command of Capt. Turner, was dispatched from Hatfield for this purpose. Making their way by a night- march of twenty miles, they passed the ruins of Deerfield, forded the Deerfield River near the north end of Pine Hill, passed over Petty's Plain, and erossed the Green River near Nash's Mill. In crossing the Deerfield, the guide, by mistake, took them to the west of the customary fording-place. The mistake saved them from an attack. Some Indians eneamped near Cheapside heard the crossing of the troops, and started to intercept them at the ford ; but finding no one there, they hastily inferred it was some moose they had heard, and retired to their own quarters.

" Then, turning to the cast, Turner's party made their way through the forest, following an Indian trail, upon the north edge of the swamp, till they reached the level ground north- west of Factory village. Dismounting here, and leaving their horses in charge of a small guard, they hastened noiselessly down into the 'Hollow,' forded Fall River just above the upper bridge, and sealed the abrupt bank on the opposite side, and there reached the summit north of Mr. Stoughton's house, and drew up in line on the gentle slope south of Mr. Stough- ton's house. The Indian eamp was now just before them.

" The day was just dawning. All was still and peaceful as a Christian Sabbath-day. The only sound to be heard was the morning song of the birds and the monotonous roar of the waters of the 'Great River,' as they dashed tumultuously over the rocks. The dusky warrior slept in unguarded, un- suspecting security. If he dreamed of war, it was of some distant scene where he carried death and destruction to some settlement of the hated foe. He did not dream how near the danger was to him. The silent signal was given, and the eager soldiers moved silently nearer their sleeping enemy, and, at the word of command, poured a volley of musketry into those unprotected eabins. The Indians, roused from profound sleep, sprung upon their feet in terror, some crying out ' Mohawks ! Mohawks!' believing, in their sudden fright, that their furious enemy was upon them. They made but a feeble and useless resistance. Many were killed on the spot by shot and sword, others rushed madly into the river, and were swept away by its resistless torrent. Report says that one hundred and forty persons passed over. the cataract that morning, and that all but one were drowned. * * * *

* *

" The firing soon aroused the other camps across the river and at Smead's Island. A party soon erossed above the Falls to assist their companions in their need. Twenty of Turner's men were sent to attack them, while the main body started for the spot where their horses had been left. This little band proved not to be strong enough, and were forced to retire and with difficulty joined their comrades ; and altogether, having recovered and mounted their horses, they started on their return to Hatfield. But by this time the Indians at Smead's Island had erossed to the west shore and assailed the left and the rear of the English.

" It seems to have been no part of Turner's plan to attack the other camps. The English had learned and adopted the Indian mode of warfare,-by sudden and unexpected night- attacks, and to retire as soon as there is danger that the

* Temple and Sheldon's Northfield, p. 90.

+ Ser Holland's Hist. of Western Mass., Vol. II., pp. 112-119.

HISTORY OF THE CONNECTICUT VALLEY.

assailed party may be reinforced. Up to the time of the order to return and commence their homeward march, it, in the ambiguous language of war, might have been styled a ' glo- rious victory.' But from that moment the fortunes of war seem to have changed.

" The assault upon their flank and rear by an unseen foe, firing from behind the covert of the trees, caused a sudden panie, heightened by a baseless rumor, which spread among the men, that King Philip had arrived with a thousand war- riors. Order and discipline were lost; the force was broken up into little detached parties, each one intent only on self- preservation. The vietory of the early morning, so complete, and attended with so little loss, became a stampede for per- sonal safety,-a procedure most fatal- to themselves and most favorable to their savage pursuers, who assailed each wander- ing squad and gained an easy victory over them. One party, getting lost in the woods and swamps, were taken prisoners, and the tradition is that they were put to death by burning."

The loss of the Indians was variously estimated. It may have been as high as two hundred, men, women, and children. In the disastrous retreat of the English forces from the scene of the morning's encounter the whole loss was about thirty men. Among the slain was Capt. Turner, who was killed in the Greenfield Meadows. Capt. Holyoke, the second in com- mand, also died before the winter. Although but twenty-eight years old, the exertions of the day broke down his strength. The beautiful falls on the Connecticut long since lost their old Indian name, and now bear the name of the lamented com- mander of the fight, Capt. Turner. An account of Capt. Turner will be found in the history of Greenfield, farther on in this work.

After the Falls fight, the Indians, on the 30th of May, at- tacked Hatfield with a force of two hundred and fifty warriors, killed five men, burned many houses, and drove away a large number of horses and cattle.

Again, on the 12th of June, the same party attacked Hadley, and were repulsed. This ended the main incidents of the war in the valley. Upon the death of King Philip, on the 12th of August following, the savages left their homes in the valley never to return, except from time to time in a few roving, pre- datory bands.

EXAMINATION OF ME-NOWN-IETTS.

In the month of August, 1676, an Indian named Me-nowen- ietts was examined at Hartford, whose testimony we append as a matter of interest to the reader :

" Me-nown-ietts' Erumination, August, 1676.

" Where have you been these 12 months? He answered, 'He was halfe a Mo- heug and halfe a Naragoncett; he came last year to Norwottog, and bath speut most of his time in hunting.'

" Being askt wheth" he had been in any engagements against the English ? he said, 'Yes; he was in that fight that was above Northampton, where he saw 7 English slayn in one place; and others were slayn, but how many he knows not.'

" How many Indians were killed in the fight? He answered, 'Not one.'

" Where went you next? He says, 'They went to Pucomptock and assaulted that, about 60 of them, and slue one Englishman,' Where had you the next en- gagement wth the English ? Ile sayth, ' He was at N. Hampton when it was as- saulted last spring, whr they lost an Indian and 4 wounded; one was mortally wounded, In ye Fall fight were slayu 40 Norwottoy Quapang, 10 Narogancets, and [ ]. Ile was at Hadley fight and shot in yo leg.' Whoe were those that kild the man between Midleton & Wethersfield? ' Manch, Co-hus, To- sa-rum, Cuircohoage, We-wu-to-as.'

"Who killed G. Elmore at Podunk ? ' He was one of them himselfe ; there was

9 in company ; 3 did the business, which were Wemicoss, Johnnot, and Mashinott.' " He also sayth Cohas and anothers Naragancet shot Wm, Ilill.

" Who kild Henry Denslow? ' Wegwash S., Weuwosse, Moheg, Whowassumoh- Wer., Purrumcroire Spr., and Muircahwat, Spr., Sanchomoire, Que; and Wesoneke- tiacher, Nor ; and these were those that burnt Simsbury.'

" Cohas burnt G. Coal's house; Separcutt was with the Indians or enemies at Wah- hosutt, andl said he had kild 7 English of ye seaside.

" Ile sayth that the Norwottach, Springfield Indians, and others are gon to a place abont Hudson's River called Puguayag, and were encouraged to come there by a great man of those parts, whoe hath allso encouraged them to engage against the English, and that they should not be weary of it.

"IIe did not see the man nor doth not know who it was, He was askt where

they had ye ammunition to carry on the war; he said the Powgning Indians bought it of ye Inteh and sold it ym.

" He was askt how many of the North Indians had gon that way ? He sayth, 'About 90 men of them and Sucquance is wth them ; he was very sick, and as like to die as live.'

" Cohas, Wemussumoch Spr., Mammawmpaquack Spr., were in company wtb him; in the woods weere Tunces and 3 squas and 4 children ; they had 2 horses, and prase and corn ; they took from G. Coal's farme.

" Ile sayth ye Indians hid a great many gunns about Pacompmuch; ye place he described to Tota. He sayth he took an Englishman at the Longmeadow about Springfield captive, and carryed him away, but he got away afterwards he thinks. Wt Indians be at Housetmek? 'None. They are all gon to Paging, yo west side of Hudson River .**

"Taken before JOHN ALLYN, " Assist."

CHAPTER XVI.

THE FRENCH-AND-INDIAN WARS-1609 TO 1763.

I. 1609 TO 1642.

THE century and a half of warfare waged between the Eng- lish and Dutch settlers and their Indian allies of the Atlantic Slope on the one part, and the French colonists and their In- dian allies of the valley of the St. Lawrence and the great lakes on the other part, was a struggle for the mastery of the North American continent by peoples holding diametrically opposing ideas,-Roman Catholicism, fostered by despotic royalty, on the side of the French in Canada ; Protestantism, upheld by constitutional liberty, on the side of New England, New York, Pennsylvania, and Virginia.

The story of these long wars waged in the depths of the old wilderness reads more like the wild romances of the savage border-wars of ancient and medieval times than it does like the history of wars waged as they were between enlightened nations in comparatively modern times. But the Indian and the forest dragged down as it were the humane and eivilizing tendencies of the white men engaged with them to their own wild and savage level. Hence the old French-and-Indian wars were marked by a thousand atrocities elsewhere unknown in modern times. Many of these atrocities occurred in the Connectieut Valley in Massachusetts, some account of which will be given farther on in this chapter, or in the town histories farther on in this volume. In order, however, properly to comprehend the subjeet, brief mention must be made of pre- ceding events as well as of the closing scenes of the great drama.

CHAMPLAIN'S FIRST BATTLE WITH THE IROQUOIS.

In the year 1609, eleven years before the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth, two important events took place in America. One was the discovery and exploration by Samuel de Champlain of the lake in the early summer, and the other was the dis- covery and exploration of the river by Henry Hudson in the early autumn of that year, which lake and river each will bear the name of its immortal discoverer to the latest posterity.

Champlain, then the Governor of New France, had estab- lished his infant colony of Quebee only the year before, although Jacques Cartier, the discoverer and first explorer of the river St. Lawrence,-the old Indian Ho-che-la-ga,-had first sailed upon its waters up as far as the rapids below Montreal, in the year 1535.

The Indians told Champlain of a wilderness-sea stretching many days' journey to the south of the St. Lawrence into the country of the Iroquois, and in the spring he determined to visit and explore it. He set out from Quebec as soon as the melting snows would permit, and proceeded first up the St. Lawrence and then up the Iroquois River-as then called; now known as the Richelieu or Sorel-into the lake that has since borne his name. Entering the broad waters of the lake, he continued on his way, traveling only in the night-time and "lying on the shore by day, as his Algonquin attendants were

* Coun. Col. Rec., Vol. II., p. 471.

HISTORY OF THE CONNECTICUT VALLEY.

in mortal fear of meeting the much-dreaded Iroquois on the war-path. Their fears were soon to be realized. On the even- ing of the 29th day of July, Champlain met a flotilla of Iro- quois paddling down the lake. Both parties landed, and waited till the dawn of day. Then the Iroquois marched bravely up to Champlain and offered battle. Champlain discharged his firearms, and the Iroquois, terrified at the strange noise, fled, with the loss of two of their bravest war-chiefs. This en- counter, fought on the soil of Northern New York, was the beginning of the long enmity between the French and the Iroquois, which, for more than a century and a half, often crimsoned the soil of the old wilderness-with blood.

II. THE DISCOVERY OF LAKE GEORGE.

Champlain went up the lake which bears his name far enough to hear the chiming waters of the outlet of Lake George, but returned without seeing it, in the olden time the fairest of all the wilderness-waters.

The first white men who saw Lake George were the Jesuit Father Isaac Jogues and his companions, René Goupil and Guillame Couture. They were taken over its waters as pris- oners-tortured, maimed, and bleeding-by the Mohawks in the month of August, 1642. Since their encounter with Champlain in 1609 the Iroquois had ceased to make war upon their Algonquin enemies on the St. Lawrence, but they had not forgotten their humiliating defeat. At length the Dutch had supplied them with firearms, and their hour of sweet revenge had come. Among their first victims was Father Jogues. In a year or two Jogues escaped from the Mohawks and returned to Canada. In the year 1646 he returned to the Mohawk country to make a treaty with the Iroquois, and on his way again passed over Lake George. lle entered the lake on the eve of Corpus Christi, and in honor of the day named it " The Lake of the Blessed Sacrament." It was known as Lake St. Sacrament until Sir William Johnson, in the summer of 1755, changed its name to Lake George, in honor of Eng- land's Hanoverian king.

III. TRACY AND COURCELLE IN 1666.

Again, in 1666, there was war between the French and the Iroquois. The Iroquois took the war-path and committed many depredations in Canada. In retaliation, the Marquis de Tracy, Lieutenant-General of Canada, and Governor Courcelle, in the autumn of 1666, marched a large force through the wil- derness to the Mohawk towns and destroyed them.

And so the war raged between the French and the Iroquois until the Revolution of 1688 in England raised a line of Cal- vinistic kings to the British throne, the effect of which was to bring about long wars with France.

IV. KING WILLIAM'S WAR.

We now come to the first of the long series of French-and- Indian wars in which the English colonies were involved. The English Revolution of 1688-which dethroned the Stuart dynasty and elevated William of Orange and Mary of England to the British throne, and which was in many ways so beneficent in its effects upon England-involved serious consequences to the dependencies of the British crown. Although bloodless in England, it resulted in the battle of Boyne Water in the year 1689, the animosities of which, there engendered, still linger in the breasts of Irishmen, and brought about the sacking and burning of Schenectady in the depth of the winter of 1690, which was the beginning of seventy long years of colonial warfare.

During these seventy years of border warfare, from 1690 to 1760, many incidents occurred directly or remotely affecting the people of the valley of the Connecticut. During these seventy years the people of the valley were in constant fear of

the savage invader, and many times suffered from the attacks of the French and Indians. Yet it will not be attempted in this chapter to do much more than to make mention of the more important incidents, leaving the details thereof, and the mention of the minor events, to the narrations of the town historians in the succeeding chapters of this work.

The Canadian Invasion of 1690 .- The first attempt made to invade Canada by the province of New York, jointly with the New England colonies, was in the year 1690.

On the 1st day of May, 1690, the first American Congress met at the old fort in the city of New York. In pursuance of its resolutions, a joint undertaking of the colonies was planned and fitted out for the conquest of Canada. It was to consist of two expeditions,-one overland against Montreal, and another by sea against Quebec. The command of the overland expedition was given to Gen. Fitz-John Winthrop, of Connecticut. The province of Massachusetts had, two days before the meeting of this Congress, fitted out and sent by sea an expedition against Port Royal, under Sir William Phipps. The fleet consisted of eight small vessels, with seven or eight hundred men. The fort surrendered with little resist- ance, and Sir William took possession of the whole coast, from Port Royal to New England. This success by sea greatly encouraged the expedition by land undertaken by the United Colonies.

On the 14th day of July, Gen. Winthrop, with the New England troops, left Hartford, and passing through a virgin wilderness, whose shades were broken only by the little settle- ments at and near Albany, reached Stillwater, on the Hudson, on the 1st day of August. On the day after, he reached Sar-agh-to-ga, on the Iludson, where he found Maj. Peter Schuyler, with the New York troops, waiting his arrival. The expedition went still farther up the Hudson, and crossed the " Great Carrying-Place" to Wood Creek, the head-waters of Lake Champlain, but went no farther. Like one after another of the many expeditions which followed it during the long seventy years of forest warfare, this first one was an utter failure. The expedition by sea, under Sir William Phipps, consisting of thirty vessels, with two thousand men, reached Quebec late in the fall, but effected nothing.

French and Indians in the Connecticut Valley .- It was not long before Count de Frontenac adopted retaliatory measures. The first demonstration of the war made in Massachusetts was an attack by the French and Indians upon Brookfield about the 1st of August, 1692.

On the 6th of June, 1693, the Indians attacked Deerfield, and again in October, 1694, in August, 1695, and again in the fall of 1696.

In the summer of 1698 a party of Indians attacked Hatfield. The treaty of Ryswick, signed between England and France on the 20th of September, 1697, brought a short peace to the colonies. On the 4th day of May, 1702, war was declared between England and France.

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History of the Connecticut Valley in Massachusetts, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Vol. I, Part 18

Author: L.H. Everts & Co Publication date: 1879 Publisher: Philadelphia : Louis H. Everts Number of Pages: 700

Author: L.H. Everts & Co
Publication date: 1879
Publisher: Philadelphia : Louis H. Everts
Number of Pages: 700