USA > Massachusetts > The history of Massachusetts, the colonial period. 1492-1692 v. I > Part 19
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217
SETTLEMENT OF CONNECTICUT.
came to drive out the intruders ; but finding their strength, CHAT. and that blood must be shed in the contest, the assailants, after a futile demonstration, prudently withdrew, and " pro- posed a parley."1
Previous to this, at the instance, it is supposed, of Sir Richard Saltonstall, who had crossed over from America to England, the fee of the soil of Connecticut, which is said to have been purchased of the Council for New England by the Earl of Warwick,2 was transferred to Lord Say and Seal, Lord Brook, John Hampden, and others, who held it Mar. 19. as his assigns. The people of New Plymouth, however, 1031 -.. were the first English who settled the country, and they, with the Dutch, who had erected at Hartford the " House of Good Hope," were its only white occupants in 1633. As both the Dutch and the Pilgrims claimed to be lawful proprietors of the soil, and as the grantees under the Earl of Warwick had issued commissions to the eldest son of July 7. Governor Winthrop, to make entrance and occupy the terri- 1635. and 15, tory,3 controversies between the rival claimants seemed inevitable ; and the Massachusetts Colony became involved in these controversies, in consequence of the removal of the inhabitants of Dorchester to Mitteneag, now Windsor, where the Plymouth people had erected their trading house.4
The removals from Massachusetts were effected as fol- lows : - The inhabitants of Newtown, who had for some time complained of "want of room," asked permission to remove to Connecticut, but were refused, on the " proca-
1 Winthrop, 1. 134, 182; Bradford, in Prince; Morton's Mem., 90; Hubbard, 172; Hazard, 2. 262; Trumbull, 1. 33-6; Brodhead's New York, 232-242.
2 Chalmers, Ann., 299, and Brod- head, N. Yk., 211, doubt whether the Earl of Warwick ever received a grant of Ct. ; but it is historically
true that he issued a patent to Lord Say and others, in March 1631-2, which may be seen in Trumbull, 1. 495-6.
3 Winthrop, 1. 202-3, 207; Gar- diner, in 3 M. II. Coll., 3, 137; Trumbull, 1. 27, 60, 497-8.
4 Winthrop, 1. 198, 216; Hub- bard, 179; Trumbull, 1. 60, 65.
19
218
SETTLEMENT OF CONNECTICUT.
CHAP. tarctic" plea that their strength was needed at home. VIII. Soon after, a messenger from the Indians visited Boston, Sept., 1631. and offered all their rights at Connecticut, if a plantation should be erected there ; but the Pequots having murdered Captain Stone and his crew, the Massachusetts people first demanded satisfaction for this murder, after which a treaty
June, of peace was to be concluded. A little later, a bark of 1635. Sir Richard Saltonstall's arrived at Boston, which was sent May G. "to plant at Connecticut ; " and a party from Dorchester having made an overland journey to the "New Hesperia," and settled at Windsor, there they were located when Mr. Saltonstall's bark arrived.1 These emigrants from Dor- Oct. 15. chester were followed the same fall by about sixty men, women and children, from Newtown, who, taking their journey late in the season, were unable to make suitable provisions for winter, which set in so early, and with such severity, that no supplies could reach them by the river. Hence their cattle perished in great numbers; and the emi- grants suffered such privations, that many of them aban- doned their homes, and waded through the snow to the sea-board, nearly perishing in the attempt ; and some jour- neying by land, and others taking passage in the Rebecca, Dec., 1635. they returned to Boston, leaving a few of their companions behind, who braved out the severities of the season, subsist- ing on acorns, malt, and grains.2
May 31, 1636.
Late in the ensuing spring, when nature was radiant with beauty, and the leaves and grass were sufficiently grown for the cattle to browse, Mr. Hooker, Mr. Stone, and most of the congregation of Newtown, set out for Connecti-
1 Winthrop, 1. 192, 198; Mor- ton's Mem., 92-3, 97; Hubbard, 172-5, 179, 307; 2 M. H. Coll., 8. 42-3; 3 M. H. Coll., 3. 132; Trumbull, 1. 60; Brodhead's N. Y., 257 .- Hubbard suggests that jeal- ousy had something to do with this removal, for " two such eminent
stars, such as were Mr. Cotton and Mr. Hooker, both of the first mag- nitude, though of different influence, could not well continue in one and the same orb."
2 Winthrop, 1. 204, 207, 208, 219; IIubbard, 307-8; Trumbull, 1. 60-3.
219
SETTLEMENT OF CONNECTICUT.
cut; the pastor's wife being borne in a horse-litter, in CHAP. consequence of her feebleness. The party was composed of about one hundred emigrants, men, women and children, some of whom had lived in opulence and comfort in Eng- land; and, taking with them one hundred and sixty cattle, upon whose milk they subsisted by the way, they toiled on, ยท through the pathless forests of the interior of Massachu- setts, with the compass for their guide, having no pillow but Jacob's, and no canopy but the heavens. Mr. Haynes, late Governor of Massachusetts, was one of this party ; and advancing scarce ten miles a day, o'er mountain top, and hill and stream, through tangled woods and dismal swamps, it was a fortnight erc they reached their haven of rest.1 In the fall of the same year, the church at Dorches- Sept. ter, under Mr. Warham, removed to Windsor ;2 and a band from Watertown settled at Wethersfield.3
The same summer, a commission was sent to John Win- July 4, throp, Jr., to treat with the Pequots for the murder of 1636. Capt. Stone, and his companion, Capt. Norton ; and if they refused reparation, the presents they had sent the colonists were to be returned, accompanied by a protest equivalent to a declaration of war.4 This formidable tribe, the cen- tral seat of whose power was between the Mystic and the Thames, was able to muster at least seven hundred war- riors ; and if their feelings towards the English were ever friendly, they were soon changed to those of hatred and revenge.5
Others, however, besides the Pequots, had tasted the blood of the English. John Oldham, whose name has often occurred in these pages, and who had become a resident of the Massachusetts Colony, was murdered by a party of July 20, 1636.
1 Winthrop, 1. 223, 468 ; Hutch- inson, 1. 48; Trumbull, 1. 25, 64-5.
2 Hubbard, 307 ; Trumbull, 1. 65.
& Hubbard, 307 ; Trumbull, 1. 23, 59, 65.
+ 3 M. H. Coll., 3. 129-31.
5 Prince, Chronol. ; 2 M. H. Coll., 8. 122-3; Gookin, in 1. M. H. Coll .. 1; Trumbull, 1. 41-2; Miss Caulkin's Hist. N. London, 19-20.
220
DIFFICULTIES WITH THE PEQUOTS.
CHAP. Block Island Indians, his vessel was robbed, and two boys VIII. were taken captives ; and Roger Williams, then settled at
1636. Providence, having inquired into the affair, Indian messen- gers were sent by Canonicus, with a letter to Governor Vane from Mr. Williams, acquainting him with the particu- lars of this terrible tragedy.1 The magistrates, subjecting to a rigid examination an Indian prisoner, he alleged that "all the sachems of the Narragansets, except Canonicus and Miantonomo," were the contrivers of Oldham's death, and that the messengers were particeps criminis; but, as Canonicus and Miantonomo were exerting themselves to capture the assassins, and the latter for that purpose had gone to Block Island with two-hundred men, the Governor prudently deferred further action until the matter was more fully investigated ; and writing to Mr. Williams for the return of the two boys, and to Canonicus to assist in the arrest of the murderers, a deputation to the latter chief Aug. 8. was sent shortly after,2 who, on their return, reported that he disclaimed being leagued with the murderers, and offered his services, upon " safe and wary conditions," to aid in their arrest.
Aug. 13.
This murder prompted to action; and, as the magis- trates and ministers were in its favor, an expedition to Block Island was at once set on foot. Volunteers for the service presented themselves in great numbers ; and select- ing eighty or ninety of the most resolute," who were placed under John Endicott, Esq., as General, and distributed into four companies, under Capts. John Underhill, and Nathan-
1 Winthrop, 1. 225-7; Morton's Mem., 98-9; Hubbard, 248-50; Underhill, in 3 M. II. Coll., 6. 4. Prince and Trumbull mistake in say- ing Oldham was murdered in 1635. 2 Winthrop, 1. 229 ; 2. 423 ; Hub- bard, 251; Johnson, in 2 M. HI. Coll., 7. 76-7.
* Hutchinson, 1. 60, says eighty ;
Hubbard, 251, says eighty or ninety; Winthrop, 1. 229, says ninety, and 1. 231, he says eighty, beside the officers; Underhill, 3 M. H. Coll., 6. 4, says one hundred; Mason, 2 M. H. Coll., 8. 131, and Niles, 3 M. H. Coll., 6. 162, say one hnn- dred and twenty.
221
EXPEDITION TO BLOCK ISLAND.
iel Turner, and Ensigns William Jennison and Richard CHAP VIH
Davenport, they were embarked in three pinnaces, taking two Indians with them as guides and interpreters. By their commission, they were to " put to death the men of Block Island, but to spare the women and children ; and from thence to go to the Poquots to demand the murderers of Captain Stone and other English, and one thousand fathoms of wampum for damages, and some of their children as hosta- ges, which, if they should refuse, they were to obtain it by force."1
Armed with these extraordinary powers, the fleet set sail, August and in a few days reached Block Island, where, after a Aug31 21 or 25. slight skirmish with the natives, who "entertained them with arrows," but were treated with balls in return, the party landed, and spent the two following days in ravaging the island, destroying wigwams, canoes, and corn; and having " slain some fourteen and wounded others," they sailed for Saybrook, at the mouth of the Connecticut.2
Here they were not very cordially received. The author- ities of Connecticut and Plymouth thought the expedition ill-advised,3 and one of the Massachusetts writers acknowl- edges it to have been a bootless voyage.4 Finding, how- ever, that Mr. Endicott was bent upon proceeding, Licut. Gardiner, the commander of the fort, furnished him with boats and men ; and setting out in " five vessels," the party entered the Pequot river, now the Thames, and " parleyed" with the natives ; but not satisfied with their apologies, the troops landed, and here, as at Block Island, commenced the work of devastation, destroying wigwams, canoes, and corn ; and leaving the men furnished by Gardiner to
1 Winthrop, 1. 229-30; Hub- bard, 252; Mason, 2 M. H. Coll., 8. 131 : Underhill, 3 M. H. Coll., 6. 4. 2 Winthrop, 1. 231-2, 238; Un- derhill, 3 M. II. Coll., 6. 6-7; Trum- bull, 1. 72-3.
3 Winslow, in Winthrop, 1. 238; Trumbull, 1. 77.
4 Johnson in 2 M. H. Coll.
5 Winthrop, 1. 232; Gardiner, 3 M. HI. Coll., 3. 141; Underhill, 3 M. H. Coll., 6. 7.
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222
INTERCESSION OF ROGER WILLIAMS.
CHAP. shift for themselves, the victors, flushed with success, VIII. returned safe to Boston, "which was a marvellous provi- Sep. 14, dence of God, that not a hair fell from the head of any of 1636. them, nor any sick or feeble person among them."1
Very soon rumors were rife, that the Pequots and Narra- gansets were at truce, and that the former were plying the latter with the most powerful of all arguments - self-pre- servation - to join them in exterminating the English. It was a critical time. The danger seemed imminent. In this sad extremity, the chief hope of the colonists lay in the intercession of Mr. Williams, whose influence with the Narragansets was known to be great. But would one whom they had expelled from their midst under circum- stances of such ignominy, interfere in their behalf? It marks the magnanimous nature of the exile, that he hes- itated not for a moment to proffer his aid. "Putting his life in his hands" - for the enterprise was extremely haz- ardous - and scarce acquainting his wife with his inten- tions, he embarked alone, in a frail canoe, and cut through a "stormy wind, with great seas," to the house of Canoni- cus. The Pequot ambassadors were there before him ; and for three nights and days he was forced to mix with them, hourly expecting their knives at his throat. But " God wonderfully preserved him, and helped him to break in pieces the Pequots negotiations and designs; " and shortly Oct. 21. after Miantonomo, and two of the sons of Canonicus, came to Boston, and in the presence of the magistrates and min- isters signed a league of peace and alliance.2
The result of the expedition to Block Island was only to exasperate the Indians, who, thirsting for revenge, " set out upon a course of greater insolence than before, and
1 Winthrop, L. 232-3, 235; Gar- diner, in 3 M. H. Coll., 3. 141; Underhill, in 3 M. H. ColL., 6. 11; Mass. Rec's., 1., 88.
* Winthrop, 1. 236-8 ; Williams's Lett., in 1 M. H. Coll., 1. 277, and 3 M. HI. Coll., 1. 159; Trumbull, 1. 74-6.
223
DEPREDATIONS OF THE INDIANS.
slew all they found in their way." At Saybrook, they CHAP. dared the garrison to fight; and one Samuel Butterfield
VIUI. being out with others to gather hay, he was taken prisoner, 1 .... and roasted alive.1 Two weeks later, five or six others were attacked, and most of them wounded. And in the winter, Lieut. Gardiner, with nine or ten men, having ven- Feb. : "", tured out to burn weeds, was drawn into an ambuscade, 1036-7. and two of his men were slain.2 Supposing Gardiner was also killed, the Indians invested the fort, and jeeringly cried to the inmates, " Come and fetch your Englishmen's clothes! Come out and fight, if you dare ! You dare not fight ! You are all like women !" But Capt. Mason, the warrior of the colony, who had fought in the Netherlands under Sir Thomas Fairfax, being sent to their relief, the Mar h besiegers were repelled ; and by the arrival of Capt. Un- derhill, from Massachusetts, the company was so strength- April. ened that the Indians withdrew, and passing up to Weth- 1607. ersfield, a body of two hundred fell upon the town, slew Apr. 223. nine men, women and children, and took two maids cap- tives, who were subsequently redeemed by the Dutch.3 Probably about the same time, John Tilly was seized, tied to a stake, flayed alive, hot embers were thrust into his flesh, and his hands and feet were cut off, in which mutila- ted condition he lingered three days.
This succession of tragedies spread alarm throughout the colonies ; and, thoroughly aroused to the necessity of strik- May 1.
1 Winthrop, 1. 236; Gardiner, in 3 M. H. Coll., 3. 142-3; Under- hill, in 3 M. H. Coll., 6. 11; Hub- bard, 252; Drake's Boston, 203.
2 Winthrop, 1. 252; Gardiner, in 3 M. HI. Coll., 3. 142-3; Under- hill, in 3 M. H. Coll., 6. 11 ; Trum- bull, 1. 76.
3 Winthrop, 1. 260, 266-7; Ma- son, in 2 M. II. Coll., 8. 123, 132; Gardiner, in 3 M. II. Coll., 3. 146; Underhill, in 3 M. II. Coll., 6, 12, Wethersfield affair.
17, 19 ; Vincent, in ibid., 35 .- Mr. Drake, Hist. Bos'n., 206, mistakes in saving Gov. Haynes, from whom the Mass. people heard of this trag- edy, left Boston. Ap. 3. He left May 2, and May 12 his letter was received. Winthrop, 1. 260.
+ Winthrop, 1. 238, and Trum- bull, 1. 75, date the murder of Til- ley in Oct., 1636; but both Gardiner and Underhill place it after the
224
THE PEQUOT WAR.
CHAP. ing a more effectual blow, a court was convened at Hart- VIL. ford, and immediate war was decreed. But the settlements were weak. There were probably not more than three hundred white men in all in Connecticut at this time ; and out of this number, but ninety could be spared for the war. The command of such of these as could be May 10, readily mustered, was given to Capt. John Mason, who 1637. received his staff of office from the hands of Mr. Hooker ; and Uncas, with about eighty of his Mohegan warriors joining him, Fort Saybrook was made their rendezvous ; May 15. but before Mason arrived here, the Mohegans, who had landed, as a test of their fidelity sent out scouts and took several prisoners.1
The vessels being wind-bound at Saybrook, a council was May 17 to 19. held; and although the instructions to Capt. Mason were, to proceed at once to the Pequot river, it was resolved to sail first to Narraganset Bay, and thence march overland to the attack, that the Indians might be taken by surprise ; May 20. and immediately setting sail, the next day the party arrived May 21. at their destined port, and there spent the Sabbath.3 The Pequots, seeing these vessels sail past the Thames, were completely blinded ; and thinking the English had aban- doned their design, they sent up shouts of joy, and despatch- ing runners to call in their people, they prepared to hold a grand festival to commemorate their deliverance.
Meanwhile Mason's troops steadily pursued their course ; May 23. and after holding an interview with Miantonomo, who was chary of his offers, the little army, numbering less than
1 Winthrop, 1. 266-7; Mason, in 2 M. H. Coll, 8. 132-3 ; Gardiner, in 3 M. H. Coll., 3. 148-9; Under- hill, in 3. M. H. Coll., 6. 15-16 ; Vin- cent, in ibid., 3. 36; Trumbull, 1. 79-80. The latter says the troops arrived at Saybrook on the 15th; but Mason says on Wednesday, the 17th. The Mohegan sortie was
probably made on the 15th, as in the text.
2 Mason, in 2 M. II. Coll., 8 135. We give the preference to the nar- rative of Mason here, because he was a participant in the war, and the best competent, perhaps, to give an authentic account.
. FORT MISTIC ATTACKED.
eighty English, and about as many Mohegans, set out to CHAP
meet four times that number of Pequot warriors. Nothing VIII. daunted, however, they marched to Niantick, some twenty May 21, miles distant ; and quartering there for the night, the next 1077. day they were joined by a lage body of Narragansets and May 25. Nianticks, numbering towards five hundred. At eight o'clock the march was resumed; and fording the Pawcatuck, twelve miles from their rendezvous, notwithstanding the warmth of the weather they pressed on, and after nightfall encamped near a swamp, between two hills, on land now in Groton, about two miles from Fort Mistic, where the Pequots had assembled to hold their festival, aided by the light of a brilliant moon, and where their shouts of revelry were heard, pealing upon the air until midnight, when all was quiet. 1
On the morrow, ere the first blush of daylight tinged the Friday, East, the troops were roused ; and guided by Wequash, a May 26. Pequot deserter, they threaded their way to the foot of a hill, and the fort stood before them! Although the Mohe- gans remained firm, most of the other Indians had fled ; and the rest were only detained by the assurance of Capt. Mason that they should receive no harm ; that the English alone would enter the fort; and that they might surround it, to seize such as escaped.
As there were two entrances to the fort, at different points, Capt. Mason advanced upon one, and Capt. Under- hill upon the other. Drawing near the palisade, by the barking of a dog the first alarm was conveyed to the doomed Pequots ; and their sentinel shouting, "Owanux ! Owanux !" - English ! English !- a volley of shot was poured through the openings, and Mason, wheeling his platoon, fell upon the main entrance, which was blocked
1 Compare the accounts of Mason, details, which we have sought to Vincent, and others, in the M. H. reconcile. Coll. There are, as usual, discrepant
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226
FORT MISTIC ATTACKED.
CHAP. with bushes about breast high, and pressing them aside VIII. entered the enclosure. The cries of the Pequots, who were 163S. completely at bay, touched the hearts of some ; but remem- bering the blood they had shed, and their cruelty to their captives, they " hardened their hearts, and stopped their ears; " and adopting the motto that "mercy mars all sometimes, and severe justice must now and then take place," the attack was continued. The space within was crowded with wigwams, sixty or seventy in number, covering a space of one or two acres ; 1 and the savages, had they not been paralyzed by the suddenness of the onslaught, might easily have repelled the invaders. As it was, both Capt. Mason and his troops were near being overcome ; and finding a different course must be adopted, a brand was seized, and the wigwams were fired. This decided the battle. The flames rolled on with terrific speed, crackling and flashing upon the stillness of the morn- ing air, and mingled with shouts, and groans of agonizing despair, as body after body disappeared and was consumed. The savages without
" Doubly redoubled strokes upon the foe,"
and shot down all who attempted to escape, or made pris- oners of such as could be seized ; and in a little more than an hour's time, the strife was over ! Several hundred Indians perished by the sword or the flames; seven only escaped ; seven were taken prisoners. It was a fatal blow to the Pequots, for the flower of their strength was gone.
Ere the sun was an hour high, the whole work ended; and the conquerors, retreating to their vessels, which had been ordered to sail into the harbor, were beset on their
1 Underhill, 3 M. H. Coll., 6. 23, note, says the fort covered but one acre of ground. Vincent, in ibid., 38, says two acres. Some modern au- thorities say twenty acres; but the
Indians never enclosed so large a space, and the Narraganset fort, in 1676, in which were five hundred wigwams, covered but five or six acres.
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227
PROSECUTION OF THE WAR.
march by a body of about three hundred warriors, under CHAP. Sassacus, advancing from their second fort, confident of ~ success. What was their horror at beholding the smoulder- 1077. ing ruins, strewn with crisped bodies, blackened and dis- figured ! Frantic with rage, they rushed madly on, stamp- ing, and yelling, and tearing their hair. But all was in vain ! The victors escaped ; and their arrival at Hartford was hailed with rejoicing.
" It may be demanded," says one of the actors, " Why should you be so furious ? Why should not Christians have more mercy and compassion ?" But his summary reply is : "I would refer you to David's war. Sometimes the Scripture declareth women and children must perish with their parents. We had sufficient light from the word of God for our proceedings."1
The appeals of Connecticut for aid from the Bay, were answered as promptly as circumstances would permit ; but the settlers at Plymouth more reluctantly proffered their services, owing to difficulties between them and the Massa- chusetts colonists. A negotiation for the adjustment of these difficulties was appointed, and the interview was held at Boston, two weeks before the attack upon fort Mistic ; May 12. but it was not until nearly a month after that Plymouth June 5. consented to furnish her quota, and then the war was nearly ended.2
The Massachusetts colonists, having heard, through Mian- tonomo, that the Pequots had sent their women and children to an island for safety, sent forty men, under Capt. Patrick, of Watertown, with whom Miantonomo and sixteen of his warriors were to join, and " in the night set upon them ; " and these troops reached Providence two days before the May 21. attack on Fort Mistic, and proceeding thence to Narra-
1 Sce the narratives of Mason, Underhill, Vincent, Gardiner, &c., in the M. II. Coll., and comp. Win- throp, Hutchinson, Trumbull, &c.
2 Winthrop, 1. 260, 270; Wins- low, in Hutch. Coll., 60-1 ; Drake's Boston, 210.
228
TROOPS ENLISTED.
CHAP. ganset, they embarked in the vessels which had conveyed VIII Capt. Mason's troops thither, and arrived at the Pequot river in season to receive the successful combatants.1
Apr. 1S, Besides these forty men, it had been agreed to raise one 1637. hundred and twenty more, who were to be placed under Capt. Israel Stoughton, of Dorchester, with Mr. Wilson, of May 17. Boston, as chaplain ; and at a later date, an order was passed for raising " fifty men more to be sent forth with Capt. Stoughton," and a committee was appointed to pro- portion them upon the towns, and to have them in readiness to march within ten days, if possible.2 But in the mean- time, a rumor having reached Boston that all the English and the Indians had been cut off in the retreat from Fort Mistic, which rumor was confirmed by a post from Plym- outh, the movement of the troops was delayed, until word arrived from Roger Williams that the army was safc, and that " all the Pequots were fled, and had forsaken their forts."3
June 3.
Upon this intelligence the troops were marched; but before their arrival the Pequots, conscious that their doom was sealed, had used all diligence to secrete themselves.4 Capt. Stoughton pursued a feeble and half-famished party of a hundred, and surprised them all, putting to death twenty-two men, and sending the rest, women and chil- dren, as prisoners to Boston.5 After this, uniting with Capt. Mason, the main body of the fugitives was pursued. July. These fled to a swamp, which was surrounded ; nearly two hundred " old men, women and children " were taken pris-
1 Mass. Rec's., 1. 192 ; Winthrop, in 2 M. H. Coll., 8. 145; Under- 1. 265-6 ; Mason, in 2 M. H. Coll., hill, in 3 M. H. Coll., 6. 28 .- Gar- 8. 143-4; Underhill, in 3 M. H. 6. 28. diner, in 3 M. II. Coll., 3. 150, rep- resents Stoughton's army as consist- ing of three hundred men.
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