USA > Massachusetts > Plymouth County > Plymouth > Lives of the governors of New Plymouth, and Massachusetts bay; from the landing of the Pilgrims at Plymouth in 1620, to the union of the two colonies in 1692 > Part 14
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Such were his supposed wrongs. His vengeance could be glutted only by the blood of his enemies. His scheme to accomplish that vengeance, was one of the most ex- traordinary ever conceived by the mind of a savage. He . visited all the tribes dwelling within the limits of New England, for the purpose of organizing a combination to exterminate the whites. The plot seems to have been well and carefully laid, and was ripening apace. Of this confederacy he was to be the chief. Though the sachem of a petty tribe, he soon raised himself to a prouder eminence than was ever before attained by the red man of North America. The Narragansetts had engaged to join him with their whole strength, so that he could
. Hutchinson's History of the Colony of Massachusetts Bay, 276.
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bring into service between three and four thousand war- riors. The spring of 1676, was the period fixed for commencing this great enterprise. The attack was to have been simultaneous from the Cocheco to the Narra- grunsett. But the plot was prematurely developed, and Philip was forced to commence the struggle before he was prepared, and under many disadvantages.
The war commenced in June, 1675, in the following manner. John Sausaman, a praying, or Christian Indian, friendly to the English, gave them notice of the hostile intentions of Philip and his allies. The information he gave, cost him his life. He was met soon afterwards by three or four of Philip's Indians, on a frozen pond, when they knocked him down, and put him under the ice, leaving his gun and hat upon the icc, to make the English believe that he accidentally fell in and was drowned. When the body was found, the wounds upon his head, and the testimony of an Indian, who, from a hill over- looking the spot, saw the murder committed, were suffi- cient proofs against the murderers. They were there- upon arrested, tried at Plymouth in June, 1675, con- demned, and executed. Governor Winslow, in a letter to the governor of Massachusetts, dated 4 July, 1675, says, "I do solemnly profess we know not anything from us that might put Philip upon these motions, nor have we heard that he pretends to have suffered any wrong from us, save only that we had killed some Indians, and intended to send for himself, for the murder of John Sausaman. The last that was executed this week, con- fessed that he saw the other two do the murder. Neither had we any thoughts to command him in about it." Among the Indians, a murderer was left to the revenge
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of relatives and friends of the victim; but the renegade and traitor, was to be slain by any of the tribe who should be able to reach him. Philip regarded Sausaman as traitor. Enraged to see the immediate actors brough to punishment by the English laws, and expecting that it would be his own turn next, being conscious that the murderers were employed by him, he took no pains to exculpate himself; but gathered what strangers he could and together with his own men, marched them up and down the country in arms.
Governor Winslow ordered a military watch to be kept up in every town, but took no other notice of the conduct of the Indians, hoping that when Philip saw that measures were used for apprehending him, the threatened storm would blow over, as it had done sever- al times before. But the Indians coming in to him from several quarters, gave him fresh courage, and he behaved with insolence, first threatening the English at Swansey then killing some of their cattle, and at length rifling their houses. An Englishman, at Swansey, was at length so provoked, that he fired upon an Indian, and wounded him.
This was an act that Philip desired, as among his people there was a superstitious belief, that the party which first shed blood in the struggle, would finally be conquered. He now commenced an active war; and believing, that nothing short of the destruction of the English would secure the Indians from total ruin, he exerted his utmost energies in prosecuting a war of ex- termination. Murder, fire and desolation marked his course. There was scarcely an English family that did not suffer in the loss of relatives, or the destruction of
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property. The approach of the enemy was noiseless, like "the pestilence that walketh in darkness;" and a dwelling wrapt in flames, or a family barbarously mur- dered and scalped, were often the first intimations of their appearance .*
Under the new articles of confederation, the regular triennial meeting of the Commissioners of the United Colonies was holden at Boston, in September of this year, (1675.) Governor Winslow and Thomas Hinck- ley, the two Commissioners from Plymouth, presented to that body "A brief narrative of the beginning and progress of the present trouble between us and the In- dians, taking its rise in the colony of New Plymouth, A. D., 1675." This paper, probably drawn up by Gov- ernor Winslow, recited the circumstances which went to shew the undoubted hostile intent of Philip, from 1671 to the massacre at Swansey, on the 25th of June, 1675. The United Colonies at once declared the war to be a common cause, and ordered the raising of a thousand men.
At the close of the year, the colonies became aware of the necessity of prosecuting an active campaign in the midst of winter. It was no longer doubted that the Narragansett Indians were in secret alliance with Philip. A declaration of war against the Narragansetts was ac- cordingly published in November, by the Commissioners of the United Colonies. Governor Winslow, one of their body, was appointed commander-in-chief of all the the forces. He was well qualified for this important trust, by bravery and ability, tempered with prudence and discretion.
* Willard, in Farmer and Moore's Hist. Coll. iii. 106.
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It has been said that Governor Winslow was an object of the mortal hatred of the Wampanoags, on ac- count of his agency in the capture of Alexander. Philip made no secret of his purpose to avenge the affront ; and the governor found it necessary to put his house in a complete state of defence. Ile deemed it prudent, also. while the war jasted, to place his family out of the reach of the tomahawk, and he accordingly sent his wife and children to Salem .*
The Commissioners, deeming it of the highest in- portance to anticipate their enemies, and frustrate their plans, ordered that the army under General Winslow. should prepare for active service by the 10th December. Instructions were drawn up in form for the conduct of the campaign, addressed to General Winslow ; a portion of which, was as follows :-
" You are, at the time appointed, to march with all convenient speed, with the forces under your command. to the Narriganset country, or to the place where the head quarters or chief rendezvous of the enemy is known to be. And having acquainted your officers and soldiers of your commission and power, you shall require their , obedience thereunto ; and see that they be governed ac-
* " My person, I hear. has been much threatened. I have about twenty men at my house ; have sent away my wife and children to Salem, that I may be less encumbered : have flankered my house, and resolve to maintain it, as long as a man will stand by me " Gor Winslow to Gor. Leverett, 4th July, 1675.
The following order, transcribed from the Old Colony Records, may serve to show the extent of the dangers, which at this time menaced the existence of the colony : " Ordered by the Court, that during the time of public danger. that every one that comes to the meeting on the Lord's day, bring his arms with him, and furnished with at least five charges of powder and shot, nutil further order shall be given, under penalty of 2s. for every such default." At the same time an order was pissed, prohibiting the waste of ammunition by firing at any thing, "except at an Indian, or a wolf," under a further penalty of &s. for every offence.
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cording to rules military, that all profaneness and dis- order in your camp and quarters be avoided as much as in you lieth, and that you impartially punish the break- ing forth thereof in any.
"You are to see that the worship of God be kept up, and duly attended in the army, by daily prayer and invocation of His name, and preaching of His word as you have opportunity, and the Sabbath be not profaned, but that, as much as in you lies, and the emergency of your service will admit, you take care it be duly sanc- tified, and your ministers respect it.
"And that you endeavour as silently and suddenly to surprise the enemy as you can, and if possible draw or force them to an engagement, and therein to do valiantly for the honour of God and of our nation, and the in- terest of the country ; and that you encourage valour in any, and severely punish cowardice."*
The army under the command of Winslow consisted of from fifteen hundred to two thousand men, including volunteers and Indians, and a troop of horse, under com- mand of Captain Thomas Prentice. The Massachusetts forces were divided into six companies, commanded by Captains Mosely, Gardiner, Davenport, Oliver and John- son, under Major Appleton. Those of Connecticut were commanded by Major Treat, who had under him Captains Seily, Mason, Gallop, Watts, and Marshall. The Plymouth forces were commanded by Major Wil- liam Bradford, son of Governor Bradford, and Captain John Gorham. It was unfortunate that Captain Church, in consequence of some previous misunderstanding with
* The Instructions to General Winslow, are published in III Mass. Hist. Coll., i. 66.
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the government, was prevented having a command on this occasion; but, at the particular desire of the com- mander-in-chief, he took part in the campaign as a volun- teer. The Narragansett country, in which were to be the war operations, was almost an entire wilderness. Philip's fort was located in South Kingston, Rhode Island, in an immense swamp, in the centre of which was a piece of high ground, comprising about five or six acres. The fortification was formed by high pallisades, encircling the whole of the elevated land. The palli- sades were encompassed by a thick and almost impenetra- ble hedge of fallen trees, with their branches pointing outward, of almost a rod in width. At one corner there was an opening, where a large fallen tree was placed. rising four or five feet from the ground, but this entrance was defended by a sort of block-house, and by flankers at the sides. The common entrance into this fort, was by passing along the body of a tree, which had been thrown over a body of deep water between the fort and the main land, which could be done only in single file. Within this strong enclosure, the Indians had erected about five hundred wigwams of superior construction, intended for the winter quarters of their whole people, men, women and children. Here they had deposited a large quantity of provisions, and baskets and tubs of corn were so piled one upon another, as to afford additional defence against the English bullets. It is estimated that not less than three thousand people had collected here, as their safe retreats. The warriors were armed with bows and arrows, muskets and tomahawks.
On the 1Sth December, 1675, General Winslow's army marched to attack Philip and his Narragansett al-
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lies, in their strong fort; the weather was cold and stormy, and the snow more than ankle deep on the ground. The houses on their route, in which they ex- pected to quarter that night, had been burnt down by the Indians, before their arrival, and they were destitute of shelter during the night. At the dawn of the follow- ing day, they resumed their march of fifteen miles, and at one o'clock, reached the margin of the swamp, where, having no shelter from the inclemency of the weather, and being short of provisions, they resolved to make an im- mediate attack. Not an Englishman was acquainted with the situation of the Indian fort ; but it was fortunate for them, that, a few days before, some thirty-five of Philip's men had been made prisoners by Captain Mosely, among whom was one named Peter, who turned traitor to his countrymen, and undertook to guide the army through the intricate paths of the forest to the seat of his Sachem. The assault was now commenced; the Indians at the margin of the swamp were driven to their strong hold, and the troops, without any regular order, rushed im- petuousły up to the barriers of the fort; the officers and men were intermixed, but they faced death with boldness. and courage. The gallant Captains, Johnson and Daven- port, with a number of their men, were soon seen to fall, and as one after another was swept off at the narrow passage, by the enemy's fire, others supplied the places of the slain. Overwhelmed by the deadly fire of the Indians, there was a momentary recoil, and the troops throwing themselves down with their faces to the ground, the bullets passed over them. Two other companies ad- vancing, were also compelled to retreat; but, animated by the exhortations and exertions of General Winslow
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and Major Appleton, the soldiers were rallied, and again resumed the conflict. A few officers and men had now forced their way into the fort, and here commenced a personal combat, hand to hand. At this moment, a voice was heard, " they run! they run!" This operated like enchantment upon the English, and a general rush through the barriers ensued; the Indians were driven from their posts at every point, and from wigwam to wigwam in great confusion. An immense slaughter took place; neither men, women nor children were spared; all were hewn down, and the ground was liter- ally encumbered with heaps of the slain. In the midst of this awful fight, fire was communicated to their wig- wams, when the howlings and yells of the savages were mingled with the roar of musketry, the raging of the consuming fire, and the screams of the women and chil- dren ; altogether forming a scene inconceivable appalling to humanity.
The battle continued for three hours with unexam- pled ferocity and obstinacy ; quarters were neither asked nor received, but carnage and death were on every side. The whole army, officers and men, fought with und'aunt- ed courage ; the captains led their men to the conflict, and continued at their head till they received the fatal bullet. Captain Church, always brave, and never in- active, by permission led the second party that entered the fort, and while within, he was struck at the same in- stant with three bullets from a party of the enemy. He received a severe wound in his thigh, and another slight wound, but the third bullet struck against a thick pair of woollen mittens, which was doubled in his pocket, which saved him from a fatal wound. For some time after the
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fort was in possession of the English, the combatants in various parts of the swamp, continued the work of slaughter.
The English being masters of the fort, it became a question whether to hold possession of it for the present, or to abandon it immediately. General Winslow and Captain Church were decidedly in favor of holding pos- session. As the darkness of night was approaching, the troops might find shelter in the wigwams that were not burnt, and avail themselves of the Indians' provisions, which they greatly needed. But this measure was vio- lently and very improperly opposed by one of the Cap- tains and a surgeon, probably from the apprehension that the Indians might rally their forces, and drive them from the fort in their turn. The surgeon asserted that un- less the wounded were removed that night, it could not be effected the next day, when their wounds would be inflamed and painful; and turning to Captain Church, whose blood was then flowing from his wounds, impu- dently said to him, ' that if he gave such advice, he should bleed to death like a dog, before he would endeavor to staunch his wound.' It was now decided to quit the ground, which was done with some precipitation, leav- ing eight of their dead in the fort. It was indeed a cruel dilemma, after fighting three hours, to be compelled to march fifteen miles through the snow, and in a most boisterous night, before they could halt, and the wounded could be dressed ; and it is not strange that many of the wounded died before they could reach their destined quarters. Drake has well said, that the sufferings of the English after this fight, are almost without a parallel in history. The horrors of Moscow will not longer be re-
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membered. The myriads of modern Europe assembled there, bear but a small proportion to the number of their countrymen, compared with that of the army of New England and theirs, in the fight at Narragansett .*
Thus ended this memorable engagement, and the vic- tory on the side of the English was purchased at the high price of eighty men killed, and one hundred and fifty wounded. Six brave captains were killed, viz: Daven- port, Gardiner, Jolinson, Gallop, Seily, and Marshall. Lieutenant Upham was mortally wounded, and Captain John Gorham, of Barnstable, died of a fever on the ex- pedition. The number of Indians slain is uncertain ; but Hubbard says it was confessed by Potock, a great coun- sellor amongst them, who was taken and executed, that seven hundred fighting men were slain, and three hun- dred wounded, the most of whom died. The number of old men, women and children, who were burnt in their wigwams, and who died from hunger and cold, must have been immense.
Such was the result of the great Narragansett-Swamp Fight. The suddenness of the retreat rendered the honors of the victory equivocal, but the consequences of victory followed ; the Narragansetts never recovered from the effects of this terrible disaster. If treachery was ac- tually designed, the crime was sufficiently expiated by this horrible infliction.
When General Winslow arrived at his quarters at Wickford, four hundred of his soldiers, besides the wounded, were rendered unfit for duty, and many of
* Book of the Indians, b. ili c. 2. See accounts of the Narragansett war, as given by Church, Hubbard, Mather, Hutchinson, Trumbull, Baylies, &c. Drake's invaluable book embodies all that is necessary to be known of the Indians of New England.
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them were frost-bitten. The snow that fell during the night rendered travelling almost impracticable.
After some ineffectual attempts to renew the peace, General Winslow, in January, 1676, marched for the swamp, where the diminished forces of the Narragan- setts were posted .. As the English approached, the In- dians fled, and when overtaken, dispersed singly into the swamps, where it became a vain effort to pursue them. The war however was prosecuted with unabated vigor, in the following year, until the death of Philip, in Au- gust, 1676, put a period to the contest. The Indians in all the surrounding country, after the fall of their great leader, generally submitted to the English, or fled and became incorporated with distant tribes.
In this distressing war, more than six hundred of the colonists were slain, twelve or thirteen towns were laid waste, and about six hundred buildings, chiefly dwell- ings, were destroyed by the Indians. The colonists con- soled themselves with the reflection, that they had not made a war of aggression, and that it was on their part unprovoked. In a letter dated 1 May, 1676, Governor Winslow remarked : "I think I can clearly say, that, before these present troubles broke out, the English did not possess one foot of land in this colony which was not fairly obtained, by honest purchase from the Indian pro- prietors."
The fall of Philip was then considered as the extinc- tion of a virulent and implacable enemy. It is now viewed as the fall of a great warrior, a penetrating states- man, and a mighty prince. It then excited universal joy and congratulation, as a prelude to the close of a merci- less war. It now awakens sober reflections, on the in-
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stability of empire, the peculiar destiny of the aboriginal race, and the inscrutable decrees of Heaven. The patri- otism of the man was then overlooked, in the cruelty of the savage ; and little allowance was made for the natu- ral jealousy of the sovereign, on account of the barbari- ties of the warrior. Philip, in the progress of the En- glish settlements, foresaw the loss of his territory, and the extinction of his tribe ; and made one mighty effort to prevent these calamities. He fell, and his fall contribu- ted to the rise of the United States .*
The enterprising spirit of Governor Winslow was too great for his feeble frame, and at the beginning of Febru- ary, 1676, he was compelled to retire from a command. which required a considerable degree of physical hardi- hood no less than military skill. The commissioners of the United Colonies voted him a gratuity of one hundred pounds, and a grant was also made to him by the Ply- mouth Colony, in testimonial of the high sense enter- tained by the people of his eminent services in the pre- ceding campaign.
After the Indian war had terminated, the attention of the government was directed to the great object of obtaining from the King, the long promised charter for the colony. Connecticut had received her charter, and the royal favor had been promised in express terms to the people of Plymouth. Governor Winslow, well aware of the perverse policy prevailing in the mother country, and of the efforts making by Massachusetts to obtain a grant of the lands of Mount Hope, conquered from the Indians, deemed it expedient to enlist the aid of Edmund Randolph, sometimes called the " evil genius
* Ramsay's Univ. Hist., i. 286.
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of New England," who had just been appointed to the collectorship of Boston, and possessed some influence at court. Mount Hope was claimed by Rhode Island, and also by John Crown, a favorite at court, who urged his suit upon the ground of losses sustained by his father in the surrender of Nova Scotia to the French, by the treaty of Breda.
The necessity of sending an agent to London now became apparent, and Governor Winslow was solicited to undertake the mission. Randolph, in a letter to him, dated 29 Jan. 1680, says-" The inclosed, from Crown, came to my hands at Piscataqua: by that you will casily see a necessity of speeding for court. I did not forget to signify your grateful receipt of his Majesty's letters ; and being indisposed, you desired that nothing might be done about Mount Hope, till somebody did appear from your colony. Sir, be assured Mr. Crown will be doing, and his interest at court is not small ; and considering the necessity there is of renewing your charter, you can never do your colony greater service, than to appear yourself at Whitehall, where you will very well stem his designs. I know not yet but I may wait upon you to England, in- tending to be where I may be most serviceable to his majesty's affairs, and assistant to the people of this coun- try."*
Governor Winslow's declining health, however, put it out of his power to gratify the wishes of the peo- ple. It might have been fortunate for the colony, had it been otherwise; as the reputation which Governor Winslow enjoyed at home and in England, aided by his own address and accomplishments as a statesman and
* I Mass. Hist. Coll., vi. 02.
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gentleman, might have secured a charter, and perhaps prolonged the separate existence of the Old Colony.
If it can be said that any one is fortunate, it may le. truly said of the second Governor Winslow. His whole life was passed during the existence of the colony of which he was a native. He knew no other country. He died while it was independent, and before the extinc- tion of its independence was anticipated or seriously ap- prehended.
The early colonists, when they looked into their sit- uation, must always have felt a deep apprehension of possible evils-a sense of insecurity ; an anticipation of the desolation and bloodshed of an Indian war. At the time of his death, the question was settled; the abori- ginals were conquered ; and such as remained in the vi- cinity of the English, were beginning to be objects of commiseration, rather than of terror.
In the accomplishment of this great work, Governor Winslow had been a principal and triumphant actor. In his native colony, he had stood upon the uppermost heights of society. Civic honors awaited him in his ear- liest youth ; he reached every elevation which could be obtained, and there was nothing left for ambition to covet, because all had been gained. The governor acquired the highest military rank, and had been engaged in active and successful warfare, with the highest command then known in New England. He presided over the legisla- tive, executive, and judicial departments of the govern- ment.
Governor Winslow lived on his ample paternal do- main, and his hospitality was not only generous, but (according to the notions of the age) magnificent. In
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