USA > Rhode Island > Providence County > Providence > State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations at the end of the century : a history, Volume 1 > Part 45
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1Annals of Providence, p. 162.
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STATE OF RHODE ISLAND AND PROVIDENCE PLANTATIONS.
the fight at Nipsatchuck, on Rhode Island soil, and participated in by men of Providence, and preceded it by six months.
In the same month occurred within the borders of the Colony, in what is now South Kingstown, the Swamp Fight, which resulted prac- tically in the annihilation of the once powerful tribe of Narragansetts.
It was on the 2d of November, 1675, that the United Colonies de- clared war against the Narragansetts and steps were at once taken to carry the war into the heart of the Indian country at Narragansett. Here, in a swamp called the Great Swamp, within the borders of what is now the town of South Kingstown, the Indians had taken up winter quarters. An army of one thousand men was at once organized, composed of veteran Indian fighters. Gen. Josiah Winslow, governor of the Plymouth Colony, was appointed commander-in-chief. Major Samuel Appleton was placed in command of the Massachusetts regi- ment, Major William Bradford commanded the Plymouth Colony regiment, and Major Robert Treat commanded the force from Con- necticut.1
On Saturday, December 11, the forces from the Massachusetts Colony and a portion of the Plymouth regiment formed a junction at Providence. Here they were joined by some of the Providence men, Andrew Harris, William Whipple and Valentine Whitman; these men doubtless acted as guides or interpreters for the troopers of Cap- tain Moseley's company, belonging to the Massachusetts forces.
There is yet preserved a little scrap of paper2 on which appears a memorandum of the expenses paid by the town on account of supply- ing the soldiers with food, and shoeing their horses. It is as follows :
"Shoeing a horse of and harris. 1-4
by shoeing a horse for will whipple. 1-4
by shoeing a hoss Val Whitman. . 1-4
by shoeing 3 horses for Capt. Mosly 4-4 by sheep that Capt. Mosley and the soldiers had by the magistrates order".
On the evening of the next day (Sunday, December 12) the troops marched from the Carpenter Garrison at Pawtuxet, crossed the Paw- tuxet river into Warwick, on their way to the rendezvous at Richard
1For a detailed account of the Swamp Fight, with lists of wounded and reports of officers engaged, see New England Historical and Genealogical Register for January, 1886, where the campaign is treated in detail by Rev. George M. Bodge.
Of the troops of Massachusetts the quota was 527; the number actually im- pressed was 540, including troopers 75. The returns made at Dedham Plain, where Gen. Winslow assumed command on December 9, give 465 foot, troopers 73.
The Connecticut quota was 315 and there was also a company of Indians, 150. Plymouth's quota was 158.
2Providence Town Papers.
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THE WARS AND THE MILITIA.
Smith's block-house and trading post near Wickford. Through the ignorance of guides who had been obtained in Warwick, the troops lost their way and spent much valuable time in finding the trail, being obliged to be on the march all night and not reaching the Smith Garrison until early morning of the 13th.
Here they found Capt. Moseley's company, which had preceded them by water, in one of Richard Smith's vessels sailing from Seekonk. On the 17th news came that the force from Connecticut had reached Pettisquamscott.
The time between the 13th and the 19th of December was spent in conflict with small parties of Indians about the neighborhood; many of the Indians were killed, others taken prisoners and their wigwams destroyed. On Sunday, the 19th, at five o'clock in the morning, the
A
UPDYKE HOUSE, NEAR WICKFORD.
Erected on the site of the Richard Smith Block-house, and said to contain some of the timbers of the original house. The troops that participated in the Swamp Fight made this house their headquarters and here they brought their dead and wounded.
whole force marched towards the Indian stronghold at the swamp. It is about sixteen miles from the Smith Garrison to the Great Swamp, and it was not until one o'clock that the army came upon the savages who were met at the edge of this swamp, in the midst of which they had built a fort upon an island of some five or six acres. Hubbard says: "The fort was raised upon a kind of island of five or six acres of rising land in the midst of a swamp; the sides of it were made of Palisadoes set upright, which was compassed about with a Hedge of almost a rod Through". At the corners and exposed portions rude block-houses and flankers had been built, from which a raking fire could be poured upon any attacking force. A contemporary writer
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STATE OF RHODE ISLAND AND PROVIDENCE PLANTATIONS.
states that there was a clay wall within the stockade, but at the time of the attack the wall was not quite finished. A renegade white man, Joshua Tift, an Englishman, is said to have planned this work. The day was extremely cold, the waters of the swamp were frozen, and the island was easily accessible over the firm icc surrounding it. The troops under the command of Capts. Moseley and Davenport were in the lead, and came first upon the Indians and opened fire. This the savages immediately returned with an ineffectual volley, and fled to their stronghold on the island, closely followed by the attacking companies. The troops approached the swamp along the rising land in front of the house formerly occupied by Hon. Henry Marchant, situated about three-quarters of a mile west of the West Kingstown railroad station.
The passage into the fort, left by the Indians for their own use, was by a long tree over the water, across which but one person might pass at a time; had the troops attempted to force an entrance to the fort at this point the loss would have been far greater than it was. So closely had the troops followed up the retreating Indians that they were led straight to this entrance, but fortunately, before going too far, they discovered the trap and at the same time discovered the only assailable part of the fort a little farther on. "This was at a corner of the fort, where was a large unfinished gap, where neither palisados nor the abbatis or (hedge) had been placed, but only a long tree had been laid across, about five feet from the ground, to fill the gap, and might be easily passed; only that the block-house, right opposite this gap, and the flankers at the sides were finished, from which a galling fire might sweep and enfilade the passage".
The Massachusetts companies of Capts. Davenport (5th Company) and Johnson (4th Company) came first to this spot and at once charged through the gap and over the log. Here Johnson fell dead; and Dav- enport fell a few moments later "a little within the fort. Their men were met by so fierce a fire that they were forced to retire and fall upon their faces to avoid the fury of the musketry till it should somewhat abate. Moselcy and Gardiner, pressing to their assistance, met a similar reception, losing heavily, till they, too, fell back with the others, until Major Appleton, coming up with his own and Capt. Oliver's men, massed his entire force as a storming column, and it is said that the shout of one of the commanders that the Indians were running, so in- spired the soldiers that they made an impetuous assault, carried the entrance amain, beat the enemy from one of his flankers at the left, which afforded them a temporary shelter from the Indians still hold- ing the block-house opposite the entrance. In the meantime, the General, holding the Plymouth forces in reserve, pushed forward the Connecticut troops, who, not being aware of the extent of the danger from the block-house, suffered fearfully at their entrance, but charged
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THE WARS AND THE MILITIA.
forward gallantly, though some of their brave officers and many of their comrades lay dead behind them, and unknown numbers and dangers before. The forces now joining, beat the enemy step by step, and with fierce fighting, out of their block-houses and various fortifica- tions. Many of the Indians, driven from their works, fled outside, some doubtless to the wigwams inside, of which there were said to be upward of five hundred, many of them large and rendered bullet-proof by large quantities of grain in tubs and bags, placed along the sides. In these many of their old people and their women and children had gathered for safety, and behind and within these as defenses the In- dians still kept up a skulking fight, picking off our men. After three hours of hard fighting, with many of the officers and men wounded or dead, a treacherous cnemy of unknown numbers and resources lurk- ing in the surrounding forests, and the night coming on, word comes
GREENE'S STONE CASTLE.
Formerly standing on the north side of the road from Old Warwick to Apponaug. The residence of Thomas Greene and his descendants from 1660 to 1795. This house was the only one in the town of Warwick that survived King Philip's war. It was demolished in 1795.
From a drawing made by Mrs. John Wickes Greene.
to fire the wigwams, and the battle becomes a fearful holocaust, great numbers of those who had taken refuge therein being burned."
The fight raged for nearly three hours with dreadful carnage in pro- portion to the numbers engaged. It is not certain at just what point the Plymouth forces were pushed forward, but most likely after the works were carried, and the forcmost, exhausted, retired for a time bearing their dead and wounded to the rear. It is doubtful if the cavalry crossed the swamp, but were rather held in reserve and as scouts to cover the rear and prevent surprises from any outside parties.
Leaving the burning fortress the troops set out on their return to
------
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STATE OF RHODE ISLAND AND PROVIDENCE PLANTATIONS.
the Smith garrison, taking with them two hundred wounded and ten dead. The night was bitter cold, and a blinding snow storm set in; and, encumbered with this great number of wounded and dead, the marel back was slow and terrible, and it was two o'clock the next morning before the main column arrived at its destination. A portion of the troops lost their way and did not arrive until seven o'clock.
Forty men, who were killed in battle or died from wounds and the rigors of the mareh, were buried in one grave on the land adjoining the garrison. This grave was marked for many years by a large apple tree which was uprooted by the gale of 1815, but the spot may be identified to-day from the nature of the grass over it and on which eattle will not fced.
Notwithstanding the terrible slaughter and defeat which the Nar- ragansetts had sustained, they soon rallied and in small bodies proceeded to wreak ven- geanee on the scattered settlements. On the 16th of March an attaek was made upon the Warwick settlement, and every house was burned to the ground with the excep- tion of onc. This was a house built entirely of stone and called Greene's Castle: this house survived for many years thereafterand was finally demolished by its owner about 1795. In this attack the only per- son killed was John MONUMENT AT THE SCENE OF PIERCE'S FIGHT. Wiekes, and his body was left horribly mutilated.1 On Sunday, March 26, 1676, a few days before the attack on Provi- dence, there was fought in what is now the town of Cumberland one of the most disastrous battles of the war. The locality where the final stand in this engagement with the Indians took place has long been designated as "Nine Men's Misery". It is about a mile and a quarter northeast from the village of Ashton, near the Union Chapel, between Diamond Hill Road and the road running west from Union Chapel. A rough monument of common field stones marks the spot. The name,
1In Fuller's "History of Warwick" will be found a more detailed account of the death of Wickes.
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THE WARS AND THE MILITIA.
Nine Men's Misery, is derived from the fact that it was at this spot that the final stand was made by nine men, the remnants of Capt. Michael Pierce's company, in his desperate encounter with the Indians in King Philip's war, and here they all died from the hands of the savages. Some years ago some of the bones of the slain were disinterred and examined and again buried.
The government of Plymouth, fearing that their settlements would be again attacked, after so many outrages had been com- mitted in Massachusetts, ordered out a company for their defense, consisting of sixty-three Englishmen and twenty Cape Indians, under the command of Captain Michael Pierce, of Scituate, Mass., who im- mediately set out in pursuit of the enemy, who were supposed to be in the vicinity. He rendezvoused at a garrison in Rehoboth on Saturday night, and the next day, "having intelligence in his Garrison at Sea- conicke that a party of the enemy lay near Mr. Blackstone's,1 he went forth with 63 English and 20 Cape Indians, " and soon discovered four or five Indians in a piece of woods, who pretended to be lame and wounded; this proved to be a stratagem to lure the settlers into an ambush, for they soon discovered a large body of the enemy, com- manded by Canonchet, a Narragansett chief.
Captain Pierce, though aware of their superiority of numbers, courageously pursued them, when they began to retreat ; and before he was aware of it he found that he was completely surrounded by a large body of Indians, estimated at more than four hundred, a portion of the enemy being stationed on the opposite side of the river to pre- vent the English crossing.2 They were thus attacked in front and rear by an overwhelming force, with no chance of retreat and all hope of escape cut off.
At this critical juncture Captain Pierce formed his men into a circle, back to back, four paces apart, thus enlarging the circle to its greatest extent and presenting a front to the enemy in every direction, and necessarily scattering their fire over a greater surface; whilst the In- dians stood in a deep circle, one behind another, forming a compact mass and presenting a front where every shot must take effect, or, as stated by a contemporary annalist, "Capt. Pierce cast his men into a ring, and fought back to back, and were double-double distance all in one ring, whilst the Indians were as thick as they could stand thirty deep". He thus made a brave resistance for two hours, all the while keeping the enemy at a distance and his own men in perfect order, and kept up a constant and destructive fire upon the Indians. At last,
1Blackstone's house was located at the spot where the monument stands in the mill yard at Lonsdale, R. I.
? An exhaustive account of this fight may be found in a paper read before the Rhode Island Historical Society, Oct. 1, 1889, by James O. Whitney, M. D., of Pawtucket, R. I.
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STATE OF RHODE ISLAND AND PROVIDENCE PLANTATIONS.
overpowered by numbers, Captain Pieree and fifty-five English and ten Cape Indians were slain on the spot.
Hubbard states that when Captain Pierce found what danger he was in, he sent a messenger to Providenee for assistance; but the message not being promptly delivered, no relief to the besieged company was furnished. Another tradition says a message was sent by Pieree, before he left the garrison at Seekonk, by a man who "attended meeting" in Providenee. This messenger, however, did not arrive at Providenee until after the serviee had begun; he waited until the serviee was over before he delivered his letter to the eaptain to whom it was addressed, and so Captain Pieree and his handful of men had to fight their desperate and bloody fight alone. The captain, it is said, fell "earlier than many others", and Amos, "one of his friendly Indians", bravely and honorably stood by his eommander's side and fought "until affairs had beeome utterly desperate", and then made his eseape "by blaek- ening his face with powder", in imitation of the enemy.
Bliss, in his history of Rehoboth, reeounts the eseape by strategy of several of these Indians.
There is preserved in the library of the American Antiquarian Society at Woreester a letter, written the day after the battle. It gives the names of the men who were slain in this fight; it was written by the Rev. Noah Newman, a minister of Rehoboth, to the Rev. John Cotton, of Plymouth. It is as follows :
"Rehoboth, 27 of the first, '76.
"Reverend and dear Sir,
"I received yours dated the 20th of this instant wherein you gave me a doleful relation of what had happened with you, and what a distress- ing Sabbath you had passed. I have now, aeeording to the words of your own letter, an opportunity to retaliate your aeeount with a rela- tion of what yesterday happened to the great saddening of our hearts, filling us with an awful expeetation of what further evils it may be anteeedaneous to, both respeeting ourselves and you. Upon the 25th of this instant, Capt. Pieree went forth with a small party of his men and Indians with him, and upon diseovering the enemy fought him, without damage to himself, and judged that he had considerably damnified them. Yet le, being of no great foree, ehose rather to retreat and go out the next morning with a reeruit of men. And aeeordingly he did, taking pilots from us, that were acquainted with the ground. But it pleased the Sovereign God so to order it, that they were enelosed with a great multitude of the enemy, which hath slain fifty-two of our Englishmen, and eleven Indians. The aeeount of their names is as follows :
"From Seituate, eighteen, of whom fifteen were slain, viz .: Capt. Pieree, Samuel Russell, Benjamin Chittenden, John Lothrop, Gershom Dodson, Samuel Pratt, Thomas Savary, Joseph Wade, William Wil- eome, Jeremiah Barstow, John Ensign, Joseph Cowen, Joseph Perry,
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THE WARS AND THE MILITIA.
John Rowse [Rose]. Marshfield, nine slain, Thomas Little, John Eams, Joseph White, John Burrows, Joseph Phillips, Samuel Bump, John Low, More - John Brawer. Duxbury, four slain, John Sprague, Benjamin Soal, Thomas Hunt, Joshua Fobes. Sandwich, five slain, Benjamin Nye, Daniel Bessey, Caleb Blake, Job Gibbs, Stephen Wing. Barnstable, six slain, Lieut. Fuller, John Lewis, Eleazer C ---- [probably Clapp ], Samuel Linnet, Samuel Childs, Samuel Bereman. Yarmouth, five slain, John Matthews, John Gage, William Gage, Henry Gage, Henry Gold. Eastham, four slain, Joseph Nesse- field, John Walker, John M- [torn off], John Fitz, Jr. [ Fitch], John Miller, Jr. Thomas Man is just returned with a sore wound.
"Thus, sir, you have a sad account of the continuance of God's dis- pleasure against us: yet still I desire steadfastly to look unto him, who is not only able but willing to save all such as are fit for his salvation. It is a day of the wicked's tryumph, but the same word of God tells us his tryumphing is brief. O that we may not lengthen it out by our sins. The Lord help us to joyne issue in our prayers, in- stantly and earnestly, for the healing and helping of our Land. Our Extremity is God's opportunity.
"Thus with our dearest respects to you and Mrs. Cotton, and such sorrowful friends as are with you, I remain
"Your ever assured friend,
"Noah Newman."
There is no evidence that any men from Rhode Island participated in this fight.
It would seem that by the middle of March, Providence was nearly deserted, its population being reduced from nearly five hundred1 to considerably less than fifty.2 Such of the inhabitants as took up their residence on the island could hardly have reached there when the attack and burning took place. Authorities differ as to the date even of this occurrence. By some it is stated as taking place on March 29, while others give the date as March 30. Historians differ, too, as to the extent of the calamity. Cotton Mather, in the Magnalia Christi Americana, gives the date as the 29th, and the number of houses de- stroyed as thirty.
Perhaps the statement that a good portion of the houses and out- buildings in the northerly portion of the compact part of the town and nearly all the houses in the outlying country were burned, is as nearly correct as it is possible to fix it. Callender in his historical address, which was delivered probably in the lifetime of many who witnessed the event, says, "Our settlements on the main suffered very much, both at Pettaquamscut and at Warwick, and at Providence : where the Indians burnt all the ungarrisoned and deserted houses",3
1Providence Town Papers.
2Early Records of Providence.
3Collections R. I. Hist. Society, Callender's Discourse, vol. iv, p. 134.
1
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STATE OF RHODE ISLAND AND PROVIDENCE PLANTATIONS.
eonveying the idea that the only property destroyed was that which was unprotected.
Just what damage was sustained eannot be definitely stated; tradi- tion says that the town mill was destroyed and the homes of those who had fled to Newport, or to the garrisoned houses, burned to the ground, for, as Mather says, "the English retreating into garrison eould not but leave their homes open to the impressions of the adversary".
Even with the loss which the town did sustain it had good reason for thanksgiving. Roger Williams, in a letter to the town, expresses con- gratulations and prayers to "ye most High for your mereiful preservation in & through these late bloudy & burning tymes",1 for it does not appear that any life was lost during this attaek, but it is re- eorded that "Thomas Roberts, for fear of dangers by ye Indians, transported himself to the Island and there died".2 He it was who was brought wounded and bleeding into the town during the Pequot war, and was nursed back to health by the wife of Roger Williams. He had gone through one Indian war, and the reeolleetions of it pro- dueed no desire to take any part in another.
The individual losses of the people were great, their houses, stoek and personal belongings were entirely destroyed and the accumula- tions of years taken from them. The townspeople struggled for many years in recovering from their loss, and the Colony, out of eonsidera- tion for the impoverished condition of Providenee, made due allowanee in the Colony rate.
It was not until after Providenee had sustained its loss that the Colony officers paid any attention to the requests and demands for aid, and then only when Capt. Arthur Fenner, who, smarting under the loss which the town had suffered by reason of this laek of interest, besides having lost his own home, repaired to Newport and laid the condition of affairs before the Colony offieers.
At the session of the General Assembly, held at Newport the 3d of May, 1676, a committee, consisting of Mr. John Easton, assistant, and "Mr. George Lawton, one of the Deputys", was appointed to proceed to Providenee and ascertain the wants of the town as to the establish- ment of a garrison; this was in response to a petition from the town which had been presented to that body, and was nearly three months after the attack and burning.
This committee evidently attended to their duty promptly, for at the adjourned meeting, June 14, the following vote was passed. It is represented here in full, to show the change of mind that had come over the authorities since the first representation had been made, and since the town had felt the full effeet of the "impressions of the adver- sary": "Voted, upon the presentation of several of the in-
1Providence Town Papers.
2Ibid.
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THE WARS AND THE MILITIA.
habitants of the towne of Providence to this present Assem- bly for settlings of garrisons in the said towne, the Assem- bly well resentinge the matter, and upon searious considera- tion and debate, doe order and declare (for the maintaininge the Kings interest in this his Collony of Rhode Island and Providence planta- tions, and according to the trust reposed in us by his majesty in his gracious Charter granted,) that one garrison shall be settled in said town of Providence consisting of seven men with a Commander, which shall make up eight; the said seven shall have allowed them six shillings a man, money pay, and the Commander twelve shillings per weeke in the same specie; all which charge shall be paid (by) said Collony and the house which the Commissioners (thereafter men- tioned) shall appoint to be the garrison house, the owner of that house shall finde two men (to make the aforesaid number tenn) and to maintain them at his owne cost and charge. But in case the garrison house should be destroyed or burnt by the enemy (notwithstanding their care and dilligence to prevent) they to wit the two men put in by their owner of the house have the same satisfaction as the aforesaid seven are allowed, that is to say, six shillings per man a weeke to be payed by the abovesaid Collony.
"The Commissioners appointed are Mr. Roger Williams, Captain Arthur Fenner, William Harris, and Mr. George Lawton or the major part of them whoe with all convenient speed, desired and required to repair to the said Providence and there take spciall view of all the garrisons in said Providence and that garrison they judge most con- venient they are to declare it to be the King's garrison, and to set up and use at the charge of said Collony the King's collors there and what else garrison or garrisons shall be set up by any belonginge to the said Towne, it or they shall be at their owne proper cost and charge, and shall be observant and subject to the said King's Garrison. And for the better management of the premises this assembly doe ordaine and constitute Captaine Arthur Fenner to be the present Captain who shall have a Commission for that purpose and if said Captaine hath at any time a desire to remove from said garrison (or at his pleasure or discre- tion) he hath hereby full power given to nominate and appoint another Captain or Leiftenant in his roome out of the garrison aforesaid which said Captain or Leiftenant soe nominated and appointed, having the said commission assigned to him or a coppy by said first Captaine it shall be as authentick and of as full force and power for him to act in the premises as if it were originally granted to him by the Assembly further the Assembly doe order that one great gun belonginge to the owners of the ship Newport shall by a warrant from the Governor pressed and ordered to be sent to Providence to be placed in the said King's garrison with fifty pounds of powder and a hundred weight of
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