It was also an especially bloody war-the bloodiest, in terms of the percentage of the population killed, in American history. The war ended the largely stable and, in many ways, mutually beneficial relationship between colonists and Indians that had endured some five decades. And it was not certain the colonists would win. King Philip’s War was not a localized clash like the Pequot War of the 1630s but full-scale warfare involving most of the New England region and many of the indigenous tribes, a total war that made no distinctions between warriors and civilians. I am determined not to live until I have no country’ ‘But a small part of the dominion of my ancestors remains. The war has intrigued historians ever since. Increase Mather’s A Brief History of the War With the Indians in New England. William Hubbard’s The History of the Indian Wars in New England From the First Settlement to the Termination of the War With King Philip in 1677 Benjamin Thompson’s “New England’s Crisis,” the first epic poem written in North America and the Rev. Known today as King Philip’s War (after the primary Indian war leader), the conflict stretched from 1675 to 1678 and was the subject of several important Puritan works, among them the Rev.
While some questioned the veracity of the initial reports, the unrest quickly flared into a broad and bloody armed conflict. The reports told of lightning raids on towns by hundreds of warriors, barns and houses burned to the ground, farmers tomahawked in their fields, colonial militia columns wiped out in ambushes, women and children taken captive, and worse. In 1675, some 55 years after English separatists later known as the Pilgrims had founded Plymouth Colony (in present-day Massachusetts), newsletters began appearing in London describing horrible atrocities committed by Indians against the New England settlers. (Howard Pyle and Merle Johnson, Howard Pyle's Book of the American Spirit, Harper & Bros., New York, 1923) His death at the hands of an Indian allied with the colonists, depicted here, largely ended the fighting. By late summer, King Philip and his allies were weakened and on the run.The 1675–78 war began with a murderous act of betrayal tied to a Wampanoag chief known to New England settlers as King Philip. A lot of war-weary Indians surrendered however, the English sold many into slavery. In May, the militia attacked and killed up to 200 Narragansett at the Battle of Turner Falls at Peskeompscut near the Connecticut River.īy mid-summer, the English started giving amnesty to some Indians. In April, Chief Canonchet was captured, handed over to the Mohegans and shot, beheaded and quartered, leaving the Narragansett without a leader. Throughout the spring of 1676, the tide began to turn for the English. The Indians killed almost all the colonists however, nine men were captured and gruesomely tortured to death. In an attack known as the “Nine Men's Misery" incident, Narragansett Indians ambushed around 60 colonists and 20 Christian Wampanoag Indians. The Indians attacked Plymouth Plantation and forced most of its citizens to the coast and, led by Chief Canonchet, annihilated Providence, Rhode Island. Winter Campaignĭuring the winter of 1676, King Philip’s confederacy continued to assault English colonies throughout Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut and Maine, proving there was no safe place for colonists to hide. But the Mohawk attacked the Wampanoag and forced them to retreat to New England, with the Mohawk in hot pursuit. After much debate, they formed the New England Confederation on May 19, 1643.Īfter the Great Swamp Fight, King Philip set up camp in New York, possibly to enlist the Mohawk’s assistance.
#KING PHILIPS WAR SERIES#
WATCH Native American History Series on HISTORY Vault New England ConfederationĪfter the Pequot War (1636-1637), the New England colonies of Plymouth, Massachusetts Bay, Connecticut and New Haven realized the need to form a military alliance to defend against their common enemies. The war is named after the Wampanoag chief Metacom, later known as Philip or King Philip, who led the fourteen-month bloody rebellion. It was the Native Americans' last-ditch effort to avoid recognizing English authority and stop English settlement on their native lands.
King Philip’s War-also known as the First Indian War, the Great Narragansett War or Metacom’s Rebellion-took place in southern New England from 1675 to 1676.