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" We know not yet what damage we did to the enemy in our last engage- ment. But several things that they left behind them on their flight, we found yesterday; which were gun-cases and stockings, and other things of
1 "Such was the statement of Mrs. Lee, a daughter of Major Waldron, who had just been ransomed from the Indians. Sullivan also says seven hundred. Mr. Willis thinks this number overestimated. Capt. Davis of Falmouth states the number to have been between three and four hundred." - History of Portland, by William Willis, p. 277.
2 Church's Expedition, pp. 89, 106.
8 "There is no account of this action, excepting what Church gives in his His- tory. He has described the place where it happened, in such a manner, that it is very difficult now to fix upon it with any degree of certainty. It is clear that the Indians inust either have gone up Fore River, and landed above the town, or have gone up Back Cove, and landed at the head of it. The latter may be believed the most probable." - Sullivan's History of Maine, p. 202.
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some value, together with other signs, that make us think that we did thein considerable damage." 1
. From this point, Major Church advanced, in his vessels, to the Kennebec, which he ascended for some distance. He visited several garrisons, and, returning, left sixty soldiers at Fort Loyal, and then sailed for Boston. Capt. Hall was left in com- mand of the garrison. The terror-stricken people, apprehen- sive that the savages would return with increased numbers, and inflict terrible vengeance, entreated Major Church to take them away in his transports. But he persuaded them to remain, with the assurance that efficient aid should be promptly sent them from Boston. Upon his arrival there, he labored hard, but in vain, to redeem his pledge.
Berwick had revived, and contained about twenty-seven houses. Early in the spring of 1690, a party of French and Indians, having laid waste the settlement at Salmon Falls, made an attack upon Berwick. The assailants consisted of fifty-two men, twenty-five being Indians, and the remainder Frenchmen.2 As usual, the attack was commenced by surprise, in the earliest dawn of the morning. The Indians were led by a renowned chief, called Hopehood.3 The French commander was a Cana- dian officer of distinction, by the name of Artel, or Hartel as it is sometimes spelled.
The English fought with the energies of despair. When almost every man (thirty-four in number) had been shot down, the women and children were compelled to surrender. The victors wantonly shot the cattle, laid all the buildings in ashes, and with fifty-four captives, and all the plunder they could carry, retreated.
A force of a hundred and fifty men, hastily collected, at-
1 Willis's History of Portland, p. 280, quoting from Hutchinson Papers.
Mather writes, "Being half one, and half t'other; half Indianized French, and half Frenchified Indians."
8 "Hopehood was a celebrated chief of the tribe of the Kennebeks, generally known as the Nerigwoks (Norridgewock). His Indian name seems to have been Wohawa." - Drake's Book of the Indians, book iii. p. 109.
"Many of the natives had both an Indian and an English name. Hopehood was a son of the celebrated Negusset sagamore, called Robinhood, but whose Indian name was Ramegin." - Drake, book iii. p. 97.
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tracted by the smoke of the burning village, pursued the united band of civilized and uncivilized savages. The plunderers, encumbered with booty and prisoners, were overtaken as they . were attempting to cross a small stream called Wooster River. A fierce battle ensued, which lasted till the darkness of night set in. Several were slain on each side. But it would appear that during the night the marauders escaped.1
In May the French and Indians organized another expedition against Falmouth. Between four and five hundred men com- . menced the attack of the 16th of May, 1690. Prowling bands had been for some time seen around, which led to the suspicion that the foe was preparing to strike them by surprise.
Thirty young men volunteered to march out on a reconnois- sance. Lieut. Thaddeus Clark led them, and led them into an ambush. They climbed Munjoy's'Hill, when suddenly a volley of bullets was discharged upon them by invisible assailants, concealed behind a fence. That one discharge cut down nearly half their number, including their commander. The remainder fled in consternation to their fortifications, pursued by the French and Indians, filling the air with yells.
There were, in addition to Fort Loyal, four garrison-houses in the town. All the people who were unable to effect a retreat to one of these fortresses were either killed or captured. The assailants, after plundering the houses, set them on fire. They then combined all their energies to storm the forts. For four days and four nights, they kept up almost a constant fire, dis- playing much military skill in their approaches. We give the
1 In this case, as usual, there is a slight discrepancy in the details, as given by the early annalists. Drake writes, -
"Hopehood had joined twenty-two Frenchmen, under Hertel, with twenty-five of his warriors. They attacked the place, as soon as it was day, in three places. The people defended themselves as well as they were able, in their consternation, until about thirty of their best men were slain, when they gave themselves up to the mercy of the besiegers. Sixty-four men were carried away captive, and much plunder. They burned all the houses, and the barns with the cattle in them. The number of buildings thus destroyed is unknown, but was perhaps thirty, and perhaps two hundred head of cattle." - Drake, book iii. p. 109.
Charlevoix, in his History of New France, says that two thousand cattle were burnt in the barns.
I give the narrative in the text as recorded by Belknap, vol. i. p. 207, and the very accurate Williamson, vol. i. p. 619.
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result, not in the words, but in accordance with the facts con- tained in the official report of Capt. Davis; which document is on file in the Massachusetts office of State.
The conflict commenced with the dawn of the 16th. It raged until the afternoon of the 20th. Nearly all the inmates of the garrison were then slain. Either the French were dressed as Indians, or had so concealed themselves, that the English could not tell whether there were any of that nation in the savage band assailing them. They, therefore, sent a flag of truce, that they might ascertain whether they could, by a surrender, hope to save the lives of the survivors. Thus they learned that there were many Frenchmen in the party; and they were promised, that, as a condition of surrender, the lives of all should be spared, and that they should be conducted, under guard, to the next English town, where they should be set at liberty. The French commander took a solemn oath, by the ever living God, that the articles of the capitulation should be sacredly per- formed.1
The gates were thrown open, and the savages rushed in. Awful was the scene which ensued. Mons. Burneffe had prob- ably lost all control over his ferocious allies. No respect what- ever was paid to the terms of the surrender. There were seventy living men within the garrison, many of whom were wounded, and a large number of women and children. Nearly all were slaughtered, and many with inhuman tortures.
The French rescued Capt. Davis, and succeeded in saving the lives of, some say fifty, others say a hundred prisoners. It seems to have been a custom among the Indians to put to death as many of their captives as they themselves had lost in the conflict.2 The whole village was laid in ashes. The dead were
1 " The French and Indians were under the command of M. Burneffe, a Cana- dian officer. His lieutenant was M. Corte de March. Most of the French troops were from Quebec, under Capt. M. de Portneuf. The Indians were led by Baron Castine and his son-in-law, Madockawando. They came to Casco Bay in a large fleet of canoes. Charlevoix gives the command of the expedition to Portneuf, and dates the surrender on the 27th. In both of these statements he is doubtless incorrect." - See Letter of Capt. Davis in Collections of Massachusetts Historical So- ciety, vol. i. 3 ser., p. 104.
2 "When the prisoners marched out of the fort, fifty in all, the savages raised a shout, fell upon them with hatchet and sword, and killed all except four; and these were wounded." - Histoire et Disr. Gen de la Nouvelle France, par Père de Charlevoix, vol. iii. p. 78.
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PEJEPSCOT FALLS, BRUNSWICK AND TOPSHAM, ME.
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left unburied. The number slain in this awful massacre is not known. The French, after participating in this demoniac deed, commenced their march back to Canada.
"I must say," writes Capt. Davis, " they were kind to me in my travels through the country. Our provisions were very short, - Indian corn and acorns. Hunger made it very good, and God gave it strength to nourish."
Davis was a prisoner-of-war in Quebec for four months. when Sir William Phips effected his exchange for a Frenchman. The capture of Falmouth was a terrible disaster. The victori- ous Indians scattered in all directions, perpetrating the most horrible deeds of cruelty and crime. Many of them were demons in character, and recoiled from no horror. The cruel- ties they often committed are too revolting to be described. Even the recital brings torture to the soul.
From all the feebler garrisons the people fled in dismay, west- ward, and took refuge in Storer's strong garrisons at Wells.1 The government sent them re-enforcements, with directions to make a stand there, and resist all attacks.
The valiant Major Church was despatched with another expe- dition, of three hundred men, to visit Casco and Pejepscot, to chastise the Indians, and regain captives, if possible. This was early in September, 1690. He landed at Maquoit, and marched at night across the country to Pejepscot 2 Fort, which, it will be remembered, was located west of the Androscoggin, at the Pejepscot Falls. The Indians held possession of the fort. The accompanying illustration shows the appearance of these cele- brated falls, after the lapse of nearly two centuries.
A watchful eye discerned the coming, and spread the alarm. The savages fled in all directions, leaving several English cap- tives behind. One Indian man was taken, with a few women and several children. The horrors perpetrated by the savages had created great exasperation against them. Church's men
1 "No other town in the province was so well provided with houses of refuge as Wells. This was due to the prudent foresight of Storer and Wheelwright. There were here seven or eight garrisons, some of them built in the best manner, against assaults from without, and for the protection and comfort of those with- in." - History of Wells and Kennebunk, by Edward. E. Bourne, LL. D. p. 196.
2 Williamson spells this both Pejepscot and Pegypscot, pp. 37, 724.
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were about to put the man to death, when the female white captives, who had thus been rescued, earnestly pleaded for his - life. They said that he had ever been kind to them, and had several times saved them and others from death.
The wives of two of the distinguished sagamores, Kankama- gus' and Worumbee, were among the prisoners. As they promised that eighty English captives should be surrendered for their ransom, their lives were spared, and they were sent to the garrisons at Wells. The sister of Kankamagus was slain. Worumbee's two children were carried, with their mother, into captivity. Mr. Drake quotes the following statement from a manuscript letter written at that time by Major Church, and addressed to Gov. Hinckley of Plymouth : -
" We left two old squaws that were not able to march; gave them victuals enough for one week, of their own corn, boiled, and a little of our provis- ions; and buried their dead, and left clothes enough to keep them warm, and left the wigwams for them to lie in; gave them orders to tell their friends how kind we were to them, bidding them to do the like to ours. Also, if they were for peace, to come to Goodman Small's at Berwick, within four- teen days, who would attend to discourse them." 1
This capture upon the Androscoggin took place on Sunday, Sept. 14, 1690. The victors retired with five English captives, whom they had rescued, and nine Indians prisoners.
Major Church and his victorious party, about forty in num- ber, ascended the Androscoggin seven miles, to another Indian fort. There he killed twenty-one Indians, took one a prisoner, and rescued seven English captives. The torch was applied, and the works laid in ashes. The single savage whose life was spared was a gigantic fellow, Agamcus, who was nicknamed
1 " Kankamagus, commonly called Hoykins, Hawkins, or Hakins, was a Pen- nacook sachem. He was faithful to the English as long as he could depend upon them for protection. When the terrible Mohawks were sent to destroy the east- ern Indians, he fled westerly to the Androscoggin. Here he and another sachem, called Worumbee, lived with their families. He could speak and write English. His several letters to Gov. Canfield prove his fidelity. There can be no doubt that he would have been true to the English, had they been true to him." - Drake's Book of the Indians, book iii. p. 106.
2 Drake's Book of the Indians, book iii. p. 108.
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Great Tom.1 On the march he escaped, and carried to the Indians such reports of the strength and prowess of Major Church's troops, that they retired far back into the interior wilderness.2
Church sailed along the coast, touching at various points, and inflicting all the injury he could upon the Indians. It was, however, not often that they gave him an opportunity to strike a blow. On the 21st of September, he landed three companies on Purpooduck.8 Here a strong band of Indians fiercely as- sailed him. He repelled them with the loss of five of his own men, after having slain eight or ten Indians, and taken thirteen canoes. Major Church afterwards learned, from a returned captive, that the savages put just as many English prisoners to a cruel death as they had lost in the conflict.
In October, ten sagamores went to Wells, where the captive women and children were restored to them. They expressed unbounded gratitude in view of the kindness with which they had been treated, and declared their earnest desire for peace. " We are ready," they said, " at any time and place you may appoint, to meet your head men, and enter into a treaty."
On the 29th of November, a truce between the Massachu- setts commissioners and six sagamores was signed. It would appear that there was much difficulty in agreeing upon the terms on which hostilities should cease. The Indians had even abandoned the council, and retired to their canoes, before terms were offered them which they were willing to accept. The truce was to continue through the winter, until the 1st of May, when they promised to visit Storer's garrison, in Wells, to bring
1 We hope that the following statement made by Mr. Williamson is a mistake. " The wives of the two sagamores and their children were saved. But it is pain- ful to relate, and no wise creditable to the usual humanity of Major Church, that the rest of the females, except two or three old sqnaws, also the unoffending chil- dren, were put to the tomahawk or sword." - Vol. i. p. 625.
F 2 "Many Indians bore the name of Tom. Indian Hill in Newbury was owned by Great Tom. He is supposed to have been the last Indian proprietor of lands in that town. In written instruments he styles himself, - 'I Great Tom, In- dian.'" - Drake, book iii. p. 114.
8 The first inhabitants of Cape Elizabeth, which is separated from the penin- sula by Fore River, seated themselves opposite to the harbor, upon Purpooduck Point; from which the plantation, commencing forty-four years prior to King Philip's war, derived its name." - Williamson, vol. ii. p. 377.
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in all the English captives they held, and to establish a perma- · nent peace.
The condition of Maine at this time was deplorable in the extreme. All the settlements were devastated, but four. Those were Wells, York, Kittery, and the Isle of Shoals. At the appointed time, Pres. Danforth, with quite an imposing reti- nue on horseback, repaired to the strong garrison. But, for some unexplained reason, the sagamores did not appear.1 Some attributed it to the influence of the French. It is more proba- ble that they feared treachery. During the winter, the English had been preparing to strike heavy blows, should the war be renewed. The wary Indians, through their scouts, kept them- selves informed of every movement.
Capt. Converse, who had command of the troop of horse, sent out a detachment, who brought in a few of the neighbor- ing chiefs. To the inquiry why the sagamores did not come in, according to the agreement, to ratify the treaty, they returned the unsatisfactory reply, -
" We did not remember the time. But we now bring in and deliver up two captives. We promise certainly to surrender the rest within ten days.'' 2
The chiefs were permitted to return to their homes. Ten days passed away; but no Indians appeared. Apprehensive that an attack was meditated, Pres. Danforth returned to York, and.sent a re-enforcement of thirty-five soldiers to strengthen the garrison at Wells. They arrived on the 9th of June, 1692. It was none too soon.
In one half-hour after their arrival, a band of two hundred savages made a fierce but unsuccessful attack upon the garrison. The only account we have of this battle is the following : -
" We have intelligence that the eastward Indians and some French have made an assault upon the garrisons in and near the town of Wells, and have ៛ 1 "The reason of this we cannot explain, unless the warlike appearance of the English deterred them. After waiting a while, Capt. Converse surprised some of them, and brought them in by force. Having reason to believe the Indians pro- voked by this time, he immediately added thirty-five men to their : his) force." - Drake, book ili. p. 102.
2 Williamson, vol. i. p. 627.
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killed about six persons thereabout. They drove the cattle together, and killed them before their faces." 1
The savages, thus baffled, retired, threatening soon to come again. At Cape Neddock, in York, they burned several houses, and attacked a vessel, killing most of the crew. Indian bands continued to range the country, shooting down all they could find, and inflicting all the damage in their power.
Another dreary summer passed away, and another cheerless winter came. The Indians seldom ventured to brave the cold and the storms of a Maine winter in their campaigns : conse- quently the inhabitants of York remitted their vigilance at that time. The Indians, with the military skill they were accus- tomed to display, selected this season for their attack.
The little village was scattered along the eastern bank of the Agamenticus River. There were several strong block-houses, in which the inhabitants could take refuge in case of an alarm. The accompanying illustration faithfully represents the struc- ture of one of those houses.
GARRISON-HOUSE AT YORK, BUILT ABOUT 1015.
1 Letter of Gov Stoughton of New York, dated June 24, 1691.
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Early on a dark, cold morning of February, 1692, a band of between two and three hundred French and Indians, having traversed the wilderness from Canada on snow-shoes, made a furious attack upon different portions of the hamlet. The peo- ple were as much taken by surprise as if an army had descended from the clouds.
A scene of terror, carnage, and woe, ensued, which can neither be described nor imagined. In one half-hour seventy- five of the English were slain, and more than a hundred taken prisoners, many of them wounded and bleeding. All the un- fortified houses were in flames. Those within the walls of the garrison fought with the utmost intrepidity. The assail- ants, despairing of being able to break through their strong walls, and fearing that re-enforcements might come to the aid of the English, gathered up their plunder, huddled the dis- tracted, woe-stricken prisoners together, and commenced a retreat.
Awful were the sufferings of these captives, - wounded men, feeble women leaving the gory bodies of their husbands behind them, and little children now fatherless. The French and the savages co-operated in these demoniac deeds. The victors com- menced their march over the bleak, snow-drifted fields, towards Sagadahoc.
With the exception of the garrison-houses, the whole village was destroyed. One-half of all the inhabitants were either killed, or carried into captivity. Rev. Shubael Dummer was the excellent pastor of the little church there. He was about sixty years of age, a graduate of Harvard College, a man of devoted piety, and greatly beloved. He was found dead upon the snow. His wife, a lady from one of the first families, and distinguished for her social accomplishments, and her mental and moral cul- ture, was seized, and dragged away with the crowd of captives. But the massacre of her husband, the scenes of horror which " she had witnessed, and the frightful prospect opening before her, soon caused her to sink away in that blessed sleep which has no earthly waking. But few of those thus carried into captivity, amidst the storms of an almost arctic winter, ever saw friends or home again.
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One pleasing event which occurred is worthy of especial record. The Indians selected from their prisoners several aged women and several children, just the number, and about the ages, of those whom Major Church had treated kindly in the capture of the Pejepscot Fort. These were safely returned, with ex- pressions of gratitude, to one of the English garrison-houses.1 A party from Portsmouth, N.H., set out in pursuit of the Indians ; but they could not be overtaken.
In Wells, there were but fifteen men in garrison. They were commanded by Capt. Converse. Two sloops and a shallop, manned by fourteen sailors, were sent to them with supplies. Before the dawn of the morning of June 10, 1692, an army of five hundred French and Indians, under Mons. Burneffe, attacked the place. The Indians were led by four of their most distinguished sagamores. As usual, the assault was commenced with hideous yells. The military science of the French was combined with the ferocity of the savages. The strength of the assailants was such, that they had not the slightest doubt of success. Mather writes, -
" They fell to dividing persons and plunder. Such an English captain. should be slave to such an one. Such a gentleman should serve such an one, and his wife be a maid of honor to such or such a squaw. Mr. Wheel- wright, instead of being a worthy counsellor, as he now is, was to be the ser- vant of such a Netop."
John Wheelwright was widely known. He was the most prominent man in the town. His capture would have been deemed an inestimable acquisition. The assailing army ap- proached the feeble garrison, according to European, not Indian tactics. It appears that Capt. Converse had in the garrison about thirty armed men. Probably half of these were inhabit- ants of the place. They had fled to that retreat in consequence of suspicions that Indians were skulking around. We know
1 Collections Maine Historical Society, vol. i. p. 104.
It is extremely difficult to ascertain with accuracy the course which Major Church pursued at Pejepscot. The accounts are very contradictory. Mr. Drake, in his valuable Book of the Indians, represents him as acting with shocking inhu- manity, "knocking women and children in the head." But this fact seems to imply that he was guilty of no such atrocities.
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not how many women and children had taken refuge there. Converse ordered his men to keep carefully concealed, and not to fire a gun until they were sure of their aim. One of the garrison, terror-stricken in view of the formidable array ap- proaching, tremblingly said, "We cannot resist. We must surrender."
" Repeat that word," Capt. Converse replied sternly, "and you are a dead man." The assailants opened fire. The garri- son returned it with several small cannon as well as musketry. The women assisted in bringing powder, and in handling the guns. The bullets, thrown with cool and accurate aim, created great havoc in the ranks of the enemy. This was not the Indian mode of fighting. . Instead of admiring what was called the gallantry of the French in thus exposing their lives, they regarded them as fools in thus, as it were, courting death. Cot- ton Mather, in his description of the battle, writes, " They kept calling to surrender ; which ours answered with a laughter and with a mortiferous bullet at the end of it."
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