USA > Rhode Island > Providence County > Providence > History of the state of Rhode Island and Providence plantations, Vol. I > Part 34
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24. 29.
397
CHURCH'S FIGHT AT FOGLAND FERRY.
over to Pocasset where it was now proposed by Mr., after- wards Colonel, Church to follow them.' With a small band of volunteers, he readily attempted the daring exploit. Having, previous to the war, negotiated with the squaw sachems of the two tribes in that vicinity, he hoped, on this account, to withdraw their men from the alliance with Philip. Crossing over to Rhode Island, he there found boats to transport him the next night to Pocasset, where the party laid in ambush for the Indians, but in vain. The next day they followed the trail south, to a point near Fogland ferry, where they were attacked by a greatly su- perior force. The skirmish continued for six hours till the English ammunition was nearly spent, when a sloop from Rhode Island came down and relieved them from their per- ilous condition. They returned to the garrison at Mount Hope.
It was of vital importance to prevent an offensive al- liance between Philip and the Narragansets, for it was said that the latter had promised to join him in the spring with four thousand warriors. Commissioners were sent to treat
1 There were many men who distinguished themselves by their courage and address in the course of this war, but none more so than Col. Benjamin Church. He was the first English settler at Seaconnet, now Little Compton, then filled with Indians, and was just commencing his plantation when the war broke out. He thoroughly understood the Indian character, and their partisan mode of warfare, which latter he adopted with great success in the subsequent struggle. His conquests were conducted with more humanity than was displayed by many of his colleagues, while his courage and military skill were conspicuous. He was to Rhode Island what Miles Standish had been to the first generation of Plymouth colonists-a buckler and shield in the hour of danger ; but he had far more experience in military affairs than fell to the lot of the Pilgrim captain. It was destined for him to strike the first and the last decisive blows in Philip's war, by which he is now best known to fame. So great was the reputation he gained, that he was after- wards constantly called to the field to repel the French and Indians at the north and east. He served in no less than five expeditions against Canada and Maine, as commander-in-chief of the colonial forces sent ont by the royal Governors of New England. The first time was at the request of Sir Ed- mund Andros, in 1689 ; again in 1690 by Hinckley ; then in 1692 he was
CHAP. X. 1675. July
7.
398
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP. X. with them, and the Massachusetts troops marched into their country to enforce the terms that might be dictated. 1675. July. They found the villages in Pumham's district deserted. He had shaken off his English shackles, and joined with his countrymen against the common foe. Some days were spent in negotiating with the sachems before the articles 15. of agreement were concluded. These required the sur- render of any of Philip's subjects who might come in their power, stipulated rewards for such surrender, declared war against him, agreed that stolen goods should be restored, confirmed all former grants of land and agreements made with the United Colonies, pledged perpetual peace, and granted hostages for the full performance of all the arti- cles. It was a forced affair throughout, calculated to irri- tate rather than to appease the Narragansets, and justly regarded by them as no longer binding when the restraint that compelled it was removed.
Meanwhile the war raged with, great fury. In all di- rections the mangled corpses and burning towns of the English bespoke the relentless wrath and ceaseless ac-
commissioned by Sir William Phipps ; next in 1696, by Staughton, and final- ly in the sixty-fifth year of his age he was urged by Gov. Dudley in 1704, to command the forces for the fifth time sent out against the French, and ac- cepted. That no brilliant acts were performed in these expeditions, either by the English fleet or the New England forces is to be ascribed to the nature of the country. Operations were mostly conducted on the coast of Maine and Nova Scotia, a vast wilderness, where security to the enemy was certain and pursuit was vain. Col. Church died January 17th, 1717-18, in his seventy- eighth year .. The history of his wars was written by his son Thomas before his father's death, and a Latin ode by his grandson, at the close of the me- moir, attests the scholarship of his descendants. Some branches of the fam- ily have settled in different parts of the State, or moved elsewhere, but many of the direct descendants of the old hero still reside in Little Compton, where they preserve the position and the patrimonial estates inherited from their il- lustrious ancestor. Gov. Winslow in his letter to the King, June 26th, 1677, accompanying presents of the spoils of Philip, " being his Crowne, his Gorge and two Belts of their own making of their goulde and silver taken from him by Capt. Benjamin Church," speaks of Church as " a person of great loyalty, and the most successful of our commanders." The original letter is in the British State Paper Office. New England papers, vol. iii. p. 16.
399
REPULSE OF THE ENGLISH AT POCASSET.
tivity of the omnipresent foe. We cannot follow these CHAP. bloody chronicles in all their details of destruction, but must pass rapidly over the field, touching only upon the prominent points of the war, or on those which had a spe- cial reference to this colony. Rhode Island was not a member of the New England confederacy, and therefore not bound to take part in hostilities provoked by the other colonies. She disapproved of the war, which, from her exposed situation, threatened her very existence. The government too was in the hands of the Quakers, yet she did what she could, in an unofficial way, to aid the English with provisions and volunteers, and to protect herself. Her inaction was perhaps the reason why she suffered less than her neighbors at the beginning, but the case was changed when her own territory became the battle-ground.1 Upon the return of the troops to Taunton, they found 17 that Philip had fortified himself in a swamp at Pocasset. Joining with the Plymouth forces, the army marched to the attack, and were repulsed with some loss. It was an 18. unfortunate affair, for it strengthened the firm and con- firmed the wavering natives, and thus completed a gen- eral rising in behalf of Philip. He withdrew from the swamp, effected a skilful manœuvre in the passage of Taunton river, accompanied by Weetamo who was ever at his side, and hastened to join the Nipmucks, who had al- ready taken arms against the English. Plymouth was thus for awhile relieved, and the burden of the war transferred to Massachusetts. Brookfield was burnt, and Captain Aug. 2. Hutchinson with twenty mounted men was defeated with the loss of half his troop, and himself mortally wounded. The Connecticut river Indians were fully enlisted in the
1 Hubbard, in the table of assaults at the end of his narrative, says that eighteen houses were burnt at Providence, June 28th, 1675, and that on 29th March following, fifty-four houses were there destroyed. The latter statement is correct, but we can find no verification of the former, which is probably an error.
X. 1675. July.
400
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP. X. war, and committed fearful ravages upon the defenceless towns. Hatfield, Hadley, Deerfield, and Northfield were 1675. successively attacked, many of the inhabitants slain, and Sept. the houses destroyed. These devoted villages were des- tined to feel still further the horrors of savage warfare. The commissioners of the United Colonies, whose union, at one time almost abandoned, had of late been revived, reviewed the causes of the war, gave it their official ap- proval, and adopted the expenses of conducting it as a just charge to be paid proportionably by the confederates.
18.
9. 12. The slaughter of Capt. Beers, with a troop of twenty men near Northfield, was followed by the defeat of Capt. Lathrop with a corps of young men, " the flower of the county of Essex," who were attacked by a force of seven or eight hundred Indians, near Hadley, and almost the whole party, including their leader, were cut off. This was the greatest loss the country had yet sustained. Nearly one hundred of the best troops of Massachusetts fell in this unequal fight. The English had not yet be- come accustomed to the Indian mode of warfare. Their small detachments could stand no chance against the lurking savage, in the deep forests and dense swamps of the country. The commissioners now ordered an army of one thousand men to be raised, one-half to be heavy dragoons. Springfield was the next object of attack. Near this town the Indians had a fort, into which some three hundred of Philip's warriors were received the night before the assault was made. The town was partly 5. burned, when the arrival of Major Treat with a body of Connecticut troops saved the inhabitants from a general massacre by dispersing the assailants. For his gallantry on this and other occasions, Major Treat was offered the command of all the Connecticut troops, by the Assembly of that colony. A second attack was made upon Hat- field, where there was now a garrison, by a body of eight hundred Indians, who surrounded the town. It was a fu-
Oct.
14.
19.
401
THE NARRAGANSETS JOIN IN THE WAR.
rious but unsuccessful assault. Major Treat with his CHAP. field force, and the neighboring garrisons, coming to the X. - relief of the besieged, the Indians were repulsed with 1675. great loss, and became so discouraged that the greater Oct. part retired to Narraganset, and Massachusetts, in her turn, was for a time relieved from peril, except only from the small marauding bands that lingered within her bor- ders.
The General Assembly of Rhode Island, acting upon the petition of Capt. Cranston, referred the defence of the colony to the councils of war established in the several towns, whose decisions were to be absolute. The Narra- gansets gave a cordial reception to the hostile Indians, in violation of the compulsory treaty of July, and were more than suspected of having taken an active part in the recent battles, for some of their young men had re- turned home wounded. The United Colonies resolved to send an army of a thousand men to attack them in their winter-quarters, and thus to prevent their openly joining with Philip in the spring, an event that must have been most disastrous to the English. The haughty reply of Canonchet, son and successor of Miantinomi, and chief sachem of the Narragansets, made to the English when they sent to demand the surrender of Philip's Indians, who had placed their women and children under his pro- tection, displayed the spirit of the royal savage, and cut off all hopes of peace. "Not a Wampanoag, nor the paring of a Wampanoag's nail, shall be delivered up," was the answer of the indignant sachem. All attempts at reconciliation were henceforth abandoned, and the colo- nies prepared for their last appeal to the stern arbitra- ment of arms. Massachusetts was to raise five hundred and twenty-seven men, Plymouth one hundred and fifty- eight, and Connecticut three hundred and fifteen. The latter colony exceeded her quota, and sent three hundred English and one hundred and fifty friendly Indians, Mo- VOL. I .- 26
27.
Nov.
12.
402
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHÁP. X. Dec. 2. hegans and Pequots, so that the whole force numbered eleven hundred and thirty-five, besides volunteers from 1675. Rhode Island, many of whom joined the army as it marched through Providence and Warwick to the scene of action. When all was ready a solemn fast was held, before setting out on the expedition.
Strange to say, this enterprise was undertaken by the United Colonies without consulting the government of Rhode Island, although the express command of the King, embodied in the royal charter, was in these words : " It shall not be lawful for the rest of the Collonies to invade or molest the native Indians, or any other inhab- itants, inhabiting within the bounds and lymitts hereaf- ter mentioned (they having subjected themselves unto us, and being by us taken into our speciall protection), with- out the knowledge and consent of the Governour and Company of our Collony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations." The Narragansets had always been friendly to Rhode Island, and although portions of the tribe might engage in the war, the greater part were still subject to her restraint ; and whether they were so or not, the at- tack now made upon them, contrary to the advice and without the consent of Rhode Island, was a direct viola- tion of the royal order, an unscrupulous disregard of the rights, and a wanton act of indifference to the welfare of a sister colony, which no exigency of State could excuse, since the remedy was easy, involving only a simple act of courtesy or friendship. But these feelings were strangers to the confederated Puritans, by whom heathens and her- etics were classed together as beneath the regard of Chris- tian fellowship.1 The invasion of the Narragansets was kindred in spirit with the desertion of Rhode Island after the battle, leaving Providence a prey to the fury of sav- ages, without a garrison to protect her from enemies whom they had roused against her.
" Easton's Narrative, pp. 27-31. Albany, 1858.
403
THE WAR EXTENDS TO RHODE ISLAND.
The Massachusetts troops left Boston under command CHAP. of Major Appleton ; those of Plymouth were led by Ma- X. jor Bradford, and the Connecticut troops by Major Treat. 1675. The whole army was divided into thirteen companies of Dec. 8. infantry and one of cavalry, and placed under the com- mand of Gov. Winslow of Plymouth. Captain Church rode in the General's guard as a volunteer. We have no means of ascertaining the number of recruits that joined the expedition from this colony. It must have been con- siderable, for the people were roused to a full sense of the mortal struggle at hand by the massaeres which had al- ready commenced, and although the government took no direet part, yet they had placed the full power in the hands of the councils of war. Bull's garrison house in South Kingston was attacked, fifteen persons were slain and but two escaped. This was the first overt act of war within the limits of Rhode Island. The precise day is 15 not stated in the chronicles of the time, but is probably that which we affix. The Connecticut troops expected to find shelter at Pettaquamseot, but on their arrival found the buildings destroyed and the inhabitants buteh- 17. ered. The next day they joined the other forees, and the 18. whole army encamped that night in the open air. The weather was cold and stormy. At the dawn of the Sab- 19. bath morning they took up their line of march towards the strong fort of the Narragansets, fifteen miles distant. This fort occupied a rising ground, some three or four aeres in extent, in the centre of a dense swamp, about seven miles west from Narraganset south ferry. It was just one o'clock when they reached the seene of action, wearied by a long march through the snow. A renegade Indian whom they found at the edge of the swamp served as a guide to the fort. The position was a very strong one, well fortified with palisades and breastworks, and en- closed by an impenetrable hedge. The single narrow en- trance was flanked by a block house, whence a murderous
404
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP. fire was poured upon the advancing English. No less
X. than six of the captains, with a large number of men, fell 1675. in the first assault. The entrance was choked with the Dec. 19. bodies of the slain. Over the mangled corpses of their comrades the desperate assailants climbed the logs and breastwork to effect an entrance. The struggle on either side was one for life. Whichever party triumphed there was no hope of quarter to the vanquished. Christian and savage fought alike with the fury of fiends, and the sanc- tity of a New England Sabbath was broken by the yells of conflict, the roar of musketry, the clash of steel, and all the demoniac passions which make a battle-ground an earthly hell. It was the great conflict of New England. A century was to roll by before the sons of the Puritans were again to witness upon their own soil so fierce a strug- gle. The carnage was immense. The acts of personal daring performed upon both sides were worthy of a wider field of fame. The English were at one time repulsed. For three hours the battle raged and the result was yet doubtful, until an entrance was in some way effected in the rear of the fort by a reserve guard of the Connecticut troops. The Indians, who were all engaged at the first point of attack, were surprised and confused by a heavy fire in their rear. Their powder was nearly consumed, still their arrows rained a deadly shower upon the charging foe. The wigwams within the fort were set on fire, con- trary to the earnest entreaty of Church, whose military forecast discerned the importance of shelter to the ex- hausted conquerors. The tragedy of the Pequots was thus re-enacted upon their ancient enemies. Humanity and policy alike sustained the advice of the gallant Church, but it was too late. The infuriated troops had already commenced the work of destruction. In a few minutes the frail material of five hundred Indian dwellings fur- nished the funeral pyre of sick and wounded, infant and
405
THE GREAT SWAMP FIGHT.
aged. The blazing homes of the Narragansets lighted their path to death.
The victory was dearly bought. Accounts of the losses on both sides differ widely. The entire loss of the Indians, in killed, wounded, and prisoners, was not less than one thousand, of whom at least three hundred perished in the flames and as many more in the fight. The Eng- lish loss is variously estimated from two to four hundred, including a majority of the superior officers who fell lead- ing the assault. More than one-half of this number might have been saved had the advice of Church been adopted. He was himself severely wounded, and with his suffering comrades was the next day carried over to Rhode Island, and there carefully attended until recovery. But the period of most intense suffering to the combatants was yet to come. When the night closed over the field of blood there was no shelter for victors or vanquished. The fort was a smouldering ruin. The Indians escaped to an open cedar swamp near by, where many perished without food or covering on that fearful night. Still worse was the fate of the English. They had taken a weary march of some fifteen miles, through deep snow, since daybreak, without halting for food, and had spent the remainder of the day in desperate conflict. They had now to retrace their steps in the dark, through a dense forest, with a deep snow beneath their feet and a December storm howling around them. By the glare of burning wigwams they formed their line of march, and bearing away their dead and wounded, their retreat was soon covered by the darkness of the forest. It was two o'clock at night before they reached their camping ground. The cold was severe. Many died on the march. The limbs of the wounded were stiffened, fatigue had disabled the rest, there was no shelter or provisions of any sort, and when the morning dawned death had done a melan- choly work. A heavy snow storm during the night had
CHAP. X.
1675. Dec. 19.
20.
406
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP. X. wrapped many a brave soldier in his winding-sheet. The survivors could hardly move from the depth of the new 1675. fallen snow. The providential arrival of a vessel with Dec. provisions, in the course of the night, at Smith's landing, 20. alone saved the remnant of that gallant army from de- struction. The Connecticut troops were so disabled that Major Treat led them home to recruit. The other forces scoured the country during the winter, cutting off the Indian supplies or straggling parties, and burning their wigwams, but did nothing decisive. The Narragansets returned to their ruined fort but no attempt was made to dislodge them.
By some it is supposed that Philip was himself in the fort during the battle, while others state that he was not. It is, however, certain that his winter-quarters were with the Narragansets, and that soon after the fight the In- 1675-6. dians sued for peace, but their overtures were rejected through distrust. The remnant of the English army gar- risoned at Wickford. A reinforcement of one thousand men was soon sent from Boston. So intense was the cold Jan. at this time that eleven of their number were frozen to death on the march, and many others were disabled by sickness.
Philip removed his camp some twenty miles north to a rocky swamp in the Nipmuck country. The distress of the Narragansets for the want of provisions, all their win- ter stores having been destroyed in the battle, was ex- treme. A protracted and unusual thaw at midwinter, by enabling them to obtain roots,' relieved their wants. The army, now sixteen hundred strong, the Connecticut troops having returned, proceeded to dislodge Philip from his new position. The people of Warwick made arrange- ments to entertain the army as they should march through that place. It was the last town meeting held there for
1 " Ground nuts," as they are called by the old writers, meaning the wild artichoke, a staple article of food with the Indians.
26.
407
THE WAR BECOMES GENERAL.
fifteen months. The place, left defenceless by the retiring army, was abandoned, and the inhabitants took refuge on the island, where their town meetings were regularly held, as if at home, for the choice of deputies and jurors. The town was annihilated for the time, but the corporation survived, and continued to discharge its legitimate func- tions. The Indians fled at the approach of the English, and retreated northward, driving off the live stock from Warwick. The army pursued them but a few miles, and soon after returned home and was disbanded. By this memorable campaign the power of the Narragansets was broken for ever. But the war was not ended, nor scarcely checked. It could not be, so long as the master-spirit of Philip survived. He went on an expedition to the Mo- hawks to obtain ammunition, and to secure if possible their alliance against the common enemy. The war was again transferred mainly to Massachusetts, but became more general than before. Everywhere the burning towns and mangled bodies of the English gave token of the relentless foe. Lancaster was burnt, and about forty persons killed and captured. Medfield next suffered to nearly the same extent. The boldness of the savages led them within about fifteen miles of Boston, where, at Weymouth, they burned several houses. The exposed condition of Providence led to an urgent call upon the governor for help. The reply of the deputy governor shows the exhausted condition of the colony, and their ut- ter inability to support the force asked for, while at the same time it tenders to the distressed inhabitants the hospitalities of the island as a refuge-an offer of which they had speedy occasion to avail themselves. The let- ters addressed to Providence and Warwick by the Gen- eral Assembly, especially convened on account of the war, were to the same effect.
The Indians on the island, above twelve years of age, were placed in custody of the whites, and were required
CHAP. X. 1675-6. Jan.
27
Feb. 5.
10.
20.
25.
March 13.
408
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP. X. 1675-6. March 16. to be guarded by day, and to be securely locked up at night. A further order was passed, "that no Indian in this colony be a slave "-a statute to which we shall again refer at the close of the war. An attack was now made upon Warwick. The town was entirely destroyed except one house, built of stone that could not be burnt. Only one of the inhabitants was slain. At the north and east the Indian ravages were still greater. Six towns in Mas- sachusetts 1 were sacked, and more or less wasted by fire, and many persons slaughtered during this month. Dis- asters in the field were fearful and frequent. Captain Wadsworth, with fifty men, marching to the relief of · 1676. Sudbury, was overwhelmed by a large body of Indians, 26. and every man slain. The like fate attended Captain Peirse with the same number of English and some friendly Indians, a few days afterward, near Pawtucket Falls, and 28. two days later Rehoboth, near which hostilities first be- gan, was assaulted, and forty dwellings were burned This was the darkest period of the war. Success attended the savages on every side. The army had been too soon disbanded. The Narragansets, although broken, were not beaten in the great swamp fight, and terrible was the vengeance they executed far and wide over the land. Providence was nearly deserted, leaving it an easy prey to the enemy. Less than thirty men remained, as ap- pears by a list, preserved on the records, of those "that stayed and went not away." Two places in the town had been fortified mainly through the efforts of Roger Williams, who, although seventy-seven years of age, ac- cepted the commission of captain. A tradition is pre- served, that when the enemy approached the town the venerable captain went out alone to meet and remonstrate with them. "Massachusetts," said he, " can raise thou- sands of men at this moment, and if you kill them, the
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