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 H I 
 
 OF THE 
 
 Discovery of America , 
 
 
 AND OF THEIR MOST REMARKABLE 
 
 Engagements with the Indians , 
 
 ■ Ik NEW-ENGLAND, 
 
 From their first landing in 1620 , until the finr-i suTiK v 
 tion of tho Natives in 1679 , 
 
 TO WHICH IS ANNEXED, THE DEFEAT.' OF 
 
 Generals Braddock y Harmer 
 
 ■ *r 
 
 
 .. M.;* ■' 
 0> > v *,jii 
 
 By THE INDIANS at the WESTWARD f 
 
 •W / ■ / . ■ ' ? ' 1 
 
 Jr t £ ■■ f {■ J s’ A* T' : . 
 
 By a CITIZEN of CONNECTICUT, - ‘T i 
 
 < 555 *; 
 
 •' 10 . ... =, 
 *1.^ ■ l ■ ' {jr* 1 )* 
 
 M M y Countrymen-— These things ought not to be • forf.it t$i\ 
 for the benefit of our Children, and those that follow ..V ■■ 
 they should be recorded in History.” Dr.* Fr*ul •: 
 
 -**so& Gfr 0;j:0 . 
 
 N O R W ICH: 
 
 Pahiisbed for the Author at his office^ ig - *.. ■ 
 
 5 ■ 
 
 cJs-' 
 
 ><Tr : ..'•.. k !.T 
 
 /< *• * •* ‘ Afr 
 
 
DISTRICT of cosmcncvz to wit i. 
 
 E -IT REBISMBRRED, I hat m the twenty fourth day 
 of December > in the thirty fifth year of the lndcpend* 
 awe of the Untied States of America. HENRY "l RUM- 
 BULL, of the said- District* hath deposited in this Office 
 the title of a book, the right whereof he claims as author i •. 
 in the words following, to wit s— 4 * Misi-rj of the Discover 
 ry of .America—-of the Landing-of our Forefathers at Rly- 
 ' Mouth* and of their most remarkable engagements with the 
 Indians* in New- England* from their first landing in 1620* 
 until, the final subjugation of the natives in 1679 —to which 
 is annexed^ the Defeat of Generals Braddock* Hammer and 
 'St. Clair , by the Indians at the Westward* &c.—lsy a Csti * 
 zen of Connecticut 
 
 In conformity to the act of the Congress of the United 
 States* entitled « An Act for the encouragement of learnings 
 by securing the copies of maps* charts , and books* to the 
 authors and-proprietors of such copies, daring the times there* 
 imtione d.*’ 
 
 Qerh of the district of ‘C&meeitcut.* 
 
CHAP. I. 
 
 DISCOVERT OF AMERICA, 
 
 BY 
 
 CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. 
 
 JVIaNKIND owe the discovery of th§ western world 
 to the gold, the silver, the precious stones, the spices, 
 silks, and costly manufactures of the East; aiid even 
 these incentives were for a considerable time, insufficient 
 to prompt to the undertaking, although the most skilful 
 navigator of the age proffered to risk his life in the at¬ 
 tempt. 
 
 Ch ristofher Columjsus, who was destined to the 
 high honour ol revealing a new hemisphere to Europe¬ 
 ans, was by birth a Genoese, who had been early train¬ 
 ed to a seafaring life, and, having acquired every branch? 
 of knowledge connected with that profession, was.no let* 
 distinguished by his skill and abilities, than tor hr. intre¬ 
 pid and persevering spirit.—This man, when about for- 
 - ty years of age, had formed the great idea of reaching 
 the East Indies by sailing westward; but, as his fortune* 
 was very small, and the attempt required very effectual 
 patronage, desirous that his native country should profit 
 by his success, he laid his plan before the senate of Ge¬ 
 noa, but the scheme appearing chimerical, it was i eject¬ 
 ed.—He then repaired to the court of Portugal ; and uU 
 though the Portuguese were at that time distinguished 
 f^r their commercial spirit, and John II, who then reign¬ 
 ed, was a discerning and enterprising prince, yet the 
 prepossessions of the great men in his court, to whom 
 
,E 
 
 vtwmKL'Wuaaa 
 
 ■ 
 
 .••fit:.: 
 
 fh'fe matter was referred, caused Columbus finally to fait 
 i» his attempt there also* He next applied to Feb;di- 
 n and and Isabella, king and queen of Arro'gon sod 
 Castile, and at the same time sent his brother Barthol¬ 
 omew (who followed the same profession ; and who was 
 well qualified to fill the immediate place under such a 
 leader) to England, to lay the; proposal before- Henry 
 VII. which hke.wUe, very fortunately for the future well 
 being cf the country, met with no success.—Many were 
 the years which Christ other Columbus spent in inef¬ 
 fectual attendance at the Castillian court 5 the imppver- 
 iHted state into which the finances of the united king¬ 
 doms were reduced, the war with Granada, repressing 
 every disposition to attempt to great designs ; but the 
 tvatybcmg at length terminated, the powerful mind of 
 Isabella broke through all obstacles ; she declared her- 
 -self the patroness of Columbus, whilst' her husband Fee- 
 . lin and', declining to partake as an adventurer, in the 
 ' vovige, only gave it the .sanction of his name. Thus 
 did the superior genius of a women effect the discovery 
 -,r x/i "-one half the Globe l 
 
 The ships sent on. this important search were only 
 Avce m number, two of them very sgaali : they had nine- 
 tv men on- board. Although the ex pence of the expedi* 
 Goo hitcV long remained, the sole obstacle to its being uu- 
 d'-voaiyet, when every thing was provided, .the cost 
 ii\n wot ’amount, to more than 17.760 dollars, apd there 
 ' were’ twelve months provision put on board. E . 
 
 CoivMms set sail from port Palos, in the province of 
 otPthe 3d of August, 1 492 ; he proceeded to 
 the Canary Islands, and from thence directed'his course 
 ‘due \V- in' life latitude of about AS N*—■ In this course he 
 . v^QBtfwued .fob two months, without 'falling in wBh- any 
 'God, w 'Aak caused such a spirit of discontent end m di 
 tiie superior address and p 
 
 
the commander became unequal to suppress, although 
 for these qualities he Nvas eminently distinguished, -—He 
 was at length reduced to the necessity of entering into a 
 solemn engagement to abandon the enterprize and return 
 home, if land did not appear in three days.—Probably he 
 would not have been able to retain his people so long 
 from acts of violence and outrage, in pursuing so untri¬ 
 ed and dreary a course, had they not been sensible that 
 their safety in returning home, depended very much on 
 his skill as a navigator, in conducting the vessel. 
 
 At length the appearance of land changed their des¬ 
 pondency to the most exulting rapture,—It was an island 
 abounding with inhabitants, both sexes of which were 
 quite naked; their manners kind, gentle, and unsuspect¬ 
 ing.— Columbus named it San Salvador: it is one of the 
 cluster which bears the general name of Bahamia ; it was 
 only 3° 30 lat. to the S. of the island of Gomora, one of 
 the Canaries, from whence he took his departure. This 
 navigator was still so confirmed in the opinion which he 
 had formed before he undertook the voyage, that he be¬ 
 lieved himself then to be on an island -which was situated 
 adjacent to the Indies.—Proceeding to the S. he saw three 
 other islands, which he named St. Mary of the Concep¬ 
 tion, Ferdinand and Isabella.—At length he arrived at a 
 yery large island, and as he had taken seven of the na¬ 
 tives of San Salvador on board, he learned from them it 
 was called Cuba, but he gave it the name of Juanna.-— 
 lie next proceeded to an island which he called Espag- 
 pola, in honour of the kingdom by which he was employ¬ 
 ed, and it still bears the name ot Hispaniola.—Here he 
 built a foil and formed a small settlement ; he then re¬ 
 turned home, having on board some of the natives; whom 
 he had taken from the different islands ; steering a more 
 southern course, he fell in with some of the, Carribep 
 UUmds-, an*! arrived at the Port of Palos on the I5.h 
 

 <">“>»■ 4j *«*!«■ 
 
 March, 149.3, having been seven months and eleven daft 
 on this moss: important voyage. 
 
 On his arrival letters patent were issued by the king 
 and queen confirming to Columbus and to his heirs all 
 the privileges contained in a capitulation whkh had beep 
 executed before his departure, and his family was enno¬ 
 bled*. 
 
 Not .ordf the Spaniards, hut the other nations of Em 
 rape, seem to have adopted the opinion of Columbus, 
 in considering; the countries which he had discovered, as 
 a part of India*-—Whence Ferdinand and Isabella 
 gave them the name “ Indies’’ in the ratification of the it 
 former agreement with Colujibus.— Even after the er¬ 
 ror wm detected, the name was retained, and the appei* 
 latino of P West-XndieV*- is. now given by all Europe to 
 this country, and that of Indians .to* the inhabitants* 
 
 Nothing could possibly tend tnore effectually to- rouse- 
 every active principle of human nature, than the discove¬ 
 ries which Columbus, had made ; no time was therefore 
 •lost, nor expence spared, in preparing a fleet of ships, 
 with which this great man should revisit the countries 
 he had made know n*—Seventeen ships were got ready 
 in sits months, ‘ and .fifteen buudred persons embarked on 
 board them, among whom were many of noble families, 
 and who had filled honorable stations*—These engaged 
 in the enterprise from the expectation that the new dis¬ 
 covered country was either the Cipango of Marco Paulo, 
 or the OpHir from tfhich Solomon obtained his gold 
 i mi precious merchandize/" ¥temNAKn, now desirous 
 of securing what he had before?been unwilling to venture 
 for the obtaining, applied to the -Pope to be invested with 
 a-righttn these new discovered countries, as well as to' - 
 a]! future discoverids-vin that direction; but as it was ne¬ 
 cessary that there should be some favor of rd%bn in the 
 lie founded his plea on. a desire. of converting 
 
the savage natives to the Romish faith, which plan had 
 its desired effect. 
 
 Alexander VI. who then filled the papal chair, it 
 ought to be mentioned, was the most profligate and aban¬ 
 doned of men : being a native of Arragon, and desirous 
 of conciliating the favor of Ferdinand, for the purpose 
 of aggrandizing his family, he readily granted a request, 
 which, at no expence or risk, tended to extend the con¬ 
 sequence and authority of the papacy : he therefore be¬ 
 stowed on Ferdinand and Isabella, all the coun¬ 
 tries inhabited by infidels, which they had discovered.” 
 But as it was necessary to prevent this grant from inter¬ 
 fering with one not long before made to the crown of 
 Portugal, he appointed that a line supposed to be drawn 
 from pole to pole, one hundred leagues to the westward 
 of the Azores should serve as a limit between them ; and 
 in the pientitude of his power, conferred all to the east 
 of this imaginary line upon the Portuguese, and all to 
 the west of it upon the Spaniards. 
 
 Columbus set sail on his voyage from the port of Ca¬ 
 diz, on the 25th of September, 1493 ; when he arrived 
 at St. Espagnioia, he had the affliction to find that all the 
 Spaniards whom he had left there* amounting to thirty- 
 six in number, had been put to death by the natives, in 
 revenge for the insults and ou!rages which they had com¬ 
 mitted.—After having traced out the plan of a town in a 
 2arge plain, near a spacious bay, and given it the name 
 of I sabella, in honor of his patroness the queen of Cas¬ 
 tile, and appointed his brother Don Diego, to preside 
 as Deputy Governor in his absence, Columbus, on the 
 24th of April, 1494, sailed with one ship and two small 
 
 barks, to make further discoveries in those seas.—-In 
 this voyage he was employed five months, and fell irt 
 
 with many small islands on the coast of Cuba, but with 
 Bone of any importance except the island of Jamaica# 
 
Soon after his return to Hispaniola, he resolved id 
 make war with the Indians, who according to the Span¬ 
 ish historians, amounted to 100,000 men ; these having 
 experienced every lawless act of violence from their in¬ 
 vaders, were rendered extremely inveterate, and thirsted 
 for revenge, a disposition which appears to have been 
 foreign from their natures.—Having collected his full 
 force, he attacked them by night, whilst they were as¬ 
 sembled on a wide plain, and obtained a most decisive 
 victory, without the loss of one man on his part.—Be¬ 
 side the effect of cannon and fire arms, the noise of 
 which was appalling, and their effect against a nume¬ 
 rous body of Indians, closely drawn together, in the 
 highest degree destructive, Columbus had brought 
 over with him a small body of cavalry.—-The Indians 
 who had never before seen such a creature, imagined 
 the Spanish horses to be rational beings, and that each 
 with iu rider formed but one animal ; they were aston¬ 
 ished at their speed, and considered their impetuosity 
 and strength as irresistible.—In this onset they had be¬ 
 side another formidable enemy to terrify and destroy 
 them : a great number of the largest and fiercest species 
 of dogs which were then bred in Europe, had been 
 brought hither, which, set on by their weapons, with¬ 
 out attempting resistance, they fled with all the speed 
 which terror could excite.—Numbers were slain, and 
 more made prisoners, who were immediately consigned 
 to slavery. 
 
 The character of Columbus stands very high in the 
 estimation of mankind ; he is venerated not only as a 
 man possessing superior fortitude, and such a steady 
 perseverance, as no impediments, dangers or sufferings* 
 could shake, but as equally distinguished for piety and 
 virtue.-rHis second son Ferdinand, who wrote the life 
 of his father, apologises for this severity towards the na- 
 
tives, on account of the distressed state into which the 
 colony was brought: the change of climate, and the in¬ 
 dispensable labors which were required of men unac¬ 
 customed to any exertions, had swept away great num¬ 
 bers of the new settlers, and the survivors were declin¬ 
 ing daily, whilst such was the irreconcilable enmity of 
 the natives, that the most kind and circumspect conduct 
 on the part of the Spaniards, would not have been effec¬ 
 tual to regain their good will.—This apology seems to 
 have been generally admitted, for all modern writers 
 have bestowed upon the discoverer of the new world the 
 warmest commendations unmixed with censure,— It is an 
 unpleasant task to derogate from exalted merit, and to 
 impute a deliberate plan oPcruesty and extirpation to a 
 man revered for moral worth ; but although a pert af¬ 
 fectation of novel opinions could only originate in weak 
 minds, and can be countenanced only by such, yet a free 
 and unreserved scrutiny of facts, can alone seperate truth 
 from error, and apportion the just and intrinsic degree 
 of merit belonging to any character,*—That Columbus 
 had formed the design of waging offensive war against 
 the Indians, and reducing them to slavery, before he en¬ 
 tered upon his second voyage, and, consequently before 
 he was apprized of the destruction of the people which 
 he had left upon the island of Hispaniola, may be infers 
 fed from his proceeding himself with such a number of 
 fierce and powerful dogs. 
 
 Having found the natives peaceable and Well disposed, 
 jbe had no reason to apprehend that they would com- 
 mence unprovoked hostilities ; the cavalry which he took 
 over, whilst it tended to impress those people with the 
 deepest awe and veneration, was fully sufficient for the 
 security of the new colony, if the friendship of the na^ 
 kives had been sincerely meant to be cultivated by a kind 
 
 and equitable deportment; but to treat them as & free 
 
 B 
 
10 
 
 people was inconsistent wi di the views which led to 
 planting a colony ; for as the grand incentive to under¬ 
 take the distant voyages was the hope of acquiring gold? 
 SO) as Columbus had seer; Some worn as ornaments by 
 the natives, and had been inh nned that the mountain¬ 
 ous parts of the country yielded that precious metal, he 
 had excited expectations in his employers, and in the na¬ 
 tion at large, which both his interest and ambition com¬ 
 pelled him as far as possible to realize *. the Spaniards 
 could not obtain gold without the assistance of the na¬ 
 tives, and those were so constimtoaa’ly indolent that no 
 allurements of presents or gratifications could excite them 
 to labor.—To resque himself therefore from disgrace, 
 and to secure further support, he seems deliberately to 
 have devoted a harmless race of men to slaughter and 
 slavery —Such as survived the massacre of that dreadful 
 day, and preserved their freedom, fled inio the moun¬ 
 tains and inaccessible parts of the island which not yield¬ 
 ing them sufficient means of subsistence, they were com¬ 
 pelled to obtain a portion of food from their cruel pur¬ 
 suers, by procuring gold dust, in order to support life ; 
 a tribute being imposed upon them which was rigorously 
 exacted.—These wretched rema’nsof a free people; thus 
 driven from fruitfulness and amenity , compelled to la¬ 
 bour for the support ‘fff'life : a prey to despondency, 
 which the recollection of their former happiness sharpen¬ 
 ed, and which their hopeless situation rendered unsup- 
 portable, died in great numbers, Ukz innocent, but unre¬ 
 venged victims of European av&rrce.—Such are the facts 
 which have ever been admitted, yet, strange contradic¬ 
 tion I— Columbus is celebrated for his humanity and 
 croodness 1 but should he not rather be considered as a 
 roost consummate dissembler ; professing moderation' 
 whilst he meditated subversion, and, like most of the 
 heroes and conquerors whom history records, renouncing 
 
every principle of justice and humanity when they stop¬ 
 ped the career of his ambition !— Ferdinand Colum¬ 
 bus, his £oo, and biographer, has with great address 
 covered the shame of his father, whilst the adorning 
 world has been little disposed to censure a man, the 
 splendor of whose actions so powerfully fascina.es ant- 
 dazzles. 
 
 
 ' CHAP. II. 
 
 I LANDING OF OUR FOREFATHERS, 
 
 At PLYMOUTH, 
 
 - THE English, conducted by John Cabot, in the 
 year 1497, found the way to North-America soon after 
 Columbus had successfully crossed the Atlantic j but as 
 the torrents in that country brought down no gold, and 
 the Indians 'wtre not bedecked with any costly ornaments, 
 no attempts were made to explore the country for near a 
 century after its discovery.-— Air Fkancis Deals, who 
 traversed the whole circumference oi the globe in one 
 voyage, and in one ship, which had never been atchieved 
 before, when afterward annoying the Spaniards in the 
 West-Indies, and on the main, gained some knowledge 
 of the eastern shore of the northern consilient, as he iiuci 
 before of the western parts about the same parallel 
 Sir Walter Raleigh, however, was the first navigator 
 who explored the coast, bestowed on it a name, and at¬ 
 tempted to settle a colony. 
 
 At that time colon.zation made no part of the system' 
 cf government, so that there were few siimulents to aban¬ 
 don a native soil for the purpose oi seeking possessio,>s ; Lv 
 another hemisphere. — At length a powerful incentive 
 arose, stronger than the influence of kings, -than tbs' 
 
l S*-=» 
 
 
 of ease, than the dread of misery.— Religion, which hail 
 long been convened into the most powerful engine which, 
 human subtlety ever made use of to subjugate the mass 
 of mank.nd, no sooner ceased to be so perverted, than by 
 its own proper force it compelled large bodies of people 
 to renounce every pi esetu enjoyment, the instinctive love 
 of a native soil, rooted habits, and dearest connexions, 
 |ind to settle in the dreary wiids of a far distant continent. 
 
 When England, by a very singular concurrence of cir¬ 
 cumstances, threw off the papal yoke, slate policy so pre¬ 
 dominated in the measure, that the consciences of men 
 were slid required to bend to the discipline, conform to 
 the ceremonials, and ascent to the doctrines which the 
 governing powers established.—Although a dissent from 
 the church of Rome was considered as meritorious, yet 
 a dissent from the church of England was held to be he¬ 
 retical, and an ({fence to be punished by the civil magis¬ 
 trate.—The human mind, somewhat awakened from a 
 long suspension of its powers by a Wickcliffe , farther en¬ 
 lightened by an Erasmus and Melanthon , and at length 
 called forth into energy by the collision of those two ar¬ 
 dent and daring spirits, Luther and Calvin, then be¬ 
 gan to bend ali its attention towards religious enquiries ; 
 and exercised all its powers in such pursuits.—Hence 
 atose a vast diversity of opinions, which gave rise to nu¬ 
 merous sects and denominations of Christians, but as the 
 protestant establishment in England, held it essential to 
 preserve a unity of faith, those novel opinions obtained 
 no more quarter there than under papal power. 
 
 In the year 1610, a company of the persecuted re¬ 
 ligionists, composing the church of a Mr. Robinson, 
 having previously determined to remove to a country 
 where they might be enabled to worship God, agreeable 
 to the dictates of their consciences, emigrated to Hol- 
 kad, and settled in the city of Leyden ; where they con* 
 
tinued to reside until the year 1620. Although the ee- 
 clesiastical laws of Holland did not at this time sanction 
 or condemn the principles of any particular sect of Chris¬ 
 tians, yet great were the disadvantages under which Che 
 emigrants laboured ; for notwithstanding the Dutch gave 
 them a welcome reception, and manifested a disposition 
 to treat them with great respect, they never could be 
 prevailed upon by the former to conform to their mode 
 of worship, or to renounce principles which the English 
 conceived destructive to moral society;—nor did the em¬ 
 igrants here succeed in other respects agreeable to their 
 views—so far from increasing their little flock, they found 
 that in the course of ten years, they had experienced a 
 diminution of more than one half their original number- 
 many, in consequence of the impoverished state of the 
 country, had spent their estates and returned to England. 
 Hence it was that the remaining few formed the deter¬ 
 mination of attempting once more to seek a country bet¬ 
 ter adapted to their pious purposes, and such as would 
 promise a more fruitful abode to their offspring. By 
 some the unexplored parts of America was proposed, 
 and after a day set apart for solemn humiliation and praise 
 to Almighty God, it was resolved that a part of the 
 church should first emigrate to America, and if there 
 meeting with a favourable reception, should prepare an 
 abode lor the remainder. 
 
 They easily obtained a royal grant of a very extensive 
 tract of land (now called New-England) whither they ill- 
 tended to repair, not to amass wealth, or to exterminate 
 the inhabitants, but to subsist by industry, to purchase 
 security by honourable intercourse with the natives; and 
 to acquire strength under the auspices of freedom. 
 
 They made a pu chase ol two.small ships and on the 
 bth August, 1620, having repaired to Plymou h (Eng.) 
 lor the purpose, were in readiness to embark; previous 
 
14 — 
 
 to which they were very affectionately addressed by their 
 pious pastor (Dr. Robinson) who in fervent prayer com* 
 mended them to the holy keeping of Him, who rules the 
 destines of all men. 
 
 At 11 A. M. with a fair wind they set sail, and bid a- 
 dieu forever to their native country. Nothing material 
 occurred to obstruct their passage until the 20th, when 
 lhev experienced a tremendous gale, which threatened 
 them with instant destruction !—for three days succes¬ 
 sively they were tossed about at the mercy of the waves 
 —-‘'he fe hips were however enabled to keep company until 
 the storm had somewhat abated, when those on board 
 one of them conceiving their vessel no longer seaworthy, 
 abandoned her and were received on board the other. 
 
 On the 10th November, they to their inexpressible 
 joy, discovered land, which proved lo be that of Cape 
 Cod, where they with much difficulty the day following 
 succeeded in landing'—as soon as on shore they fell upon 
 their knees and returned thanks to the Almighty for en¬ 
 able mg them to reach in safety iheir place of destination. 
 •—But, although they had thus far succeeded in their 
 views, although they had been enabled to flee fromqier- 
 secution, to cross a wide and boisterous ocean, what was 
 their situation now 1—sojourners in a foreign land !-- 
 traversing the broken and unwrought shores of a wild 
 and unexplored country ! —they found here no friends to 
 welcome them, or house to shelter them from the in¬ 
 clemency of an approaching winter !—on one side they 
 beheld nought but a hideous and desolate wilderness, the 
 habitation of wild gnd veracious animals, and probably 
 the abode of a race of beings not less wild and unmerci¬ 
 ful !—on the other,, the briny ocean foaming and with 
 tremendous roar dashing against the huge and projecting 
 rockwhich as tar as the eye could perceimarked 
 the sea-beaten shores ! 
 
15— 
 
 After succeeding with much difficulty in discovering a 
 harbour in which their ship could ride with safety, they 
 made choice of ten of the most resolute of their num¬ 
 ber to explore the adjacent country, and discover if pos¬ 
 sible a more convenient place for their future abode; 
 who, on the morning of the 16th, provided with a musk¬ 
 et each, set out for this purpose—they had not penetra¬ 
 ted the woods above three miles when they discovered 
 five of the natives (which were the first seen by them 
 since their arrival) they were cloathtd with the skins of 
 animals, and armed with bows and arrows—the English, 
 with signs of friendship made toward them, but were 
 no sooner discovered by the savages, than they, with a 
 terrible yell, fled with the greatest precipitancy night 
 approaching, the English erected a small temporary en¬ 
 campment and after placing their sentinels retired to rest* 
 Early the ensuing morning they continued their journey, 
 following for a considerable distance the tracts of the five 
 Indians above mentioned, in hopes thereby to discover 
 their habitations and obtain therefrom a fresh supply of 
 provision, of which they v^ere much in want; but in this 
 they did not fully succeed. At about noon they arrived 
 at an extensive plat of clear ground, near which they 
 discovered a pond of fresh water, and several small hil¬ 
 locks ot raised earth, which they conjectured to be the 
 graves of the Indians—proceeding a little further west 
 they discovered a large quantity of stubble, which they 
 imagined to be that of some kind of Indian grain pecu¬ 
 liar to the country ; they also discovered a spot where 
 they suspected an Indian hut had recently stood, as they 
 found nearby some planks curiously vvrought and a small 
 earthern pot—proceeding still far her they discovered a 
 number more of the little hillocks of broken ground as 
 above described, and which they now began to sus >< ct 
 to be the place of deposit of something more than the 
 
dead !•—cmiosity leading them to examine more 
 one of these what they had before supposed to be Indian 
 sepulchres, they to their great surprize, found it to con¬ 
 tain a large quantity of the Indian grain (corn) above 
 mentioned !—it was still in the ear, and excited to no 
 sma'l degree the curiosity of the English, as they had 
 never before seen any thing of the kind—by a few of the 
 company the discovery was deemed of importance, but 
 by others (who had attempted to eat of the corn in its 
 raw state) it was pronounced indifferent food, of little 
 value !—they however concluded it best to return and 
 make known the discovery to their brethren. 
 
 Having succeeded with some difficulty in reaching the 
 place from which they started, they were met by those 
 whom they had left behind with the most unspeakable 
 joy and satisfaction s to whom they exhibited a specimen 
 of the grain which they had found, and recommended 
 the spot from which it was p ocured, as the most con¬ 
 venient and suitable at which to abide through the ap¬ 
 proaching winter. The company accordingly on the 
 25ih proceeded for and in safety reached the place above 
 mentioned, w'ith which being so much pleased, they* 
 termed New Plymouth, in remembrance of the port at 
 which they last embarked in Europe ;—here they con¬ 
 cluded to abide until such time as further discoveries 
 could be made—they erected a few temporary huts, suf¬ 
 ficient to shelter them from the weather, and soon after 
 by mutual consent entered into a solemn combination, 
 as a body politick ; and on the 10th December assembled 
 to form for themselves such a government and laws as 
 they should deem the most just and equitable ; previous 
 to which, the following instrument was drawn up, which 
 being first read and assented to by the company, receiv¬ 
 ed their signatures :--to wit: 
 
 IN the name of Gon, amen—We whose names are 
 
4 
 
 underwritten, the loyal subjects of our dread sovereign 
 king James, by the grace of God, king of Great-Britain, 
 France and Ireland, and defender of the faith, See. hav¬ 
 ing undertaken for the glory of God, advancement of the 
 Christian faith, and the honour of our king and country, 
 a voyage to plant the first colony in the northern parts of 
 America, do by these presents solemnly and mutually, 
 in the presence of God, and one another, covenant and 
 combine ourselves together into a civil body politic, far 
 our own convenience and the preservation and support 
 of the ends aforesaid -and by virtue hereof, do enact, 
 constitute and frame such just and equal laws, ordinan¬ 
 ces, acts, constitutions and officers, from time to rime* 
 as shall be thought most meet and convenient for the 
 general good of the colony—unto which we promise all 
 due submission and obedience.—-In witness whereof we. 
 
 have hereunto subscribed our names, 
 on the 10th day of December, A. D. 1620 
 
 John Carver, 
 William Bradford, 
 Edward Winslow, 
 William Brewster, 
 Isaac Allerion, 
 Miles Slandisb, 
 Joseph Fletcher, 
 John Goodman, 
 Samuel Fuller, 
 Christopher Martin, 
 William White, 
 Richard Warren, 
 John Howland, 
 Stephen Hopkins, 
 Didgery Priest, 
 Thomas Williams, 
 Gilbert Winslow, 
 Edmund Morgeson, 
 Peter Brown, 
 
 at New-PJymoaih# 
 
 John Alders, 
 
 John Turner, 
 
 Francis Eaton, . 
 
 James Chilton, m 
 John Cmxton, 
 
 John Biliingion, 
 Richard Bitteridge, 
 George Soule, 
 
 Edward Tilley, 
 
 John Tilley, 
 
 Thomas Rogers, 
 Thomas Tinker, 
 
 John Ridgdale, 
 
 Edward Fuller, 
 
 Richard Clarke, 
 Richard Gardiner, 
 
 John Allerion, 
 
 Thomas English, 
 Edward Liester. 
 
 The company next proceeded by ballot to the choicp 
 G 
 
— 18— 
 
 of a Governor, and on counting the Votes it appeared 
 that John Carver had the greatest number and was 
 declared chosen for one year. 
 
 On the 19th December, Mrs. Susannah White, the 
 wife of William White, was delivered of a son, which 
 was the Jirst born of the English in New England. 
 
 On the 21st it was agreed by the company to dispatch 
 a second exploring party, by water, to make if possible 
 further discoveries—the persons selected for this purpose 
 were Governor Carver, Messrs. Bradford, Winslow, 
 Standish, Howland, Warren, Hopkins.'Allerton, 
 Tilley, Clarke, Tinker, Turner and Brown they 
 embarked at 10 A. M. with a view of circumnavigating 
 the deep bay of Cape Cod.—On the morning of the 23d 
 they discovered a large party of the natives on shore, 
 who were employed in cutting up a fish resembling a 
 grampus; by order of Governor Carver, the English 
 made immediately for the shore, but were no sooner dis¬ 
 covered by the Indians, than they, with a yell peculiar to 
 savages, deserted their fish and fied with precipitancy I—* 
 The English landed and took possession of the fish, 
 which, having enkindled a fire, they cooked and found 
 to be excellent food ;—they concluded to continue en¬ 
 camped here through the night, and while employed (a 
 few rods from their boat in which their arms were depos¬ 
 ited) in erecting a temporary dwelling for the purpose, 
 they were suddenly attacked by a large party of the na¬ 
 tives, who discharged a shower of arrows among them ! 
 —the English, nearly panic struck at so sudden and un¬ 
 expected an onset, were on the eve of retreating to their 
 boat, whey they were reminded by their Governor (a 
 brave and experienced man) of the importance of facing 
 the enemy, and maintaining their ground, as a precipi¬ 
 tate flight might prove their total destruction—in the 
 time two or three of the company were dispatched 
 
for their arms, which having obtained, the whole were 
 ordered to form a close body and proceed with moderate 
 pace for the boat, and if hard pushed by the natives, to 
 face about and give them the contents of their muskets ; 
 —the Indians perceiving the English retiring, rushed 
 from their strong coverts, and were on the point of at¬ 
 tacking them in the rear with clubs, hatchets, stones, &c. 
 when they received the fire of the latter, which brought 
 three or four of them to the ground*—the Indians halted,, 
 viewed for a few moments with marks of astonishment 
 and surprize, their wounded brethren, and then with one 
 general united yell (which probably might have been 
 heard at the distance of three miles) fled in every direc¬ 
 tion !—this was the first engagement between the English 
 and natives in New England , and probably the first time 
 that the latter had ever heard the report ofi a musket l 
 The English embarked and returned immediately to 
 New-PIymouth, having been absent four days without 
 making any important discoveries. The company des¬ 
 pairing of making any further discovery of importance 
 during the winter, concluded to remain at their winter 
 quarters until the spring ensuing. The winter proved 
 an uncommonly tedious one, during which a great pro¬ 
 portion of the company sickened and died—-unaccustom¬ 
 ed to hardship, and deprived of many of the necessaries 
 of life, they fell victims to the inclemency of the season ; 
 —being thus reduced to a very small number, they woo'd 
 have fallen an easy prey to the savages, had the latter 
 (relying on the superiority of their strength) attacked 
 them—but the natives having by bitter experience learn¬ 
 ed the effects of their fire-arms, although they were daily 
 seen by the English at a distance, not one of them could 
 be prevailed upon to approach them within gun shot, un¬ 
 til about the 20th March, 1621, when to their great sur¬ 
 prise, an Indian came boldly up to them and addressed 
 
them in broken English 1—he informed them that he be* 
 longed lo an eastern pari of the country, and was ac¬ 
 quainted'with a number of their countrymen, who came 
 frequently there to procure fish, and of whom he learn- 
 ed to speak their language. 
 
 This Indian proved very serviceable to the company, 
 in supplying them with provision, in acquainting them 
 with the state of the country, the number and strength 
 of the natives, and the name of their chief sachem, to 
 whom he said the land which they improved belonged.— 
 The Indian being dismissed with many presents and 
 Iriendly assurances, he the day following returned ac¬ 
 companied by the grand sachem (Massasoiet) and a 
 number of his chief men, to whom the English gave a 
 welcome reception, presenting them with many trinkets 
 which the natives esteemed of great value.—With Mas- 
 aAsciET a treaty was proposed and concluded the day fol¬ 
 lowing, in which it was stipulated that the English and 
 natives were to live amicably together, and that the latter 
 were to furnish the former with provision, and to receive 
 in pay therefor such ar ticles as the former were willing to 
 part with—o which terms both parties continued ever 
 after faithfully to adhere. 
 
 Iij May 1621, the English planted their first corn in 
 New-England —In July following their worthy Governor 
 sickened mid died—his death was greatly lamented by 
 those of the company who survived him, and by whom 
 he was interred with all possible solemnity; his loving 
 consort survived him but a few weeks. In August the 
 company made choice of Mr. William Bradford, to 
 fill the vacancy occasioned by the death of Gov. Carver. 
 
 JNcw England from this period began to be rapidly 
 peopled by the Europeans ; so great was the emigration 
 from the mother country, that in less than six years from 
 she time that the first adventurers landed at New-Fly- 
 
aaouth, there were seven considerable towns built and set¬ 
 tled in Massachusetts and Plymouth colonies. 
 
 In the summer of 1627, Mr. Endicot, one of the 
 original planters, was sent over to begin a plantation at 
 Naumkeag, (now Salem)*—the June following about 200 
 persons, furnished with four ministers, came over and 
 joined Mr. Endicot’s colony ; and the next year they 
 formed themselves into a regular church. This was the 
 first church gathered in Massachussetts, and the second 
 in New England. The church at Plymouth had been 
 gathered eight years before. In 1629, a large embarka¬ 
 tion was projected by the company in England ; at the 
 request of a number of respectable gentlemen, most of 
 whom afterwards came over to New-England, the gene¬ 
 ral consent of the company was obtained, that the govern¬ 
 ment should be transferred and settled in Massachusetts. 
 
 In 1630, seventeen ships from different ports in Eng¬ 
 land arrived in Massachusetts, with more than 1500 pas¬ 
 sengers, among whom were many persons of distinction. 
 Incredible were the hardships they endured—reduced to 
 a scanty pittance of provisions, and that of a kind to 
 which they had not been accustomed, and destitute of 
 necessary accommodations, numbers sickened and died ; 
 so that, before the end of the year, they lost 200 of 
 their number. About this time settlements were mad a 
 at Charlestown, Boston, Dorchester, Cambridge, Roxbu* 
 ry, and Medford. 
 
 In the year 1632 and 1633, great additions were made 
 to the colony. Such was the rage for emigration to 
 New England, that the king and council thought fit to 
 issue an order, February 7 , 1633. to prevent it. The 
 order however, was not strictly obeyed. 
 
 In 1635, the foundation of a new colony was laid in 
 Connecticut, adjoining the river which passes through 
 the state ; of this river and the country adjacent; Lord 
 
Say, and Lord Brook, were the proprietors, at the mouth 
 of said river a fort by their direction was built, which 
 in honor to them, was called Saybrook fort.—New-Ha- 
 ven was settled soon after the building of this fort, as 
 was a number of other towns of considerable note in 
 Connecticut.—Some difficulty arising among those who 
 first settled at New-Plymouth, a part of the inhabitants, 
 to prevent any serious consequences, removed to a pleas¬ 
 ant and fertile island to the S. VV. of Cape Cod, now 
 
 called Rhode-Island, while others settled at Providence, 
 % 
 
 Warwick, Taunton, Szc ,—thus it was, that in the course 
 of a very few years, a great part of New-England, which 
 so late was an uncultivated forest, resounding with the 
 yells of savages, and beasts of prey, became the place of 
 abode of our persecuted forefathers. 
 
 But, this newly settled country was not to be acquired 
 without bloodshed ; the natives, although they at first 
 appeared harmless and well disposed toward the new 
 settlers, from the rapid increase and too frequent ag¬ 
 gressions of the latter, the jealousy of the former was 
 excited, which they soon began more openly to manifest 
 as will appear by what follows :— 
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 commencement^of hostilities , 
 
 WITH THE NATIVES. 
 
 THERE was a tribe of Indians which inhabited 
 
 the borders of Connecticut river, from its mouth to 
 
 within a few miles of Hartford, called Pequots , a fierce, 
 
 cruel, and warlike tribe, and the inveterate enemies of 
 * 
 
 the English ; never failing to improve every opportunity 
 to exercise toward them* the most wanton acts of bar* 
 
23 — 
 
 barity.—-In June 1634, they treacherously murdered a 
 Capt Stone and a Capt. Norton, who had been long in 
 the habit of visiting them occasonally to trade.—In Au¬ 
 gust, 1635, they inhumanly murdered a Mr. Weeks 
 and his whole family, consisting of a wife and six chil¬ 
 dren, and soon after murdered the wife and children of a 
 Mr. Williams, residing near Hartford.—Finding, how¬ 
 ever, that by their unprovoked acts of barbarity, they had 
 enkiudled'the resentment of the English (who, aroused 
 to a sense of their danger, were making preparation to 
 exterminate this cruel tribe) the Pequots despatched 
 messengers with gifts to the governor of the new colo¬ 
 nies (the Hon. Josiah Winslow)- —he being, however, 
 inflexible in his determination to revenge the deaths of 
 his friends, dismissed the*se messengers without an an¬ 
 swer.—The Pequots finding the English resolute and 
 determined, and fearing the consequence of their re¬ 
 sentment, the second time despatched messengers with 
 a large quantity of wampum (Indian money) as a present 
 to the governor and council ; with whom the latter had 
 a considerable conference, and at length concluded a 
 peace on the following terms :— 
 
 A R T I C L E S. 
 
 I. The Pequots shall deliver up to the English those 
 of their tribe that are guilty of the deaths of their coun¬ 
 trymen. 
 
 II. The Pequots shall relinquish to the English all 
 their right and title to the lands lying within the colony 
 of Connecticut. 
 
 III. The English, if disposed to trade with the Pe¬ 
 quots, shall be treated as friends. 
 
 To these articles the Pequots readily agreed and pro¬ 
 mised faithfully to adhere, and at the same time express¬ 
 ed a desire to make peace with the Narraganset Indians* 
 With whom they were then at wai\ 
 
Soon after the conclusion of peace with the Pequots, 
 the English, to put their fair promises to the test, sent £ 
 small boat into the river, on the borders of which they 
 resided, with the pretence of trade ; but so great was 
 the treachery of the natives, that after succeeding by fair 
 promises in enticing the crew of said boat on shore, they 
 were by them, inhumanly murdered. 
 
 The Pequots despairing of again deceiving the Eng¬ 
 lish in the manner they had late done, now threw off 
 the mask of friendship, and avowing themselves the nat¬ 
 ural enemies of the English, commenced open hostilities 
 against them, barbarously murdering all that were so 
 unfortunate as to fall into their hands.—A few families 
 were, at this time settled at or near Wealhersfield (Conn.) 
 the whole of whom were carried away captives by them ; 
 two girls, the daughters of a Mr. Gibbons, of Hartford, 
 were in the most brutal manner put to death ; after gash¬ 
 ing their flesh with their knives, the Indians filled their 
 wounds with hot embers, in the mean time mimicking^ 
 their dying groans. 
 
 The Pequots, encouraged by the trifling resistance 
 made by the English to their wanton acts of barbarity, 
 on the 20th June, 1636, besieged fort Saybrook, in which 
 there were about twenty men stationed ; the Indians were 
 to the number of about one hundred and fifty, they sur¬ 
 rounded and furiously attacked the fort at midnight, hor¬ 
 ribly yelling and mimicking the dying groans of such 
 as had fallen victims to their barbarity : but the Eng¬ 
 lish being fortunately provided with a piece of cannon 
 or two, caused their savage enemies to groan in reality, 
 who, after receiving two or three deadly fires from the 
 besieged, retreated, leaving behind them dead or mortal¬ 
 ly wounded about twenty of their number ; the English 
 sustained no loss in the attack. 
 
 The Governor and Council of Massachusetts colony, 
 
alarmed atf the bold and daring conduct of the Fequots, 
 cn the 20th August dispatched Capt. Endicot, of Salem, 
 with ninety men, to avenge the murders committed by 
 them, unless they should consent to deliver up the mur¬ 
 derers, and make reparation for the* injuries which the 
 English had sustained. Capt. Endicot was directed to 
 proceed first to Block Island (then inhabited by the Pc- 
 quots) put the men to the sword and take possession of 
 the Eland—the women and children were to be spared-*- 
 thence he was to proceed to the Pequot country, demand 
 the murderers of the English, a thousand fathom of 
 wampum, and a number of their children as hostages. 
 
 Capt. Endicot sailed from Boston on the morning of 
 the 20th, when he arrived at Block-Island, about sixty 
 Indians appeared on the shore arid opposed his tending i 
 his men soon however effected a landing and of er a little 
 skirmishing drove the Indians into the woods, where 
 they could not be found. The English continued two 
 days on the island, in which time they destroyed 100 
 wigwarms and about 50 canoes, when they proceeded 
 for the Pequot country.—When they arrived in Pequot 
 harbour, Capt. Endicot acquainted the enemy with hiu 
 designs and determination to avenge the cruelties prac 
 ticed upon his countrymen—in a few moments ntu :ly 
 500 of the enemy collected upon the shores, but as soon 
 as they were made acquainted with the hostile views of 
 the English, they hastily withdrew, and secreted them¬ 
 selves in swamps and ledges, inaccessible to the troops ; 
 —Capt. Endicot landed his men on both sides the har¬ 
 bour, burnt their wigwarms and destroyed their canoes? 
 killed an Indian or two, and then returned to Boston I — 
 Enough indeed had been done to exasperate but nothing 
 to subdue a haughty and warlike enemy. 
 
 S^ssacus (chief sachem of the Pequots) and his cap* 
 
 ;pi 
 
 D ' 
 
 'tains 1 , were men of great and independent spirits $ they 
 
t»ad conquered and governed the nations around theraf- 
 without controul—they viewed the English as strangers 
 and 4nere intruders, who had no right to the country? 
 nor to controul its original proprietors, independent prin¬ 
 ces and sovereigns—they had made settlements at Con** 
 necticut without their consent, and brought home the 
 Indian kings whom they had conquered, and restored to 
 them their authority and lands—they had built a fort, 
 and were making a settlement without their approbation 
 in their very neighborhood—indeed they had now pro¬ 
 ceeded to attack and ravage the country ;—the Pequots 
 in consequence breathed nothing but war and revenge ; 
 they were determined to extirpate or drive all the Eng¬ 
 lish from New-England. For this purpose they conceiv¬ 
 ed the plan of uniting the Indians generally against 
 them ; they spared no art nor pains to make peace with 
 the Narragansets, and to engage them in the war a- 
 gainst the English : to whom they represented that the 
 English, who were merely foreigners, were overspread¬ 
 ing the country, and depriving the original inhabitants 
 of their ancient rights and possessions ; that unless ef¬ 
 fectual measures were immediately taken to prevent it, 
 they would soon entirely dispossess the original proprie¬ 
 tors and become the lords of the continent; they insist¬ 
 ed that by a general combination they could either de¬ 
 stroy or drive them from the country, that there would 
 be no necessity of coming to open battles, that by kil¬ 
 ling their cattle, firing their houses, laying ambushes on 
 the roads, in the fields, and wherever they could sur¬ 
 prise and destroy them, they might accomplish their 
 wishes ;—they represented that if the English should ef¬ 
 fect the destruction of the Pequots, they would also soon 
 destroy the Narragansets. So just and politic were 
 these representations, that nothing but that thirst for re¬ 
 venge, which inflames the savage heart, could have re- 
 
sisted their influence, indeed it is said that for some time 
 the Narragansets hesitated. 
 
 The governor of the colonies, to prevent an union be¬ 
 tween these savage nations, and to strengthen the peace 
 between the Narraganset Indians and the colonies, dis¬ 
 patched a messenger to invite Miantinomi, their chief 
 sachem, to Boston—The invitation was accepted by Mi¬ 
 antinomi, and while at Boston, with the Governor and 
 Council entered into a treaty, the substance of which 
 was as follows, (viz,)—That there should be a firm peace 
 maintained between the English and Narragansets, and 
 their posterity :—That neither party should make peace 
 with the Pequots without its being first mutually assent¬ 
 ed to :—That the Narragansets should not harbour the 
 enemies of the English, but deliver up to them such fu¬ 
 gitives as should resort to them for safety The Eng¬ 
 lish were to give them notice when they went out against 
 the Pequots, and the Narragansets were to furnish 
 guides. 
 
 In February 1637, the English in Connecticut colony, 
 represented to the Governor and Council their desire to 
 prosecute more effectually the war with the Pequots, who 
 yet continued to exercise toward them the most wanton 
 acts of barbarity.—They represented that on the lOUi 
 January, a boat containing three of their countrymen was 
 attacked by the enemy as it was proceeding down the 
 river ; that the English for some time bravely defended 
 themselves, but were at length overpowered by numbers ; 
 that the Indians, when they had succeeded in capturing 
 the boat's crew, ripped them up from the bottom of their 
 bellies to their throats, and in like manner split them 
 down their backs, and thus mangled hung them upon 
 trees by the river side !—they represented that the affairs 
 of Connecticut colony at this moment wore a most gloomy 
 aspect—that they had sustained great losses in cattle 
 
and goods the preceding years but were stil! more unfor¬ 
 tunate the present ; that a most dreadful and insidious 
 enemy were now seeking opportunity to destroy them— 
 that they could neither hunt, fish or cultivate their fields, 
 nor travel at home or abroad but at the peril of their lives 
 —that they were obliged to keep a constant watch by 
 night and day, to go armed to their daily labours and to 
 the houses of public worship !—-and although desirous to 
 prosecute the war more effectually with the common 
 
 enemy, they were not in a situation to do it, and there- 
 
 * 
 
 f>re humbly prayed for assistance. 
 
 The report of the horrid and unprovoked cruelties of 
 the Pequots, practised upon the defenceless inhabitants 
 of Connecticut colony, roused the other colonies to har¬ 
 monious and spirited exertions against them—Massachu¬ 
 setts determined to send 200 and Plymouth 40 men to 
 assist their unfortunate brethren in prosecuting the war. 
 —Capt. Patrick with 40 men was sent forward before 
 the other troops, in order that he might be enabled sea¬ 
 sonably to form a junction with the troops in Connecti¬ 
 cut, who, notwithstanding their weak and distressed state 
 had engaged to furnish 90 men. 
 
 On Wednesday the 10th May, the Connecticut troops 
 proceeded for their lort at Saybrook ; they consisted of 
 90 Englishmen and 70 Mohegan and river Indians—the 
 latter commanded by Uncus, sachem of the Mohegans, 
 and the former by Capt. John Maso^t, who was accompa¬ 
 nied by the Rev. Mr. Stone, of Hartford, as chaplain* 
 The Mohegans being detached from the English, on their 
 way to Saybrook, fell in with a considerable body of the 
 enemy, whom they attacked and defeated, they killed 22 
 
 and took 18 of them nrisoners. 
 
 * * 
 
 Among the prisoners there v>as one who was recog- 
 nized as a perfidious viliian ; he hud lived in the fort with 
 ins English some time.before and well understood their 
 
t9—- 
 
 language ; he remained attached to their interest until 
 the commencement of hostilities with thePequots, when 
 he deserted the garrison and joined the enemy, whom he 
 served as guide, and through whose instigation many of 
 the English had been captured and put to death.— Uncus 
 and his men insisted upon executing him according to 
 ^he custom of their ancestors, and the English, in the 
 circumstances in which they then were, did not judge it 
 prudent to interfere—the Indians enkindled a fire, near 
 which they confined the prisoner to a stake, in which si¬ 
 tuation he remained until his skin became parched with 
 the heat ; the Mohegans then violently tore him limb 
 from limb, barbarously cutting his flesh in pieces, they 
 ^ handed it round from one to another, easing it, while 
 they sung and danced round the fire in a manner pecu« 
 liar to savages I the bones and such parts of the unfortu¬ 
 nate captive as were not consumed in this dreadful re¬ 
 past, were committed to the flames and consumed to 
 ashes. 
 
 On the 19th, Capt. Mason and his men proceeded for 
 Narraganset bay, at which place they safely arrived on 
 the 21st.—Capt, Mason marched immediately to the 
 plantation of Canokicus (a Narraganset sachem)-and ac¬ 
 quainted him with his designs, and immediately after dis¬ 
 patched a messenger to Miantinomi, to inform him 
 likewise of the expedition. The next day Miantenoiu 
 with his chief counsellors and warriors met the English 
 —Capt. Mason informed him that the cause of his enter- . 
 ing his countiy with an armed force was to avenge the 
 injuries which the Pequots had done the English, and 
 desired a free passage to their forts, which they intended 
 to attack ;— after a solemn consultation, in the Indian 
 manner, Miantinomi observed that u he highly approv¬ 
 ed of the expedition, and would send men to assist- the 
 English, but that they were too few in number to fight 
 
the enemy—that the Pequots were great warriors ah# 
 rather slighted the English.” 
 
 Capt. Mason landed his men and marched to the plan¬ 
 tation of Miantinomi, which, by previous agreement, 
 was to be the place of general rendezvous—in the even¬ 
 ing an Indian runner arrived with information that Capt, 
 Patrick, with the men under his command, had arrived 
 at the plantation of Roger Williams, in Providence, 
 and was desirous that Capt. Mason should postpone his 
 march until such time as he could join him ; Capt. Ma¬ 
 son after mature deliberation determined l\owever not to 
 wait his arrival, although a junction was considered impor* 
 tant ; his men had already been detained much longer 
 than was agreeable to their wishes, and the Mohegans 
 apparently were impatient for battle. The little army 
 therefore (consisting of 90 Englishmen. 60 Mohegan and 
 river Indians and about 200 Narragansets) commenced 
 their march on the 24ih, and in the evening of that day 
 reached Nihantick, which bounded on the country of the 
 Pequots—Nihantick was the seat of a Narraganset Sa¬ 
 chem, who seemed displeased with the expedition, and 
 would not suffer the English to enter his fort—Capt. Ma¬ 
 son, suspecting the treachery of this fellow, placed a senti¬ 
 nel at night at the entrance of the fort, determined that 
 as he could not be permitted to enter, no one should come 
 out to advise the enemy of his approach. 
 
 On the morning of the 25th, Capt. Mason was joined 
 by an additional number of the Narragansets and a few 
 of the Nihanticks—they formed a circle, and brandishing 
 their scalping knives, made protestations how gallantly 
 they would fight, and what numbers they would kill! Scc* 
 —Capt. Mason had now under his command near 500 
 Indians, in addition to his former force, with whom he 
 early.- reassumed his march for the head quarters of the 
 enemy—the day proved uncommonly warm, and the men 
 
through excessive heat and want of provision, were only 
 enabled by night to reach Paucatuck river ; where the 
 Narragansets began to manifest great fear and to enquire 
 of Capt. Mason his real designs—he assured them that 
 “ it was to attack the Pequots in their fort !" at which 
 they appeared greatly surprized, and exhibited a disposi¬ 
 tion to quit the English and return home. 
 
 We qu ash, a Pequot Sachem, who had revolted from 
 Sassacus, was the principal guide of the English, and he 
 proved faithful ; he gave such information respecting 
 the distance of the forts of the enemy from each other, 
 and the distance they were then from that of the chief 
 Sachem’s, as induced Capt. Mason to determine to at¬ 
 tack the latter, vthich his guide represented as situated at 
 the head of Mistic river—he found his men so much fa¬ 
 tigued in marching through a pathless wilderness, with 
 their provision, arms and ammunition, that this resolution 
 appeared to be absolutely necessary. The little army 
 accordingly on the morning of the 26th, proceeded direct¬ 
 ly for Mistic, and at about sundown penetrated a thick 
 swamp, where (imagining that they could not be far dis¬ 
 tant from the fort) they pitched their little camp, between 
 two large rocks, now known by the name of “ Porter's 
 rocks,” situated in Groton-—the sentinels, who were con¬ 
 siderably advanced in front of the main body of the En¬ 
 glish, distinctly heard the enemy singing and dancing 
 through the night at their fort. 
 
 The important day was now approaching when the 
 very existence of Connecticut, was to be determined 
 by the sword in a single action l and to be decided by the 
 valour of less than 100 brave men !—About two hours 
 before day the men were aroused from their slumbers 
 by their officers, and after commending themselves and 
 their cause to the Almighty, proceeded with ail possi¬ 
 ble dispatch for the enemy's fort j-~wken within % few 
 
rods of the fort, capt. Mason sent for Uncas and We- 
 qi tasHj and desired them in their Indian manner to har- 
 rangtie and prepare their men for combat ; they replied 
 that 4 * their men were much afraid, and could not be 
 prevailed upon to advance any farther !”—“ Go then (said 
 capt. Mason) and request them not to retire, but to sur¬ 
 round the fort at any distance they please, and see what 
 courage Englishmen can display !”—The day was now 
 dawning, and no time to be lost, the fort was soon in 
 view—-the soldiers pressed forward, animated with the 
 reflection that it was not for themselves alone they were 
 about to fight, but for their parents, wives, children and 
 countrymen I—as they approached the fort within a short 
 distance, they were discovered by a Pequot sentinel, who 
 roared out “ Gwarmx !’* “Owamixl” (Englishmen ! 
 Englishmen !■)—-the troops pressed on and as the Indians 
 were rallying poured in upon them the contents of their 
 muskets, and instantly hastening to ‘.he principal entrance 
 cf the fort, rushed in sword in hand !—an important mo¬ 
 ment this ! for notwithstanding the blaze and thunder cf 
 the arms of the English, the Pequots made a manly and 
 desperate resistance ; sheltered by their wigwarms, and 
 rallied by their sachems and squaws, they defended them¬ 
 selves and in some instances attacked the English with a 
 resolution that would have done honour to Romans!— 
 alter a bloody and desperate co-nil ict of near two hours 
 continuance, in which hundreds of the Indians were slain, 
 and many of the English killed and wounded, victory 
 still hung in suspense !—in this critical state of the ac¬ 
 tion, capt. Mason had recourse to a successful expedi¬ 
 ent— rushing into a wigwarm within the fort, he seized 
 a brand of fire, and in the mean time crying out to his 
 men, H we must burn them /” communicated it to the 
 mats With which the wigwarms were covered, by which 
 means the whole fort was very soon «nwrapt in flames ! 
 
«—as the fire increased the English retired and formed a 
 circle around the fort; the Mohegans and Narragansets 
 who had remained idle spectators to the bloody conflict, 
 how mustered courage sufficient to form another circle 
 in the rear of them the enemy were now in a deplo¬ 
 rable situation—death inevitably was their portion !— sal¬ 
 lying forth from their burning cells, they were shot or 
 tut in pieces by the English—many of them (perceiving 
 it impossible to escape the vigilance of the troops) threw 
 themselves voluntarily into the flames ! 
 
 The violence of the flames—the reflection of the light 
 —the clashing and roar of arms—the shrieks and yells 
 of the savages in the fort, and the shootings of the friend¬ 
 ly Indians without, exhibited a grand and awful scene I 
 in less than two hours from the commencement of the 
 bloody action, the English completed their work—eighty 
 wigwarms were burnt and upwards of eight hundred In¬ 
 dians destroyed !—parents and children, the san®up and 
 squaw, the aged and the young, perished in permiscu* 
 ous ruin I—the loss of the English was comparitivelf 
 trifling, not exceeding 25 in killed and wounded.. 
 
 After the termination of this severe engagement, as 
 the English were proceeding to embark on board their 
 vessels (which fortunately for them at this moment ar¬ 
 rived in the harbour) they were attacked in the rear by 
 about, 300 of the enemy, who had been dispatched from 
 a neighboring fort to assist their brethren—the English 
 gave them so warm a reception that they soon gave way 
 and fell back to the field of action, where, viewing for a 
 few moments, with apparent marks of horror and sur. 
 prize, the shocking scene which it presented, they stamp¬ 
 ed, bellowed, and with savage rage tore their hair from 
 their heads ! and then, with a hideous yell, pursued the 
 English as if with a determination to aVenge the deaths 
 
 of their friends even at the expence of their lives they 
 
 E 
 
pursued the English nearly six miles, sometimes shook* 
 jng at a distance, from behind rocks and trees, and some? 
 times pressing hard upon them and hazarding themselves 
 in open field—-the English killed numbers of them but 
 sustained no loss on their part ; when a Pequot fell, the 
 Mohegans would cry out <c run and fetch his head — 
 the enemy finding at length that they discharged their 
 arrows in vain, and that the English appeared to be wek- 
 supplied with ammunition, gave over the pursuit. 
 
 In less than three weeks from the time the English' 
 embarked at Saybrook, they returned (with the exception 
 of the few killed and wounded) in safety to their respec¬ 
 tive habitations.—Few enterprizes were ever perhaps at- 
 chieved with more personal bravery ; in few have so great 
 a proportion of the effective men of a whole colony, 
 state or nation, been put to so great and immediate dan¬ 
 ger—in few have a people been so deeply and immedi¬ 
 ately interested, as were the English inhabitants of Con¬ 
 necticut at this important crisis—in these respects even 
 the great armaments and battles of Europe are compar¬ 
 atively of little importance—and it ought never to be for¬ 
 gotten, that through the bravery and unconquerable reso¬ 
 lution of less than one hundred men, Connecticut was 
 once saved, and the most warlike and terrible tribe of 
 Indians in New-England completely exterminated. 
 
 The few Pequots that now remained alive conceiving 
 it unsafe to inhabit longer a country so exposed to inva¬ 
 sion, removed far to the westward ; among whom was 
 Sassacus, their principal sachem.—On the 25th June, 
 the Connecticut troops under command of capf. Mason, 
 together with a company from Massachusetts, command¬ 
 ed by capt. Stoughton, were sent in pursuit of them ; 
 they proceeded westward, and on the 27th fell in with 
 attacked and defeated a considerable body of them : they 
 took about 50 of them prisoners, among whom weia 
 
two Sachems, whose lives were offered them on condi¬ 
 tion of their serving as guides to the English. 
 
 The English on their march frequently fell in with 
 small detached parties of the enemy, whom they captur¬ 
 ed or destroyed, but could not obtain any information 
 relative to the main body commanded by Sassacus—. 
 finding that the two sachem prisoners would not give 
 them the information required, they on the 27th behead¬ 
 ed them at a place called Menunkatuck (now Guilford) 
 from which circumstance the place still bears the name 
 of “ Sachems’ head.” The English on the 30th, arriv¬ 
 ed at Quinnipiak (now New-Haven) where they were in¬ 
 formed by a friendly Pequot that the enemy were encamp¬ 
 ed in a swamp, a few miles to the westward—the troops 
 pushed forward and on the succeeding day arrived at the 
 boarder of said swamp, which they found a thicket so ex¬ 
 tremely boggy as to render it inaccessible to any one but 
 the natives—the English, therefore, thought it most advi¬ 
 sable to surround the swamp and annoy the enemy as op¬ 
 portunity presented ;—the Indians, after a few skirmishes, 
 requested a parley, which being granted them, Thomas 
 Stanton, (interpreter to the English) was sent to treat 
 with them—he was authorized to offer life to such as had 
 not shed the blood of Englishmen ; upon which the Sa¬ 
 chem of the place, together with about 300 of his tribe 
 came out, and producing satisfactory proof of their inno¬ 
 cence, were permitted to retire ;—but the Pequots boldly 
 declared that “ they had both shed and drank the blood of 
 Englishmen, and would not upon such terms accept of 
 life, but would fight it out !”—The English, unwilling to 
 brook the threats and insulting language of the Pequots, 
 attempted now to devise means to attack the whole body 
 of them without further delay ; the officers were however 
 divided in opinion as to the mode of attack-some were 
 for setting fire to the swamp, others for cutting their 
 
•36- 
 
 way through with hatchets, and others for surrounding 
 it with a high fence or pallisado ; neither of which plans 
 were however fully adopted—as night approached the 
 English cut through a part of the swamp, by which 
 means its circumference was much lessened, and they 
 enabled so completely to surround the enemy as to pre¬ 
 vent their escape during the night ;—early the ensuing 
 morning the Indians percervipg themselves completely 
 hemmed in by the English, made a violent attempt to 
 break through iheir lines ; they were however driven 
 buck with great loss—they next attempted to force th© 
 line formed by the Connecticut troops, but here they met 
 with a much warmer reception—the contest now became 
 close and severe, the Indians, who were about 600 in 
 number, appeared determined not to yield but at the ex¬ 
 pence of their lives ; one of the most resolute of them 
 walked boldly up to capt. Mason, with an uplifted toma¬ 
 hawk, and when about to give the fatal stroke, received 
 a blow from the latter, who with his cutlass severed the 
 head of the savage from his body ! the enemy soon after 
 made another attempt to break through the lines of the 
 English, and in which, after a violent struggle, they final¬ 
 ly succeeded ; about 60 of their bravest warriors escap¬ 
 ed, the remainder being either killed or taken prisoners ; 
 —the loss of the English was 11 killed and about 20 
 wounded. 
 
 The prisoners taken were divided among the troops, 
 some of whom were retained by them as servants and the 
 remainder sent to the West,-Indies- and sold to the plan* 
 iers—the prisoners reported that the whole tribe of Pe- 
 quots was now nearly exterminated ; that in different 
 engagements there had been upwards of 2000 of them 
 killed and about 1000 caplin ed, among whom were 13 
 Sachems, and that six yet survived, one of whom was 
 ' oassAcus, who had fled with the fragment of his tribe t« 
 
the country bordering on Hudson river, inhabited by tfye 
 Mohawks. 
 
 After the swamp fight the Pequots became so weak 
 and scattered that the Mohegans and NarragansgfJs daily 
 destroyed them, and presented their scalps to the Eng¬ 
 lish ; the few that fled with Sassacus to the westward, 
 were attacked and totally destroyed by the Mohawks— 
 
 i • 
 
 the scalp of Sassacus was in the fall of 1638, presented 
 to the Governor and Conned of Massachusetts. 
 
 Soon after the extermination of the Pequots, the Nar- 
 ragansets (the most numerous tribe in New-England) be¬ 
 ing displeased with the small power with which they 
 were vested, and the respect which the English uniformly 
 manifested for Uncus, appeared disposed to break their 
 treaty of friendship- Miantinomi, without consulting 
 the English according to agreement, without proclaiming 
 war, or giving Uncus the least information, raised an ar¬ 
 my of 1000 men and marched against him.—The spies 
 of Uncus discovered the army at some distance and gave 
 him intelligence—he was unprepared, but rallying about 
 500 of his bravest men he told them they must by no means 
 suffer Miantinomi to enter their town, but must go 
 and give him battle on his way. The Mohegans having 
 marched three or four miles met the enemy upon an ex¬ 
 tensive plain—when the armies had advanced within fair 
 bow shot of each other, Uncu3 had recourse to stratagem, 
 with which he had previously acquainted his warriors— 
 he desired a parley, which being granted, both armies 
 halted in the face of each other ; Uncus gallantly ad¬ 
 vancing in front of his men addressed Miantinomi to 
 this effect— ‘ You have a number of stout men with you, 
 and so have I with me ; it is a great pity that so many 
 brave warriors should be killed in consequence of a pri¬ 
 vate mis-understanding between us two !—come like a 
 brave man, as you profess to be, and let us decide the 
 
—58— 
 
 /dispute alone, if you kill me, my men shall be yours ; 
 but it I kill you, your men shall be mine !”— u No ! (re¬ 
 plied Miantinomi) my men come to fight, and they 
 shall fight !”—upon which Uncu , falling instantly to the 
 ground his men discharged a shower of arrows among 
 the Narragansets, and without a moment’s interval, rush¬ 
 ing upon them in the most furious manner, with a hideous 
 yell, put them to flight.— The Mohegans pursued the 
 enemy with the same fury and eagerness with which they 
 commenced the action—the Narragansets were driven 
 down rocks and precipices, and chased like a doe by the 
 huntsman—many of them to escape from their pursuers 
 plunged into a river from rocks of near thirty feet in 
 height—among others Miantinomi was hard pushed, 
 some of the most forward of the Mohegans coming up 
 with him, twirled him about and impeded his flight that 
 Uncus, their Sachem, might alone have the honour of 
 taking him ;— Uncus (who was a man of great bodily 
 strength) rushing forward like a lion greedy of his prey, 
 seized Miantinomi by the shoulder, and giving the In¬ 
 dian whoop, called up his men who were behind to his 
 assistance*—-The victory was complete—about 50 of the 
 .Narragansets were killed and a much greater number 
 wounded and taken prisoners j among the latter was a 
 brother of Miantinomi and two of the sons of Canoni- 
 cus, whom Uncus conducted in triumph to Mohegan. 
 Some few days after Uncus conducted Miantinomi 
 back to the spot where he was taken, for the purpose of' 
 putting him to death ; at the instant they arrived on the 
 ground, an Indian (who was ordered to march in the rear 
 for the purpose) sunk a hatchet into his head, and dis¬ 
 patched him at a single stroke !— he was probably unac¬ 
 quainted with his fate and knew not by what means he 
 ieil— Uncus cut out a large piece of his shoulder which 
 he devoured in savage triumph 1 declaring in the meah 
 
 
time that « it was the sweetest meat he ever ate ; it made 
 his heart strong !” The Mohegans buried Mianv'inomz 
 at the place of his execution, and erected upon his grave 
 a pillar of stones—this memorable event gave the place 
 the name of (i Sachem’s Plains”—they are situated in 
 an eastern corner of Norwich. 
 
 The Narragansets became now greatly enraged at the 
 death of their sachem, and sought means to destroy 
 Uncus, whose country they in small parties frequently 
 envaded, and by laying ambushes cut off a number of 
 his most valuable warriors. As UnCus. was the avowed 
 friend of the English, and had in many instances signal¬ 
 ized himself as such, they conceived it their duty to af¬ 
 ford him all the protection possible—they dispatched 
 messengers to acquaint the Narragansets with their de¬ 
 termination, should they continue to molest and disturb 
 the repose cf the Mohegans.—The messengers of the 
 English met with quite an unfavourable reception, to 
 whom one of the Narraganset sachems declared that u he 
 would kill every Englishman and Mohegan that came 
 within his reach : that whoever began the war he would 
 continue it, and that nothing should satisfy him but the 
 head of Uncus 1” 
 
 The English, irritated at the provoking language of 
 the Narragansets, now determined not only to protect 
 Uncus, but to envade their country with an army of 300 
 men ; first to propose a peace on their own terms, but 
 if rejected, to attack and destroy them—for this purpose 
 Massachusetts was to furnish 190 and Plymouth and Con¬ 
 necticut colonies 55 men each. 
 
 The Narragansets learning that an army was about to 
 enter the heart of their country, and fearful of the issue, 
 dispatched several of their principal men to sue for. 
 peace, on such terms as the English should be pleased 
 to grant#—The Governor and Council demanded that 
 
they should restore to Uncus all the captives and canoes 
 which they had taken from him, and pledge themselves 
 to maintain perpetual peace with the English and their 
 allies, and to the former pay an annual tribute of 2000 
 fathom of white wampum !—these indeed were hard 
 terms, against which the Narragansets strongly remon¬ 
 strated, but aware that the English had already a consid¬ 
 erable force collected for the express purpose of enva- 
 ding their country, they at length thought it most pru¬ 
 dent to acquiesce. 
 
 During the war between the Narragansets and Uncus, 
 the former once besieged the fort of the latter until his 
 provisions were nearly exhausted, and he found that his 
 men must soon perish either by famine or the tomahawk 
 unless speedily relieved—in this crisis he found means 
 of communicating an account of his situation to the Eng¬ 
 lish scouts, who had been dispatched from the fort in 
 Say brook to reconnoitre the enemy— Uncus represent¬ 
 ed the danger to which the English would be exposed 
 if the Narragansets should succeed in destroying the 
 Mohegans. It was at this critical juncture, that the 
 greatest part of the English troops in Connecticut were 
 employed on an expedition abroad ; a Mr. Thomas Lef- 
 fingwelL, however, a bold and enterprizing man, on 
 learning the situation of Uncus, loaded a canoe with 
 provision, and under cover of night paddled from Say- 
 brook into the river Thames, and had the address to get 
 the whole into the.fort—the enemy soon after discover¬ 
 ing that Uncus had received supplies, raised the siege 5 
 —for this piece of service Uncus presented said Lef- 
 fingwklL with a deed of a very large tract of land, 
 now comprising the whole town of Norwich. 
 
 The English in New England now enjoyed a peace un¬ 
 til the year 1671, when they again took up arms to re¬ 
 venge the death of one of their countrymen, who had 
 
—41 — 
 
 ' r % 
 
 been inhumanly murdered by an Indian belonging to 
 the Nipnet tribe, of which the celebrated Philip, of 
 Mount Hope (now Bristol, R. I.) was Sachem.—It was 
 thought the most prudent step by the Governor and 
 Council, first to send for Philip, and acquaint him with 
 the cause of their resentment, and the course which 
 they were determined to pursue in case he refused to 
 deliver into their hands the murderer—P hilip being ac¬ 
 cordingly sent for, and appearing before the court, ap¬ 
 peared much dissatisfied with the conduct of the accused, 
 assuring them that no pains should be spared to bring 
 him to justice ; and more fully to confirm his friendship 
 for the English, expressed a wish that the declaration 
 which he was about publicly to make, might be commit¬ 
 ted to paper, that he and his Council, might thereunto 
 affix their signatures. The Governor and Council, in 
 compliance with the request of Philip, drew up the fol¬ 
 lowing, which after being signed by Philip and his chief 
 men, was presented to the Governor by Philip ih con¬ 
 firmation of his friendly assurances 
 
 ir , Whereas, my farther, my brother, and my Self, have 
 uniformly submitted to the good and wholesome laws of 
 his majesty, the king of England, and have ever respect¬ 
 ed his faithful subjects, the English,'as btir friends arid 
 brothers, and being still anxious to brighten the chain di 
 friendship between ms, we' do now embrace this opportu¬ 
 nity to pledge ourselves, that we will'spare ho pains m 
 seeking out and bringing to justice, such of our tribe a§ 
 shall hereafter commit any outrage against them ; and to 
 remove all suspicion, we voluntarily agree to deliver up 
 to them, all the lire arms, which they have heretofore 
 kindly presented us with, until such time as thejr can* 
 safely repose confidence in us—and for the true perform^ 
 
 F _* : : ! ■: ■ ?• 
 
ance of these our sacred promises, we have hereunto set 
 our hands*” 
 
 Chief Sachem; 
 
 Philip's X mark. 
 
 Chief Men. . 
 Pokanoket’s X mark. :• 
 Uncgmbo’s X mark. 
 
 In presence of the Samkamj's X mark. 
 
 Govet nor and Council / Wocokqm's X mark. 
 
 Poston, April 10. 1671. 
 
 Notwithstanding the fair promises of Philip, it wa* 
 soon discovered by the English, that he was playing a 
 deep game, that he was artfully enticing his red breth¬ 
 ren throughout the whole of New-England, to rise, en 
 masse, against them, and drive them out of the country ; 
 the Narragansets, for this purpose, had engaged to raise 
 4000 fighting men—the spring of 1672, was the lime 
 agreed upon on which the grand Mow was to be given— 
 The evil intentions of Philip, was first discovered and 
 communicated to the English, by a friendly Indian, of 
 the Narraganset tribe ; fortunately for them, this Indian 
 had been taken into favor by the Rev. Mr. Elliot, by 
 whom he bad been taught to read and write, and became 
 much attached to the English—Tne Governor upon re¬ 
 ceiving the important information relative to the hostile 
 vievys of Philip, ordered a military watch to be kept up 
 in all the English settlements within the three colonies $ 
 by tome of whom it was soon discovered that the report 
 of their Indian friend was too well founded, as the In¬ 
 dians of different tribes were daily seen flocking in great 
 numbers to the head quarters of Philip ; previously 
 sending their wives and children to the Narraganset 
 country, which they had ever done previous to the com¬ 
 mencement of hostilities. 
 
 The inhabitants of Swanzey (a small settlement ad* 
 
joining Mount Hope, the head-quarters of Philip*) were 
 the first who feit the effects of this war.— Philip, en¬ 
 couraged by the numbers who were daily enlisting un¬ 
 der his banners, and desparing of discovering cause that 
 could justify him in the commencement of hostilities 
 against his <l friends and brothers,” as he had termed 
 them, resolved to provoke them to war by killing their 
 cattle, firing their barns, &c.—this plan had its desired 
 effect, as the inhabitants, determined to save their pro¬ 
 perty or perish in the attempt, fired upon the Indians, 
 which was deemed cause sufficient by the latter to com¬ 
 mence their bloody work—the war>whoop was immedia¬ 
 tely thereupon sounded, when the Indians commenced an 
 indiscriminate murder of the defenceless inhabitants of 
 Swanzey, spairing not the tender infant at the breast 
 but three, of seventy-eight persons which the town con¬ 
 tained, made their escape.—Messengers were despatched 
 with the melancholy tidings of this bloody affair, to the 
 Governor, who by and with the advice and consent of the 
 Council, despatched a company of militia with all possi¬ 
 ble speed to the relief of the distressed inhabitants resid¬ 
 ing near the head-quarters of Philip as soon as they 
 could be raised, three companies more were despatched 
 under the command of Captains Henchman, Prentice, 
 and Church, who arrived in the neighborhood of Swan- 
 zey, on the 28th June, where they were joined by four 
 more companies from Plymouth colony—it was found 
 that the Indians had pillaged and set fire to the village, 
 and with their booty had retired to Mount Hope—a com¬ 
 pany of cavalry were sent, under the command of Capt. 
 Prentice, to reconnoitre them ; but before they arrived 
 at a convenient place for this purpose, they were ambush¬ 
 ed and fired upon by the enemy, who killed six of their 
 number and wounded ten—the renortof their guns alarm- 
 iog the remaining companies of the English, they has- 
 
tened to the relief of the cavalry, who at this moment 
 were completely surrounded by about 600 Indians, be¬ 
 tween whom and the English a warm contest now ensu¬ 
 ed ; the savages fought desperately, and more than once 
 nearly succeeded in overpowering the English, but very 
 fortunatel) for the latter, when nearly despairing of vic¬ 
 tory, a fresh company of militia from Boston arrived ; 
 which flanking the enemy on the right and left, and ex¬ 
 posing them to two fires, soon overpowered them, and 
 earned them to set k shelter in an adjoining wood, inac¬ 
 cessible to the English.—The English had in this severe 
 engagement 42 killed, and 73 wounded, many of them 
 mortally—the enemy’s loss was supposed to be much 
 greater. 
 
 On the 30th, Major Savage (who by his Excellency 
 the Governor had been appointed Commander in Chief 
 of the combined English forces) arrived with an addi¬ 
 tional company of cavalry, who with the remaining com¬ 
 panies the following day commenced their march for 
 Mount-Hope, the head quarters of Philip— on their 
 way, the English were affected with a scene truly dis¬ 
 tressing ; the Savages, not content with bathing their 
 tomahawks in the blood of the defenceless inhabitants of 
 Swanzey, had, it was discovered, in many instances de¬ 
 tached their limbs from their mangled bodies, and affix¬ 
 ed them to poles which were extended in the air! among 
 which were discovered the heads of several infant chil¬ 
 dren, the whole of which, by order of Maj. Savage 
 were collected and buried. 
 
 The English arrived at Mount-Hope about sun-set, but 
 the enemy having received information of their approach, 
 had deserted their wigwarms and retired into a neigh¬ 
 boring wood.—Major Savage, to pursue the enemy with 
 success, now divided his men into separate companies, 
 which he ordered to march in different directions, station- 
 
ing40at Mount-Hope:— On the 4th July the men under 
 the command of Captains Church, and Henchmen, 
 fell in with a body of the enemy, to the number of 200, 
 whom they attacked ; the English being but 32 in num¬ 
 ber, including officers, victory for a considerable length 
 of time appeared much in favour of the Savages, but 
 very fortunately for the former being commanded by bold 
 and resolute officers, they defended themselves in the 
 most heroic manner until relieved by a company cf ca¬ 
 valry under the command of Capt* Prentice. —The 
 Indians now in turn finding the fire of the English too 
 warm for them, fled in every direction, leaving 30 of 
 their number dead and about 60 severely wounded on the 
 field of action—the English in this engagement bad 7 
 killed and 22 wounded, five of whom survived the action 
 but a few hours. 
 
 This action, so far from daunting the bold and reso¬ 
 lute Capt. Church, seemed to inspire him with addi¬ 
 tional bravery ; unwilling that any of the enemy should 
 escape, he boldly led his men into an almost impenetra¬ 
 ble forest into which those who survived the action had 
 fled—the Indians perceiving the English approaching, 
 concealed themselves from their view by lying fiat on 
 their bellies, in which situation they remained concealed 
 until the English bad advanced within a few rods of 
 them, when each unperceived fixing upon his man, dis¬ 
 charged a shower of arrows among them—this unexpec¬ 
 ted cheek threw the English into confusion, which the 
 Indians pe-rceiving, rushed furiously upon them with 
 their knives and tomahawks, shouting horribly !—the 
 English (their cavalry being unable to afford them assis¬ 
 tance) were now in a very disagreeable situation, the 
 trees being so very large as to render it difficult to use 
 their fire arms with any effect, and they were very soon 
 so encompassed by the Savages, as to render almost. ev» 
 
pry effort to defend themselves useless; of 64 who cn? 
 tered the swamp, but 27 escaped, among whom very 
 fortunately was their valuable leader Capt. Church. 
 
 The English finding that they could neither bring 
 their enemies to action in open field, or engage them 
 with any success in the forest in which they were lodg¬ 
 ed, returned home, with the exception of three compa¬ 
 nies, who were stationed by Major Savage near the 
 borders of a swamp, into which it was strongly suspec¬ 
 ted that Philip, with a number of his tribe, had fled— 
 this swamp was two miles in length, and to the English 
 inaccessible.— Philip, who had been watching the mo¬ 
 tion of his enemies, perceiving the greater part of them 
 marching off conjectured that their object was to obtain 
 a reinforcement; impressed with this belief he resolved 
 to improve the first opportunity to escape with a few 
 chosen men by water, which he with little difficulty effect¬ 
 ed the proceeding night, taking the advantage of a low 
 tide. The enemy were soon after their escape discov¬ 
 ered and pursued by the inhabitants of Rehoboth, ac¬ 
 companied by a party of the Mohegans, who had volun¬ 
 teered their services against Philip. 
 
 The Rehoboth militia came up with the rear of the 
 enemy about sunset, and killed 12 of them, without sus¬ 
 taining any loss on their part; night prevented their en¬ 
 gaging the whole force of Philip, but early the succeed¬ 
 ing morning they continued the pursuit* the Indians had 
 however fled with such precipitancy that it was found 
 impossible to overtake them—they bent their course to 
 the westward, exhorting the different tribes through 
 which they passed to take up arms against the English. 
 
 The United Colonies became now greatly alarmed at 
 the hostile views and rapid strides of Philip —the Gen¬ 
 eral Court was constantly in sitting and endeavouring to, 
 plan means to cut him off before he should have an op- 
 
portunity to corrupt tlic minds of too many of his coim« 
 trymen. 
 
 While the Court was thus employed, information was 
 received that Philip had arrived in the neighbourhood 
 of Brookfield (stiua ed about 65 miles from Boston) and 
 that a number of its inhabitants had been inhumanly 
 butchered by his adherents.—Orders were immediately 
 thereupon issued for the raising ten companies of foot 
 and horse, to be dispatched 10 the relief of the unfor¬ 
 tunate inhabitants of Brookfield ; but before they could 
 reach that place Philip and his party had entered the 
 town, and ind scriminately put to death almost every in¬ 
 habitant which it contained ; the few that escaped having 
 taken the precaution, previous to the attack, to assemble 
 together in one house, which they strongly fortified ; this 
 house was furiously attacked by the savages and several 
 times set on fire, and the besieged wete on the point of 
 surrendering when Major Willard happdy arrived to 
 their relief.—Between the English and the Indians a des¬ 
 perate engagement now Ensued, the former by the ex¬ 
 press command of their officers, gave no quarter, but in a 
 very heroic manner ru ,hed upon the savages with club¬ 
 bed muskets ; the action continued until near, sunset, 
 when the few Indians (hat remained alive sought shelter 
 in the neighboring woods,—In this engagement the Eng¬ 
 lish had 22 killed and 75 wounded—the enemy’s loss 
 was 217 kil t’d, and be ween 200 and 300 wounded, who, 
 by way of retaliation (for their barbarity exercised to¬ 
 ward the defenceless inhabitants of Brookfield) were im¬ 
 mediately put to death. 
 
 The Governor and Council, on learning the fate of the 
 unfortunate inhabitants of Brookfield, despatched a rein¬ 
 forcement of three companies of cavalry'to Major Wil¬ 
 lard, and ordered the like number io be sent him from 
 Hartford, in Connecticut coiQny, with which he was di* 
 
reeled to pursue Philip with fire and sword, to whatever 
 part of the country he should resort. 
 
 It being discovered that a part of Philip’s forces had 
 fled to Hatfidd, two companies of English, under com¬ 
 mand of Capt. Lathrop, and Capt. Beers, were sent in 
 pursuit of them, who within about three miles of Hat¬ 
 field, overtook and attacked them, but the force of the 
 English being greatly inferior to that of the enemy, the 
 former were defeated and driven back to the mam body 5 
 which enabled the enemy (who had in the late engage¬ 
 ment been detached from the^r main body) to join Phil¬ 
 ip. —On the 1 8 th September, information was received 
 by Major Willard that the enemy had successively at¬ 
 tacked and defeated the troops under the command of 
 Capt. Lathrop ; that they were ambushed and unex¬ 
 pectedly surrounded by 1000 of the enemy, to whom 
 they all (except three, who escaped) fell a sacrifice !— 
 The defeat of Capt. Lathrop took place in the neigh¬ 
 borhood of Deerfield, for the defence of which, there 
 was an English garrison, which the Indians were about 
 to attack when Major Willard happily arrived, on the 
 approach of whom, the Indians fled. 
 
 On the 10 th October following, a party of Philip’s 
 Indians successfully assaulted the town of Springfield, 
 which they pillaged and set fire to, killing about 40 of 
 the inhabitants.—On the 14th they assaulted the town of 
 Hatfield, in which two companies under the command 
 of Capt. Mosely, and Capt. Appleton, were stationed $ 
 the enemy continued the attack for about two hours, when 
 finding the fire of the English too warm tor them, they 
 fled, leaving a number of their party behind them dead. 
 
 Philip now finding himself closely pursued by a large 
 and formidable body of the English, deemed it prudent 
 to bend his course toward his old place of residence, there 
 to remain until the ensuing spring. 
 
—49 — 
 
 But the Commissioners of the United Colonies* duly 
 reflecting on the deplorable situation of their defenceless 
 brethren throughout the country, aware that there were 
 then a much greater number of their savage enemies 
 embodied, than at any former period, who, if suffered 
 peaceably to retire into winter quarters, might prove too 
 powerful for them the spring ensuing, resolved to attack 
 the whole force under Philip in their winter encamp¬ 
 ment—for the purpose of which, every Englishman ca¬ 
 pable of bearing arms, was commanded (by Proclamation 
 of the Governor) to hold himself in readiness to march at 
 
 the shortest notice,—The 10th of December, was the 
 , » 
 day appointed by the Commissioners on which the de¬ 
 cisive blow was to be given—six companies were imme¬ 
 diately raised in Massachusetts, consisting in the whole 
 of 527 men, to the command of which were appointed 
 Captains Mosely, Gardener, Davenport, Oliver, 
 and Johnson —five companies were raised in Connecti¬ 
 cut, consisting of 450 men, to the command of which 
 were appointed Captains Siely, Gallop, Mason, Watts, 
 and Marshall —two companies were likewise raised in 
 Plymouth, consisting of 150 men, who were commanded 
 by Captains Rice and Goram y—three Majors of the 
 three respective divisions, were also appointed, to wit s 
 Major Appleton, of Massachusetts—Major Treat, of 
 .Connecticut, and Major Bradford, of Plymouth-—the 
 whole force, consisting of 1127 men, were commanded 
 by Major-General Winslow, late Governor of the colo¬ 
 nies.—-On the 7th December, the combined forces com¬ 
 menced thDr march for the head quarters of the enemy 
 —at this inclement season, it was with the utmost diffi¬ 
 culty that the troops were enabled to penetrate through 
 a wild and pathless wood.—on the morning of the 9th 
 (having travelled all the preceding night) they arrived 
 
 ?he border of an extensive swamp, in which they were 
 
 Q 
 
 /• 
 
informed by their guides the enemy were encamped to 
 the number of 4000.—The English (after partaking of a 
 little refreshment) formed for battle.—Capt. Moskly, and 
 Capt. Davenport, led the van, and Major Appleton, 
 and Capt, Oliver, brought up the rear of the Massa¬ 
 chusetts forces—General Winslow, with the Plymouth 
 troops formed the centre—the Connecticut troops under 
 the command of their respective captains, together with 
 about 800 of the Mohegans, commanded by Oneco , (the 
 son of Uncus ) brought up the rear. 
 
 It was discovered by an Indian sent for that purpose, 
 that in the centre of the swamp the enemy had built a 
 very strong fort, of so wise construction, that it was with 
 difficulty that more than one person could enter at one 
 time.—About 10 o’clock, A. M. the English with the 
 sound of the trumpet entered the swamp, and when 
 within about hfty rods of their fort, were met and attack¬ 
 ed by the enemy-—the Indians in their usual manner, 
 shouting and howling like beasts of prey, commenced 
 the attack with savage fury ; but with a hideous noise, 
 the English were not to be intimidated; charging them 
 with unequalled bravery, the enemy were soon glad to 
 seek shelter within the walls of their fort ;—the English 
 having closely pressed upon the enemy, as they retreat¬ 
 ed, now in turn found themselves in a very disagreeable 
 situation, exposed to the lire of the Indians (who were 
 covered by a high breastwork) they were not even ena¬ 
 bled to act on the defensive.—At this critical juncture 
 the lion-hearted Oneco, with the assent of Gen. Wins¬ 
 low, offered (with the men under his command) to scale 
 the walls of the fort, which being approved of by the 
 English commanders, Onego, with about sixty picked 
 men, in an instant ascended to the top of the fort; where 
 haying a fair chance at the enemy, they hurled their 
 tomahawks and discharged their arrows with such sue-. 
 
—51 
 
 eess among them, as in a very short time to throw them 
 into the utmost confusion ; those who attempted to es¬ 
 cape from the fort, were instantly cut in pieces by the 
 troops without—the enemy finding themselves thus hem- 
 rued in, and attacked on all sides, in the most abject 
 terms begged for quarter, which was denied thbm by the * 
 English—a great proportion of the troops being now 
 mounted on the walls of the fort, they had nothing to do 
 but load and fire, the enemy being penned up and hud-v £ 
 died together in such a manner, that there was scarcely 
 a shot lost.—This bloody contest was of near six hours 
 continuance, when the English perceiving the fort filled 
 with nought but dead, or such as were mortally wounded 
 of the enemy, closed the bloody conflict. 
 
 The scene of action at this instant was indeed such as 
 could not fail to shock the stoutest hearted !—the huge 
 logs of which the fort was constructed, were completely 
 crimsoned with the blooc] of the epemy, while the sur¬ 
 rounding woods resounded with the dying groans of the 
 wounded.—The number of slain of the enemy in this 
 severe engagement, could not be ascertained, it was 
 however immense; of 4000 which the fort was sup-, 
 posed to contain at the commencement of the action, 
 not 200 escaped ! among whom unfortunately was the 
 treacherous Philip. 
 
 # 
 
 After the close of this desperate action, the troojos 
 (having destroyed all in their power) left the enemy's 
 ground, and carrying about 300 wounded men marched 
 back to the distance of sixteen miles to head-quarters ; 
 
 the night proved cold and stormy, the snow fell deep, 
 and it was not until midnight or after that the troops 
 were enabled to reach their place of destination—many 
 of the wounded, who probably otherwise might have re¬ 
 covered, perished with the cold and inconvenience of a 
 Search so fatiguing. 
 
Although the destruction of so great a number of the 
 enemy was considered of the greatest importance to the 
 English, yet it proved a conquest dearly bought—it was 
 obtained at the expence of the lives of not only a great 
 number of privates, but a great proportion of their most 
 valuable officers ; among whom were Captains Daven¬ 
 port, Gardner, Johnson, Siely, and Marshall —on 
 enumerating - he ir p^mber of slain and wounded, it was 
 found as "follows 
 
 Of the companies commanded by 
 Captains Mosfly, - - - - 10 killed, 40 wounded* 
 
 1 Oliver, - . . - 20 - - - - 48 
 Gardner, - -- 11 -.- - 32 
 
 Johnson, - -- -- 18 - -- -38 
 Davenport, - - - 15 - - - - 19 
 Gallop, - -- --28 - -- -43 
 Si ely, ------ 32 - - f - 50 
 
 Watts, - ----19 - -- -33 
 
 Mason, - -- . -40 - -- -50 
 Marshall, - --25 - -- -37 
 Gor AM, .-.--30 -.--41 
 Sachem Oneco, - -- -- 51---- 82 
 
 Total, 299 Total, 513 
 
 The courage displayed during the action by every 
 part of the army—the invincible heroism of the officers 
 —the firmness and resolution of the soldiers, when they 
 
 1 
 
 saw their captains falling before them—and the hardships 
 endured before and after the engagement, ^re hardly 
 credible, and rarely find a parallel in ancient or modern 
 ages !—the cold (th$ day preceding the action) was ex¬ 
 treme, and in the night of which, the snow fell so deep 
 as to render it extremely difficult for the army to move 
 the day succeeding four hundred of the soldiers were 
 so completely frozen as to be unfit for duty 1—the Con- % 
 necticut troops were the most disabled, having endured 
 a tedious march without halting from Stonington to the 
 
place of public rendezvous—they sustained too a much 
 greater loss in the action, in proportion to their numbers, 
 than the troops of the other colonies—the bold and in¬ 
 trepid Capt. Mason (who received a fatal wound in the 
 action, of which he died in about three months after) was 
 the first after the Mohegans to mount the walls of the 
 fort, nor did the troops under his command fail to follow 
 the noble example. 
 
 The loss of the troops from Connecticut was so great 
 that Major Treat conceived it absolutely necessary to 
 return immediately home—such of the wounded as were 
 not able to travel were put on board a vessel and convey¬ 
 ed to Stonington—the troops on their return killed and 
 captured about SO of the enemy. 
 
 The Massachusetts and Plymouth forces kept the field 
 the greatest part of the winter—they ranged the coun¬ 
 try, took a number of prisoners, destroyed about, 300 
 ^yigwarms, but achieved nothing brilliant or decisive. 
 
 The Nipnet and Narraganset trihes being by the late 
 action nearly exterminated, the few that survived (by 
 the direction of Philie) fled in small parties to different 
 parts of the country, improving every opportunity that 
 presented to revenge the untimely fate of their brethren. 
 —On the 10th February, 1678, about 100 of them sur¬ 
 prized the inhabitants of Lancaster (Mass.) a part of 
 * * 
 
 whom, as a place of greater safety, had the day previous 
 resorted to the dwelling of the Rev, Mr. Rowland ; this 
 however being constructed of dry logs, was set fire to 
 by the Indians, which the unfortunate English within 
 being unable to extinguish, they fell victims to the de¬ 
 vouring fumes.—On the 21st the enemy attacked the 
 inhabitants of Medfield, 32 of whom they killed and of 
 • the remainder made captives. 
 
 On the 3d March, the Indians still continuing their 
 depredations, two companies of cavalry, under the com- 
 
^-5d 
 
 saand of Capt. Pierce, and Capt. Watkins, were or¬ 
 dered out for the purpose of affording protection to the 
 defenceless inhabitants of towns most exposed to their in¬ 
 cursions—on the 5th they marched to Pautuxet, near 
 where there were a considerable body of Indians en¬ 
 camped, whom on the morning of the 5th, they fell in 
 with and attacked—the enemy at first appeared but few 
 
 f 
 
 in number, but these were only employed to decoy the 
 English, who on a sudden found themselves surrounded 
 by near 300 Indians, who, with their tomahawks and 
 scalping knives, rushing furiously upon them, threaten¬ 
 ed them with instant destruction!—The English now 
 acting upon the defensive, although surrounded by five 
 times their number, fought with their usual spirit, and 
 were resolved to sell their lives at as dear rate as possi¬ 
 ble, they were very soon however compelled to yield 
 to the superior force of their savage enemies; but 
 five escaped !—This victory, though of considerable im¬ 
 portance to the savages, cost them a number of their 
 bravest warriors, 93 of whom were the proceeding day 
 found dead upon the field of action there were in this 
 engagement about 20 friendly Indians with the English, 
 who fought like desperadoes, one of them observing Capt. 
 Pierce unable to stand, in consequence of the many 
 wounds he had received, for nearly two hours bravely 
 defended him j when perceiving his own iminent danger, 
 and that he could afford the captain no further assistance, 
 by blacking his face as the enemy had done, escaped un¬ 
 noticed. 
 
 On the 25th March, a party of Indians attacked and 
 burnt the towns of Weymouth and Warwick, killing a 
 great number of the inhabitants.—On the 10th April 
 following they pillaged and burnt Rehoboih and Provi¬ 
 dence. 
 
 On the 1st May a company of English and 150 
 
— 55 — 
 
 Vegans, under command of Capt. George Dennison* 
 were sent in pursuit of a body of the enemy command¬ 
 ed by the son of Miantinomi ; on the 8 th they met 7 
 with and attacked them near Groton—the Indians, ap¬ 
 parently determined on victory or death, displayed an 
 unusual degree of courage, but the English and Mohe- 
 gans proved too strong for them, who r.fter destroying 
 the greater part with their muskets and tomahawks, 
 drove the remainder into a neighboring river, where they 
 soon perished. 
 
 On the 23d, Cononchet, Sachem of the few scattered 
 remains of the Narragansets, proposed to his Council 
 that the lands bordering on Connecticut river, not inhabfe X' 
 ited by the English, should be by them planted with 
 corn, lor their future subsistence ; which being approved 
 of by the latter, 200 of the Narragansets were despatch¬ 
 ed for this purpose, the Governor being apprized of their 
 intentions despatched three companies of cavalry to in¬ 
 tercept them ; about 100 of the Mohegans, under the . 
 command ef Oneco, accompanied the English—the ene¬ 
 my were commanded by Cononchet in person, who first 
 proceeded to Seconk to procure seed corn ; it was in the 
 neighborhood of this place that they were first met with 
 and engaged by the English and Mohegans—the enemy 
 with becoming bravery for a long time withstood the at¬ 
 tack, but being but poorly provided with weapons, they 
 were at length overpowered and compelled to yield to the 
 superior power of their enemies—in the midst of the 
 
 . i , 
 
 action, Cononchet, fearful of the issue, deserted his men 
 and aitempted to seek shelter in a neighboring wood, but 
 being recognized by the Mohegans, they pursued him— 
 Cononchet perceiving himself nearly overtaken by his 
 pursuers, to facilitate his flight first threw away his blan¬ 
 ket, and then his silver laced coat (with which he had 
 been presented by the English a few weeks previous,) 
 
but finding that lie could not escape from his pursuers b f 
 flight, he plunged into a river, where he was even follow¬ 
 ed by half a dozen resolute Mohegans, who laying hold 
 of him forced him under water and there held him until 
 drowned.—The loss of the English and Mohegans in this 
 engagement was 12 killed, and 21 wounded, that of the 
 enemy was 43 killed and about 80 wounded. 
 
 The inhabitants of New-London, Norwich and Ston- 
 i-ngton, having frequently discovered a number of the 
 enemy lurking about in small bodies in the adjacent 
 woods, by joint agreement voluntarily enlisted them¬ 
 selves (to the number of 300) under the command of 
 Major Palmer , and Captains Dennisqn and Aveby, 
 Who with the assistance of the Mohegans and a few 
 friendly Narraganscts in three expeditions destroyed 
 near 1003 of the enemy. 
 
 On the 8th June the Indians assaulted and burnt 
 Bridgewater, a small settlement in the colony of Massa¬ 
 chusetts ; forty of its inhabitants fell victims to savage 
 barbarity. 
 
 The Governor and Council of Massachusetts colony, 
 aware of the danger to which.mgny of the inland settle¬ 
 ments were exposed, by frequent incursions of the ene¬ 
 my. and finding it extremely difficult to raise a sufficient 
 force to oppose them in the many parts to which the 
 fragments of the broken tribes had resorted, adopted the 
 policy of sending among them, as sptSs, such Indians as 
 were friendly ar.d could be depended on ; which plan had 
 its desired effect—these Indians representing the force of 
 the English much greater than it really was, and warn¬ 
 ing the enemy of danger which did not at that lime ex¬ 
 ist, deterred them from acting in many instances on the 
 offensive.-—One of the friendly Indians returning to Bos¬ 
 ton on the 10th July, reported as follows ’“ that a large 
 number of Indians were embodied in a wood near Lan- 
 
caster, which village they intended to attack and burn in 
 a few days, that they had been encouraged to continue 
 the war with the English by Frenchmen , from the great 
 lake, who had supplied them with fire-arms and ammu¬ 
 nition!” 
 
 On the receipt of this important information, the Gov¬ 
 ernor dispatched three companies of cavalry, under the 
 command of Major Savage, for the defence of Lancas¬ 
 ter, who unfortunately by mistaking the road fell into 
 an ambush of about 350 Indians, by whom they were 
 instantly surrounded—-the English exhibited great pre¬ 
 sence of mind, and repelled the attack of the enemy in 
 a very heroic maimer ; the savages being however well 
 provided with fire-arms, soon gained a complete victory 
 oyer the English, whose loss in this unfortunate engage¬ 
 ment Was fifty-four 1——the number of killed and wound¬ 
 ed of the enemy could not be ascertained as they re¬ 
 mained masters of the field of action. 
 
 On the 15th a severe engagement took place between 
 a company of English cavalry and about 300 of the en¬ 
 emy, near Groton—the latter were not perceived by the 
 former, until they were within a few paces of them (the 
 Indians having concealed themselves in the bushes) when 
 suddenly issuing forth with a hideous yell, the cavalry 
 were thrown into confusion, but instantly forming and 
 charging the enemy with great spirit, they fied in, every 
 direction—the cavalry, in attempting to pursue them, 
 were once more ambushed ; the contest now became 
 close and severe, the Indians having succeeded in de¬ 
 coying the English into a thick wood, attacked them 
 with great fury and success,—-The commander of the 
 English being killed, every man sought his own safety— 
 of forty-five of which the company was composed, but 
 twelve escaped 1—the loss of the enemy was however 
 supposed to be much greater. 
 
 H 
 
On the i 2th August a party of Indians entered thd - 
 town of Westfield, killed and took several of the in** 
 habitants prisoners, and burnt several houses.—Three of 
 
 •Si* .. i 
 
 them soon after made their appearance at a house njg.ar 
 said town and fired at the man at his door, who fell; they 
 ran towards him, and one of them stooping to scalp him, 
 he was saluted by the man’s wife, with a stroke Iron* a 
 large hatchet, which went so completely into his body, 
 that at three different efforts she could not disengage it, 
 and the Indian made off with it sticking in him ; a se¬ 
 cond Indian also made an attempt, when she, by a well 
 directed stroke with a stick she had got, laid him on the 
 ground ; the third then run, and the other, as soon as he 
 had recovered his feet, followed the example, on which 
 the woman took her husband in her arms and carried 
 him into the house, where he soon after recovered. 
 
 On the 17th, a party of Indians commenced an attack 
 on Northampton, but there being a number of English 
 soldiers therein stationed, the epemy were repulsed. 
 
 On the 20;b, a number of the inhabitants of Spring- 
 field were attacked by a party of Indians as they were 
 returning from divine service, and although the former 
 were provided with fire-aims, the enemy succeeded in 
 making prisoners of two women and several children, 
 whom they soon after inhumanly tomahawked and scalp¬ 
 ed ; in which situation they were the succeeding day found 
 by a party of English sent out in pursuit of the enemy 
 —one of the unfortunate women (although shockingly 
 mangled) was found still alive, and when so far recovered 
 as to be enabled to speak, gave the following account of 
 the fate of her unfortunate companions, to wit :—“ That 
 they were first conveyed by the savages to a thick wood, 
 where they were severally bound with cords, that the 
 Indians soon after built a fire and regaled themselves 
 with what they had previously stolen from the English j 
 
I 
 
 59 
 
 that soon after a warm dispute arose between them, re¬ 
 lative to the prisoners, each claiming the women for their 
 squaws (or wives) that they at length proceeded to blows, 
 and after beating each other for some time with' clubs, 
 it was agreed by both parties (to prevent further alterca¬ 
 tion) that the women should be put to death, which they, 
 as they supposed, carried immediately into execution ; 
 the unfortunate narrator received a severe blow on the 
 head, which brought her senseless to the ground, and 
 while m this situation, was scalped and left for dead by 
 her savage enemies !” 
 
 The inhabitants of Sudbury, with a company of sol¬ 
 diers under the command of Lieut. Jacobs, of Marlbo¬ 
 rough, alarmed at the near approach of the enemy (who, 
 to the number of about 200 were encamped near that 
 place) resolved to attack them at night ; accordingly 
 on the 6th September they marched within view of them, 
 and at night (as they lay extended around a large fire) 
 approached them unperceived fwithin gun shot, when 
 they gave them the contents of their muskets ; many of 
 those that remained unhurt, being suddenly aroused from 
 their slumber by the yellsrof their wounded brethren, 
 and imagining that they were completely surrounded by 
 the English (whom the darkness of the night prevented 
 their seeing) threw themselves into the fire which they 
 had enkindled, and there perished j but few if any escap¬ 
 ed—in this attack the English sustained no loss. 
 
 On the 25th, a considerable body of the enemy attack¬ 
 ed theinhabitants of Marlborough, many of whom they 
 killed, and set fire to their houses—a company of Eng¬ 
 lish who had been ordered from Concord for the defence 
 of this place were cut off by the savages and totally de¬ 
 stroyed—two other companies despatched from Boston, 
 for the like purpose, met with the same fate—it appeared 
 that the Governor, on learning the situation of the urj- 
 
fortunate inhabitants of Marlborough, despatched to 
 their relief two companies under the command of Cap- 
 
 i 
 
 tains Wadsworth and Smith, who before they arrived 
 at their place of destination, were informed that the sav¬ 
 ages had quit Marlborough, and proceeded for Sudbury, 
 (12 miles distant) which induced the English to alter 
 their course and proceed immediately for the latter place 
 —of this, it appeared, that the enemy had been apprized 
 by their runners, and had lain a plan to cut them off ere 
 they should reach Sudbury, which they in the following 
 manner completely effected—learning the course which 
 the English would take, they within a few rods thereof 
 stationed 50 or 60 of their number in an open field, who 
 were ordered to retreat into a neighboring thicket as soon 
 as discovered and pursued by the English ; in this thick¬ 
 et the remainder of the Indians, to the number of about 
 300 concealed themselves by lying prostrate on their 
 bellies—the English on their arrival, espying the In* 
 dians in the field, and presuming them to be but few in 
 Dumber, pursued and attacked them, who very soon re¬ 
 treated to the fatal spot where their treacherous brethren 
 lay concealed and prepared to give their pursuers a warm 
 if not a fatal reception ; here they were closely pursued 
 by the English, who too late discovered the fatal snare 
 which had been laid for them ; in an instant they were 
 completely surrounded and attacked on all sides by the 
 savages ; the English for several hours bravely defended 
 themselves, but at length were borne down by numbers 
 far superior to their own—thus fell the brave captain 
 Wadsworth, and captain Smith, as well as most of 
 the troops under their command. 
 
 The Indians bordering on the river Merrimack, feel¬ 
 ing* themselves injured by the encroachments cf the Eng¬ 
 lish, once more reassumed the bloody tomahawk, which 
 had been buried for a number of years.***On the Hi No 
 
yernber they in a considerable body entered the villages 
 of Chelmsford and Woburn, and indiscriminately put tp 
 death every inhabitant they contained, not sparing the 
 infant at the breast l—On the 9th they burnt the house 
 of a Mr. Eames, near Concord, killed his wife and threw 
 
 her body into the flames, and made captives of his chi!- 
 
 * 
 
 dren.—On the 15th they took prisoner a young woman 
 (sixteen years of age) who, by the family with whom 
 she resided, had been placed on a hill in the neighbour¬ 
 hood of their dwelling to watch the motions of t he ene¬ 
 my—the account which the young woman gave of her 
 capture and escape was as follow that “ on the morn¬ 
 ing of her capture, the family having been informed-that 
 a party of Indians had the day previous been discovered 
 in a neighbouring wood, she (by their request) ascend¬ 
 ed a hill near the house to watch their motions, and a- 
 iarm the family if seen approaching the house ; that a- 
 kout noon she discovered a number of them ascending 
 the bill in great haste, that she immediately thereupon 
 attempted to evade them by retiring into a thicket, but 
 that the Indians (who it appeared had before observed 
 her) found her after a few moments seardh, and compel* 
 led her to accompany them to their settlement, about 40 
 miles distant—it was here they gave her to understand 
 must remain and become their squaw, and dress and 
 cook their victuals—that she remained with them about 
 three weeks, during which time they made several ex¬ 
 peditions against the English, and returned with a great 
 number of human scalps—that on the night of the 6th 
 December, they returned with six horses, which they 
 had stolen from the English, which having turned into 
 a small enclosure they set out on a new expedition— 
 that she viewed this as a favourable opportunity to escape, 
 to effect which, she caught and mounted one of the hor¬ 
 ses, and making use of a strip of bark for a bridle, she 
 
penetrated a wild and pathless wood* and arrived at 
 Concord at seven o’clock the morning proceeding, hav¬ 
 ing travelled all the preceding night to evade the pursuit 
 of the enemy !”—In like manner did one of the children 
 of Mr. Eames (of whose capture mention is made in 
 the preceding page) escape from the Indians, although 
 but ten years of age, he travelled sixty miles through an 
 uninhabited wood, subsisting on acrons ! 
 
 On the 12th December a party of Indians attacked 
 and killed several of the inhabitants of Bradford. The 
 Governor of Massachusetts colony, for the protection of 
 the defenceless inhabitants on the Merrimack, ordered 
 the raising and equipping of four companies of cavalry, 
 to the command of which were appointed captains Sill* 
 Holyoke, Cutler and Prentice. 
 
 On the 23d the above troops proceeded for the borders 
 of the Merrimack, and on the 26th fell in with a con¬ 
 siderable body of the enemy whom they engaged and 
 completely defeated.—On the 4th January, 1679, Capt. 
 Prentice, detached from the main body, fell in with 
 and engaged about 100 of the enemy in the neighbour¬ 
 hood of Amherst, whom he likewise defeated, but with 
 considerable loss on his part. 
 
 On the 6th, a son of the brave Capt. Holyoke, of 
 Springfield, receiving information that a number of the 
 enemy in small bodies were skulking about in the woods 
 bordering on that town, with twenty resolute young men 
 inarched out to attack them—falling in with a considera- 
 ble body of them, an engagement ensued, which though 
 severe terminated at length in favour of the English-^ 
 the Indians being furnished with muskets, were unwil¬ 
 ling to give ground, and would probably have remained 
 masters of the field had not the English received a rein¬ 
 forcement which put them to flight—the loss of the Eng¬ 
 lish in the engagement was 5 killed and 9 wounded, and 
 
that of the enemy 23 killed and between 30 and 40 
 wounded. 
 
 The savages were no longer confined to any particular 
 tribe or place, but in parties from 50 to 300, were scat¬ 
 tered all over the thinly inhabited parts of New-England 
 —a considerable body of them were yet in the neighbor¬ 
 hood of Hadley, Deerfield and Northampton, where they 
 were continually committing their wanton acts of barba¬ 
 rity.—Several of the inhabitants of the towns above 
 mentioned, duly reflecting on the danger to which they 
 and their families were daily exposed, formed themselves 
 into several companies and made choice of their com¬ 
 manders.—On the 4ih February, receiving information 
 that there were near 200 Indians embodied in a swamp 
 in the neighbourhood of Deerfield, the above mentioned 
 force marched to attack them ; arriving within view of 
 them about day-break, they discovered them in a pro¬ 
 found sleep stretched out upon the ground around their 
 fire—the cavalry immediately thereupon alighted, and 
 after forming themselves, approached them within pistol 
 shot before they were, discovered by the enemy ; who, 
 beng suddenly aroused from their slumber, and aston¬ 
 ished at the unexpected appearance of so many of their 
 enemies, fell an easy prey to the English, who, without 
 the loss of a man, kilied 120 of them ; the remainder, as 
 the only means of escape, having plunged into a river, 
 where probably many of them perished. 
 
 Although the English atchieved this action without any 
 loss on their part, they were on their return unhappily 
 ambushed by about 400 of the enemy—-the English hav¬ 
 ing expended all their ammunition in the late engage¬ 
 ment, and being much fatigued, were now in turn likely 
 to fall an easy prey to their enemies, who, with their 
 bloody knives and tomahawks, for the space of an hour, 
 attacked them with the greatest success—not one of the 
 
English it is probable would have survived t' .s bloody 
 and unexpected attack, had it not been for the presence 
 of mind of their brave commander (Capt. Holyoke,) 
 who by a stratagem, succeeded in saving a part of them 
 —Capt. Holyoke had his horse killed under him, and 
 at one time was attacked by five of the enemy, whom he 
 beat off with his cutlass ;—the loss of the English in this 
 unfortunate action was 51 killed and 84 wounded, many 
 of the latter survived the action but a few days—the de¬ 
 feat and destruction of the English in this engagement 
 was much to be lamented, as among the slain were the 
 heads of several families, who had volunteered their ser¬ 
 vices in defence of their infant settlements. 
 
 On the lOih several hundreds of the enemy, encour¬ 
 aged by their late success, appeared before Hatfield and 
 fired several dwelling-houses without the fortification of 
 the town—the inhabitants of Hadley being seasonably 
 apprized of the situation of their brethren at Hatfield, a 
 number of them volunteered their services and matched 
 to their relief—the Indians, as they were accustomed to 
 do on the approach of the English? lay flat on their bel¬ 
 lies until the latter had advanced within bow shot, whert 
 partly rising, they discharged a shower of arrows among 
 them, which wounded several of the English; but they 
 having wisely reserved their fire, now in turn levelled 
 their pieces with the best effect before the savages had 
 time to recover their legs, about 80 of whom were in¬ 
 stantly dispatched and the remainder despersed. 
 
 On the 15th February, the Governor of Massachusetts 
 colony receiving information that the Indians were col¬ 
 lecting in great numbers under the immediate guidance 
 ot Philip, near Brookfield, dispatched Capt* Hench* 
 man, with 50 men to dislodge them ; who proceeding 
 first to Hadley, was joined by a company of cavalry 
 from Hartford—on the 30 th they discovered and attack* 
 
*d a party of Indians near Lancaster,* they killed fifty 
 Of them, and took between fifty and sixty of their squaws 
 and children prisoners.—Capt* Henchman on his way to 
 Brookfield discovered the dead bodies of several of his 
 countrymen half consumed by fire, who it appeared had 
 a few days previous fallen victims to the wanton barbari¬ 
 ty of the savages. 
 
 The scattered remains of the enemy being; now so 
 completely harrassed and driven from place to place by 
 the English, a number of them resorted to the western 
 country, then inhabited by the Mohawks ; but the latter 
 being on friendly terms with the English and Dutch, who 
 were settling among them, were unwilling to harbor their 
 enemies, and consequently attacked a considerable body 
 of them on the 5th March ; the engagement was a severe 
 one—the fugitive Indians being furnished with fire-arms^ 
 repelled the attack of the Mohawks with a becoming 
 spirit, but were at length overpowered and completely 
 defeated—the loss on both sides was very great. 
 
 On the 20th the Indians took a Mr. Willet prisoner* 
 near Swanzey, and after cutting off his nose and ears 
 set him at liberty 1—On the 23d they made prisoners of 
 the family of a Mrs Barney, of Rehoboth, consisting 
 of himself, wife and six children—two of the youngest 
 of the latter they killed and scalped, and threw their 
 mangled bodies to their dogs to devour ! 
 
 On the 28th, a negro man who had been for several 
 months a prisoner among the savages, escaped from them 
 and returned to the English, to whom he gave the fol¬ 
 lowing information, to wit that the enemy were con¬ 
 certing a plan to attack Taunton, and the villages adja¬ 
 cent—that for this purpose there were then embodied 
 near Worcester, 1000 of them, at the head of whom was 
 Philip, and .that near one hundred of them were fur* 
 
 lii&hed with fire-arms—that a few days previous to his 
 
 I 
 
escape, a scouting party arrived and'brought in with 
 them two prisoners and three human scalps !•—To frus¬ 
 trate the intentions of the enemy the Governor of Mas- 
 sachusets colony dispatched three companies of cavalry 
 for the defence of Taunton. 
 
 The English of Connecticut colony, although but lit¬ 
 tle troubled with the enemy since the destruction of the 
 Pequots, were not unwilling to afford their brethren all the 
 assistance possible in a protracted and bloody war with 
 the common enemy—they accordingly furnished three 
 companies of cavalry, who under command of the ex¬ 
 perienced Major Talcott, on the 5th April proceeded 
 to the westward in search of the enemy—on the 11th 
 they fell in with attacked and defeated a considerable 
 body of them—apparently, by the special direction of 
 divine providence, Maj. Talcott arrived in the neigh¬ 
 borhood of Hadley in time to preserve the town, and 
 save its inhabitants from total destruction !—the savages 
 to the number of 500, were on the eve of commencing 
 an attack when they were met by the Major, with the 
 troops under his command ; this unexpected relief ani¬ 
 mating the few inhabitants which the town contained, 
 they hastened to the assistance cf the cavalry, who at 
 this moment were seriously engaged with the whole body 
 of the enemy—the savages having gained some signal 
 advantages, victory for a considerable length of time ap¬ 
 peared likely to decide in their favor—fortunately, the 
 inhabitants of Hadley having for their defence a lew 
 weeks previous procured from Boston an eight pounder, 
 it was at this critical period loaded by the woman, and 
 being mounted was by them conveyed to the English, 
 which (being charged with small shot, nails, &c.) was 
 by the latter discharged with the best effect upon the 
 enemy, who immediately thereupon fled in every direc¬ 
 tion— -thus it was that the English in a great measure 
 
owed the preservation of their lives to the unexampled 
 heroism of a few women ! 
 
 The Governor and Council of the United Colonies, 
 taking under serious consideration the miraculous escape 
 of the inhabitants of Hadley from total destruction, and 
 the recent success of the arms of the English in various 
 parts of the country, appointed the 27th day of August, 
 1679, to be observed throughout the Colonies as a day 
 of Public Thanksgiving and Praise to Almighty God ; 
 —this, it may be well to observe, was the commence¬ 
 ment of an annual custom of our forelathers, which to 
 the present day is so religiously observed by their de¬ 
 scendants throughout the New-England states* 
 
 On the 3d September, the Connecticut troops under 
 command of Major Talcott, and captains Dennison 
 and Newbury, proceeded to Narraganset in quest of the 
 enemy, who to the number of about 300 had been dis¬ 
 covered in a piece of woods—the English were accom¬ 
 panied by their faithful friend Oneco, with 100 Mohe¬ 
 gans under his command.—In the evening of the 5th 
 they discovered the enemy encamped at the foot of a 
 steep hill, on which Major Talcott made arrangements 
 for an attack—the Mohegans were ordered by a circui¬ 
 tous route to gain the summit of the hill to prevent the 
 flight of the enemy—two companies of cavalry were or¬ 
 dered to flank them on the right and left, while Major 
 Talcott, with a company of foot stationed himself in 
 their rear—having thus disposed of his forces a signal 
 was given by the Major for the Mohegans to commence 
 the attack, which they did and with such spirit (ac¬ 
 companied by their savage yells) that had the enemy 
 been renowned for their valour they must have been to 
 the highest degree appalled at so unexpected an onset * 
 —after contending a few moments with the Mohegans a 
 tbe enemy were attacked on the right and left by tins 
 
icmlry, who with their cutlasses made great havock a- 
 mong them ; they were however unwilling to give ground 
 until they had lost nearly one half their number, when 
 they attempted a flight to a swamp in their rear, but 
 here they were met by Maj. Talcott, with the com¬ 
 pany of foot, who gave them so warm a reception that 
 they once more fell back upon the Mohegans, by whom 
 they were very soon overpowered and would have been 
 totally destroyed had not Major Talcott humanly in¬ 
 terfered in their behalf, and made prisoners of the. few 
 that remained alive ;—among the latter was their leader* 
 a squaw, commonly termed the queen of Narraganset ; 
 and among them an active young fellow who begged to 
 be delivered into the hands of the Mohegans, that they 
 might put him to death in their ewn way, and sacrifice 
 him to their cruel genius of revenge, in which they so 
 much delighted 1—The English, although naturally a* 
 verse to acts of savage barbarity, were not in this in¬ 
 stance unwilling to comply with the voluntary although 
 unnatural request of the prisoner, as it appeared that he 
 had in presence of the Mohegans exultingly boasted of 
 having killed 19 of the English with his gun since the 
 commencement of the war, and after loading it for the 
 ?Oth (there being no more of the latter within reach) 
 he levelled at a Mohegan, whom he killed, which com¬ 
 pleting his number, he was willing to die by their hands ! 
 ~—the Mohegans accordingly began to prepare for the 
 tragical event—forming themselves into a circle (admit¬ 
 ting as many of the English as were disposed to witness 
 their savage proceedings) the prisoner was placed in the 
 centre, when one of the Mohegans, who in the late en¬ 
 gagement had lost a son, with his knife cut off the 
 prisoners ears ! then his nose i and then the fingers of 
 each hand !—and after the relapse of a few moments, 
 $ug out his eyes and filled their sockets with hot em-s 
 
—69 
 
 feersj !—although the few English present were over¬ 
 come with a view of a scene so shocking to humanity, 
 yet the prisoner (so far from bewailing his fate) seemed 
 to surpass his tormenters in expressions of joy !—when 
 nearly exhausted with the loss of blood, and unable long¬ 
 er to stand, his executioner closed the tragic scene by 
 jbeating out his brains with a tomahawk ! 
 
 The few Indians that now remained in the neighbor¬ 
 hood of Plymouth colony, being in a state of starvation, 
 they surrendered themselves prisoners to the English ; 
 one of whom being recognized as the person who had a 
 few days previous inhumanly murdered the daughter of a 
 Mr. Clarke, was by order of the Governor publicly 
 executed ; the remainder were retained and treated as 
 prisoners of war.—By the assistance of one of the pri¬ 
 soners, who served as guide, 20 more of the enemy were 
 on the proceeding day surprized and taken prisoners by 
 the English. 
 
 The troops under the command of Major Bradford, 
 *nd Captains Mosely and Brattle, on the 15th Sep¬ 
 tember surprized and took 150 of the enemy prisoners 
 near Pautuxet, among whom was the squaw of the cele¬ 
 brated Philip- —and on the day proceeding, learning that 
 the enemy in considerable bodies were roving about in 
 the woods near Dedham, Maj* Bradford despatched 
 Capt. Brattle with fifty men to attack them $ who, the 
 day following, fell in with and engaged about 100 of 
 them—as hatchets were the only weapons with which 
 they were provided, they made but a feeble defence, and 
 were, soon overpowered by the English, who took T4 of 
 them prisoners, the remainder having fallen in the action 
 —the loss of the English was two killed and five wound¬ 
 ed—the above party was commanded by a blood thirsty 
 Sachem,called Pomham, renowned for his bodily strength, 
 whjch exceeded that of any of his countrymen ever met 
 
with_he bravely defended himself to the last, being 
 
 wounded in the breast, and unable to stand, he seized 
 one of the soldiers while in the act of dispatching him 
 with the butt of his gun, and by whom he would have 
 been strangled, had he not been fortunately resqued bjr 
 one of his comrades. 
 
 A general famine now prevailing among the enemy, 
 in consequence of being deprived of an opportunity to 
 plant their lands, numbers were daily compelled by hun¬ 
 ger to surrender themselves prisoners to the English, 
 among whom was a Nipnet Sachem, accompanied by 180 
 of his tribe. 
 
 On the 12th October, Capt. Church, with fifty soldiers 
 and a few friendly Indians under his command, attacked 
 and defeated a party of the enemy near Providence—and 
 on the day following (conducted by Indian guides) dis¬ 
 covered a considerable body of the enemy encamped in 
 a swamp near Pomfret ; a friendly Indian first espying 
 them, commanded them to surrender, but the enemy did 
 not appear disposed to obey ; being sheltered by large 
 trees, they first discharged their arrows among the En¬ 
 glish, and then with a terrible yell attacked them with 
 their long knives and tomahawks—the English meeting 
 with a much warmer reception than what they expected, 
 gave ground, but being rallied by their old and experien¬ 
 ced commander, Capt. Church, they rushed upon them 
 with such impetuosity that the enemy were thrown into 
 confusion and dislodged from their coverts—the action 
 continued about an hour and a quarter—the English had 
 7 men killed, and 14 wounded, among the latter .-their 
 brave commander, who received an arrow through his 
 left arm—the loss of the enemy was 32 killed and be¬ 
 tween 60 and 70 wounded. 
 
 On the 24th, information was forwarded the Governor 
 and Council that the famous Philip (who had been for a 
 
longtime skulking about in the woods near Mount-Hope, 
 much disheartened by the ill success of his countrymen) 
 was the morning preceding discovered in a swamp near 
 that place, attended by about 90 Seaconet Indians ; on 
 which the brave Capt. Church, with his little band of in- 
 vincibles were immediately dispatched in pursuit of him 
 —Capt. Church was acompanied as usual by a number 
 of the Mohegans, and a few friendly Seaconet Indians— 
 on the 27th they arrived in the neighborhood of the 
 swamp, near the border of which he stationed several of 
 the Mohegans, to intercept Philip in case he should at¬ 
 tempt an escape therefrom. Capt. Church, at the head 
 of his little band, now with unconquerable resolution 
 plunged into the swamp, and wading nearly to his waist 
 in water discovered and attacked the enemy.—The In¬ 
 dians were nearly 100 strong, but being unexpectedly at¬ 
 tacked they made no resistance but fled in every direc¬ 
 tion, the inaccessible state of the swamp however pre¬ 
 vented the English from pursuing them with success— 
 their dependence was now upon their friends stationed 
 without—nor did it appear that those faithful fellows suf¬ 
 fered so good an opportunity to pass unimproved—the 
 report of their muskets ^Qnvinced Capt. Church that 
 they were doing their “ duty--in confirmation of which 
 he was very soon after presented with the head of King 
 Philip ! I ^ 
 
 Philip, it appeared in attempting to fly from his pur¬ 
 suers, was recognized by one of the English, who had 
 been stationed with the Mohegans to intercept him, and 
 at whom hcfievelled his piece, but the priming being un¬ 
 fortunately wet and preventing the discharge thereof, the 
 cuanroaSLchem would yet have escaped had not one pf 
 the brave'sons of Uncus at this instant given him the 
 contents of his musket !—the ball went directly through 
 his heart 1— and thus fell by the hands of a faithful Mohe- 
 
? 2 — 
 
 ^ah } the famous Philip ! who was the projector and in¬ 
 stigator of a war which not only proved the cause of his 
 own destruction, but that of nearly all his tribe, once thei 
 most numerous of any inhabiting New-Eng!and. 
 
 It was at this important instant that the English were 
 made witnesses of a remarkable instance of savage cus¬ 
 tom— -Oneco, on learning that Philip had fallen by the 
 hand of one of his tribe, urged that ageeeable to their 
 custom, he had an undoubted right to the body, and a 
 right to feast himself Y/ith a piece thereof! which the 
 English not objecting to, he deliberately drew his long 
 knife from his girdle and with it detached a piece of flesh 
 from the bleeding body of Philip of about one pound 
 weight, which he broiled and eat, in the mean time 
 declaring that “ he had not for many moons eaten any thing 
 with so good an appetite P* The head cf Philip was de¬ 
 tached from his body and sent (by Capt. Church) to 
 Boston, to be presented to the Governor and Council, as 
 a valuable trophy. 
 
 The few hostile Indians that now remained within the 
 United Colonies, conscious that if so fortunate as to e- 
 vade the vigilance of the,^English, they must soon fall 
 victims to the prevailing MsWl^^Lv'.’i'h their families 
 far to the westward ; the EngSRffre disposed rather 
 to facilitate than prevent their flight having been fora 
 number of years engaged in a destructive and bloody 
 war with them, they were willing that tlyj few that re¬ 
 mained alive should escape to a countr 
 that there was no probability of their ri 
 surrie the bloody tomahawk !—impressed 
 and that the enemy were completely extfcr 
 were about to bury the hatchet and turn their 
 agricultural pursuits, when by an express, 
 formed that the natives in the eastemjp^ft 6: 
 
 (Province of Maine) had unprovokedly attacked Jsnd kil- 
 
 * '"IT 6 m 
 
 distant 
 f to re as- 
 
' 
 
 I 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 Jed a considerable number of the English in that quar¬ 
 ter. 
 
 To quench the flame which appeared to be enkindling 
 in the east, the Governor despatched four companies of 
 cavalry to the relief of the unfortunate inhabitants.— The 
 enemy (who were ol the Kennebeck and Amoscoggin 
 tribes) first attacked with unprecedented fury the de¬ 
 fenceless inhabitants settled on Kennebeck river, the 
 most of whom were destroyed or dispersed by them. 
 
 On the 2d November, about TOO of the enemy attack-, 
 ed with their accustomed fury (accompanied by their sav¬ 
 age yells) the inhabitants of Newchewannick, an English 
 settlement situated a few miles from the mouth of the 
 river Kennebeck—-before they had fully accomplished 
 their hellish purpose, they were surprised by the troops 
 sent from Boston, between whom a most bloody engage¬ 
 ment now ensued—the Indians, encouraged by their num¬ 
 bers, repelled the attack of the English in so heroic a 
 manner, that the latter were very soon thrown into disor¬ 
 der and driven out of town, where they again formed, 
 faced about and in turn charged the enemy with uncon¬ 
 querable resolution l^j^i^^intest now became close and 
 severe, the savageterrific yells dexteriousiy 
 hurled their tomahawks among the English, while the 
 latter with as much dexterity, attacked and mowed them 
 down with their cutlasses I—each were apparently deter¬ 
 mined or^i^or’y./jr death !—the English at one moment, 
 unable tostand the impetuosity of the savages, would 
 frivegroun»- a t the next., the Jatter hard pushed by the 
 HjfcwoMd fall back—thus for the space of two hours 
 d appear ball a ncing between the two ^conten d i n g 
 
 field of action was covered with the slain, 
 while th£-adjacent woods resounded with the shrieks and 
 groans of the wotSfided !—At this critical juncture the 
 English, when on the very point of surrendering, wer<f» 
 
f 4 — 
 
 providentially preserved by a stratagem—in the heat of 
 the action, Major Bradford despatched a company of 
 cavalry by a circuitous route to attack the enemy in the 
 rear, which had the most happy effect—the enemy sus¬ 
 pecting this company a reinforcement of the English* 
 fled in fvery direction, leaving the English masters of the 
 held—-thus, after two hours hard fighting, did the English 
 obtain a victory at the expence of the lives of more than 
 half their number 1—their killed and wounded amounted 
 to ninety nine !—the loss of the enemy was not ascer¬ 
 tained, it was however probably three times greater tha» 
 that of the English. 
 
 The day proceeding this bloody engagement, a lieu¬ 
 tenant with 12 men were sent by the commander to the 
 place of action to bury their dead, when they were a few 
 rods therefrom, unexpectedly attacked by about 100 of 
 the enemy, who had lain in ambush—the lieutenant or¬ 
 dered his men to reserve their fire until they could dis¬ 
 charge with the best effect upon the enemy, by whom 
 they were soon surrounded and furiously attacked on all 
 aides ; the savages yelling horribly, brandished their long 
 knives in the air, yet crimsouajgtejtlh the blood of their 
 countrymen—the brave littlPSuld however remained 
 firm and undaunted, and as the savages approached them, 
 «ach taking proper aim, discharged with so good effect 
 upon them, that the Indians, amazed at the instantaneous 
 destruction of so many of their comrades, fled in every 
 direction—the English sustained no loss. 
 
 On the 5th the enemy successfully attacked the inha¬ 
 bitants of the village of Casco, 30 of whom thej ^Ued 
 and made prisoners of the family of a Mr. Bracket, who 
 on the 7th in the following manner made their escape ; 
 *—the Indians on their return to their wigwarms, learn¬ 
 ing that a detached party of their brethren had attacked 
 with success and plundered the village of Arow*ickj t* 
 
 
75— 
 
 enjoy a share of the spoil hastened to join them, leaving 
 the prisoners in the care of two old men and three squaws 
 —Mr. Bracket, whose family consisted of himself, 
 wife, three small children and a negro lad, viewed this as 
 a favourable opportunity to escape, to effect which, he re¬ 
 quested the lad to attempt an escape by flight which (being 
 uncommonly active) he easily effected ; the plan of Mr. 
 Bracket had now its desired effect, as the old men 
 pursuing the negro, left him and his family guarded on¬ 
 ly by the three squaws, whom (being intoxicated) he 
 soon dispatched and returned the day proceeding with 
 his family to Casco, where the negro lad had arrived some 
 hours before*. 
 
 On the 15th the Indians attacked the dwelling houses 
 of a Capt. Bonitkon, and Maj. Philips, situated on 
 the east side of Casco river—they having seasonable no¬ 
 tice of the hostile views of the enemy the family, of the 
 former (as a place of greater safely) had resorted to the* 
 house of the latter a few moments previous to the attack. 
 —The savages first communicating fire to the house of 
 Capt. Bonithon, next proceeded furiously to attack the 
 dwelling of Maj. Philips, in which there were about 
 twenty persons, by whom it was most gallantly defended 
 —the enemy had them leader and a number of their 
 party killed by the fire of the English—dispairing of tak¬ 
 ing the house by assault they adopted a new plan to com¬ 
 municate fire thereto—they procured a carriage on which 
 they erected a stage, in front of which was a barricador 
 rendered bullet proof, and to which long poles were at¬ 
 tached, nearly 20 feet in length, to the ends of which 
 were affixed every kind of combustible, such as birch 
 rinds, straw, pitch pine, See.—the Indians were sheltered 
 by the barricador from the fire of the English while they 
 approached the walls of the house with their carriage— 
 the English were now on the eve of despairing, when 
 
—76— 
 
 fortunately one of the wheels of the carriage being 
 brought in contact with a rock, was turned completely 
 round, which exposed the whole body of Indians to their 
 sre I — this unexpected opportunity was improved with 
 the greatest advantage by the English, who with a few 
 rounds soon dispersed the enemy with no inconsiderable 
 * loss. 
 
 The day following the Indians attacked and set fire to 
 the bouse of a Mr. Wakely, whom with his whole fam¬ 
 ily they murdered—a company of English apprized of 
 their dangerous situation marched to their relief, but ar¬ 
 rived too late to afford them assistance—they found the 
 house reduced to ashes, among which they discovered 
 the mangled bodies of the unfortunate family half con¬ 
 sumed by fire 1 
 
 Toe savages, emboldened by their late success, on the 
 » 20th a'tacked a small English settlement on Piscataqua 
 river, and succeeded in murdering a part and carrying 
 away the remainder cf the inhabitants into captivity— as 
 an instance of their wanton barbarity, it should be he-re 
 mentioned, that after tomahawking and scalping one of 
 the unfortunate women of the above place, they bouDd 
 to the dead body her little infant, in which situation it 
 was the proceeding day discovered by the English, at¬ 
 tempting to draw nourishment from its mother’s breast I 
 
 The Governor and Council of the United Colonies, 
 conceiving it their duty if possible to put a final stop to 
 the ravages of the enemy, in the east, and to prevent 
 the further effusion of innocent blood, despatched Major 
 Wallis and Major Bradford, with six companies un¬ 
 der their command, to destroy “ root and branch** the 
 common enemy.—On the 1st December they arrived in 
 the neighborhood of Kennebeck, near where they were 
 informed the main body of the enemy were encamped— 
 on the morning of the dd they fell in with rod uu„ck-T 
 
 
—77— 
 
 them—the enemy, who were about 800 strong, appear¬ 
 ed disposed to maintain their ground : they fought with 
 all the fury of savages, and even assailed the English 
 from the tops of lofty trees which they ascended for the 
 purpose ; they were possessed of but few fire-arms, but 
 hurled their tomahawks with inconceivable exactness, and 
 checked the progress of the cavalry with long spears l— 
 victory for a long time remained doubtful—-the ground 
 being covered with snow, greatly retarded the progress 
 of the troops, who probably would have met with a de¬ 
 feat had not a fresh company of infantry arrived in time 
 to change the fortune of the day—these having remained 
 inactive as a body of reserve^ the commander found 
 himself under the necessity of calling for their aid—the 
 enemy, disheartened at the unexpected arrival of an ad¬ 
 ditional number of the English, fled with precipitancy 
 to the woods—but very few of them however escaped,^ 
 more than 200 of them remained dead upon the field of 
 action, and double that number mortally wounded !—*-the 
 loss of the English was 25 killed and 44 wounded.— 
 This engagement, which proved a decisive one, was of 
 the greatest importance to the English—the great and 
 .arduous work was now completed—the few remaining 
 Indians that inhabited the eastern country, now expres¬ 
 sed a desire to bury the bloody hatchet and to make 
 peace with the English—their request was cheerfully 
 complied with, and they continued ever alter the faithful 
 friends of the English. 
 
 From this important period (which being the 5th day 
 of December, 1679) ought the peace and prosperity of 
 the now flourishing States of New-England to receive- 
 their date.—Ir was at this period that her hardy sons quit 
 the sanguine field, and exchanged their implements of 
 death tor such as were better calculated for the cultiva- 
 iion and tillage of their farms.—The forests with which 
 
theyWeve encompassed, no longer abounded with fierce 
 and untutored savages—the Indian death-song and war- 
 whoop, was no longer heard—the greater part of the 
 Indians that survived the many bloody engagements, had 
 sought peace and retirement far westward—the prison¬ 
 ers which the English bad captured were liberated upon 
 condition of resorting to and remaining with them—they 
 proved faithful to their promise, they took possession of 
 the country bounding on the great lakes, and in posses¬ 
 sion of which their descendants remain to the present 
 day—a description of whose manners and customs will be 
 found in the proceeding chapter. 
 
 We shall close this with a few remarks relative to the 
 state, customs and ludicrous opinions of the Indians , in 
 New-England , when first visited by our Forefathers, and 
 of their rapid depopulation since that period. 
 
 We cannot even hazard a conjecture respecting the 
 Indian population of Uew-England, at the time of its first 
 settlement by the English. Capt. Smith, in a voyage 
 to this coast in 1614, supposed that on the Massachusetts 
 island, there were about 3000 Indians—all accounts 
 agree that the sea coast and neighboring islands were 
 thickly inhabited. 
 
 Three years before the arrival of the Plymouth colo¬ 
 ny, a very mortal sickness, supposed to have been the 
 plague, or perhaps the yellow«fever, raged with great 
 violence among the Indians in the eastern parts of New- 
 England. Whole towns were depopulated. The living 
 were not able to bury the dead : and their bones were 
 found lying above ground many years after. The Mas¬ 
 sachusetts Indians are said to have been reduced from 
 S0,000 to 300 fighting men. In 163S, the small*pox swept 
 off great numbers of the Indians in Massachusetts. 
 
 In 1763, on the island of Nantucket, in the space of 
 four months, the Indians were reduced by a mortal sick- 
 

 79 
 
 ness, from 320 16 85 souls. The hand of ProvidSce is 
 notable in these surprising instances of mortality among 
 the Indians to make room for the whites. Comparative¬ 
 ly few have perished by wars ; and the descendants of 
 the few that were not driven to the westward by the 
 English, waste and moulder away and in a manner un¬ 
 accountable disappear. 
 
 The number of Indians in the state of Connecticut in , 
 1774 was one thousand three hundred and sixty-three; 
 but their number is now doubtless much lessened. The 
 principal part of their population in this state is at Mohe- 
 gan, in the county of New-London-—these are the de¬ 
 scendants of the Mohegans, of whom frequent mention 
 h made in the foregoing pages as being very serviceable 
 (under the command of Uncus) to the English, in their 
 many engagements with the natives.-—The Mohegans 
 have ever exhibited great reverence for the descendants 
 of their royal Sachem ,—After the death of Uncus, his 
 body was conveyed (by his request) to Norwich, and there 
 interred in the neighbourhood of one of his forts—this 
 spot was selected by him, previous to his death, and it 
 was his dying request that the whole family of Uncus 
 should be there buried ; a request which has been strict¬ 
 ly comply ed with by the Mohegans; who, although the 
 distance is seven miles from their own burying ground, 
 have and continue to deposit there the descendants of 
 their revered Sachem. 
 
 The number of Indians in Rhode Island in 1783, was 
 only five hundred and twenty-five. More than half of 
 these live in Charleston, in the county of Washington.—. 
 
 In 1774, the number of Indians in Rhode-Island was one 
 thousand four hundred and eighty-two so that in nine 
 years the decrease was nine hundred and fifty-seven.— 
 We have not been able to ascertain the exact state of the 
 Indian population in Massachusetts and New-Hampshire* 
 
In lUfi there was a tribe of about forty Indians at Nor- 
 ridge walk, in the Province of Maine, with some few oth¬ 
 er scattering remains of tribes in other parts; and a 
 number of towns thinly inhabited round Cape Cod. 
 
 When the English first arrived in America, the Indians 
 had no time nor places set apart for religious worship.— 
 The first settlers in Nevo-England were at great pains to 
 introduce among them the habits of civilized life, and to 
 instruct them in the Christian religion. A few years in¬ 
 tercourse with the Indians induced them to establish sev¬ 
 eral good and natural regulations. 
 
 The Rev* Mr. Elliot, of Roxbury, near Boston, who 
 has been styled the great Indian apostle , with much la¬ 
 bour learned the Natic dialect of the Indian languages. 
 He published an Indian grammar, and preached in In¬ 
 dian to several tribes, and in 1664. transited the bible 
 and several religious books into the Indian language; 
 He relates several pertinent queries of the Indians re¬ 
 specting the Christian religion. Among others, wheth¬ 
 er Jesus Christ, the mediator or interpreter, could un¬ 
 derstand prayer in the Indian language ? If the father 
 be bad and the child good, why should Grd in the second 
 commandment be offended with the child ? How the In¬ 
 dians came to differ so much from the English in the 
 knowledge of God and Jesus Christ, since they ail sprang 
 from one father ?—Mr. Elliot was indefatigable in his 
 labours, and travelled through all parts of Massachusetts 
 and Plymouth colonies, as far as Cape Cod. The colo¬ 
 ny had such a veneration for him, that in an act of the 
 General Assembly relating to Indians, they express 
 themselves thus, “ By the advice of the said magistrates, 
 and of Mr, Elliot.'* 
 
 Concerning the religion of the untaught natives of 
 New-England, who once held a plurality of deities, af¬ 
 ter the arrival of the English, supposed there were only 
 
three, because they saw people of three kinds or com*’ 
 plexions, viz.—-English, Negroes, and themselves. 
 
 It was a notion pretty generally prevailing among them, 
 that it was not the same God made them who made us | 
 but that they were created after the white people ; and it 
 is probable they supposed their God gained some special 
 Skill, by seeing the white people made, and so made them 
 better ; for it is certain they looked upon themselves* 
 and their methods of living, which they say their God 
 expressly prescribed for them, vastly preferable to the 
 white people and their ihethods- 
 
 With regard to a future state of existence, many of 
 them imagined that the chic hung, i. e . the shadow, or 
 what survived the body, would at death go southward, and 
 in an unknown but Curious place—would enjoy some 
 kind of happiness, such as hunting, feasting, dancing, and 
 the like. And what they supposed would contribute 
 much to their happiness, was, that they should there 
 never be weary of* those entertainments. 
 
 The natives of New-England believed not only at plu¬ 
 rality of Gods, who made and governed the several na¬ 
 tions of the world $ but they made deities of every thing 
 they imagined to be great, powerful, beneficial, and hurt¬ 
 ful to mankind ; yet they conceived an Almighty Being, 
 whom they called Kichtau, who at first, according to 
 their tradition, made a man and woman out of stone, but 
 upon some dislike destroyed them again, and then made 
 another couple out of a tree, from whom descended all 
 the nations of the earth $ but how they came to be scat¬ 
 tered and dispersed into countries so remote from one 
 another they could not tell. They believed their Supreme 
 God to be a good being, and paid a sort of acknowledg¬ 
 ment to him for plenty, victoiy and other benefits. 
 
 1 he immortality of the soul was universally believed 
 sraong them, When good men died, they said, thei? 
 
—$2 
 
 *oui*r went to Kichtau, where they met with theft* 
 trends, and enjoyed all manner of pleasures ; when the 
 wicked died, they went to Kichtau also, btit were com* 
 manded to walk away ; and so wander about in restless 
 discontent and darkness forever. 
 
 The natives of New-England in general were quick of 
 apprehension, ingenious, and when pleased nothing could 
 exceed their courtesy and friendship—-gravity and elo¬ 
 quence distinguished them in council, address and bravery 
 in war they were not more easily provoked than the 
 English, but when once they had received an injury, it 
 was never forgotton—in anger, they were not like the 
 English, talkative and boisterous, but sullen and revenge¬ 
 ful. The men declined all labour and spent their time 
 in hunting, fishing, shooting, and warlike exercises. 
 T k hey imposed all the drudgery upon their women, who 
 gathered and brought home their wood, planted, dressed 
 and gathered their corn—when they travelled the women 
 carried their children, packs and provisions—the women 
 submitted patiently to such treatment, this ungenerous 
 usuage of their husbands, they repaid with smiles and 
 good humour. 
 
 The eloathing of the natives was the skins of wild 
 beasts, the men threw a mantle of skins over them, and 
 wore a small flap which were termed Indian breeches— 
 the women were much more modest, they wore a coat 
 of skins, girt about their loins which reached down tb 
 their hams, which they never put off* in company—if the 
 husband chose to dispose of his wife’s beaver petticoat, 
 she could not be persuaded to part with it, until he had 
 provided another of some sort. In the winter, their 
 blanket of skins which hung loose in summer, was tied 
 or wrapped more closely about them—the old men in the 
 severe seasons also wore a sort of trowsers made of skins 
 and fastened to their girdles, and on their feet they wore 
 
mocasobs, made of moose leather, and their chiefs of 
 sachems wore on their heads a cap decorated with feath¬ 
 ers. 
 
 Their bouses or wtgwarnas were at best but miserable 
 ceils ; they were constructed generally like arbours, of 
 small young trees bent and twisted together, and so cu¬ 
 riously covered with mats or bark, that they were toler¬ 
 ably dry and warm—the natives made their fires in the 
 centre of the, house, and there was an opening at the 
 top which emitted the smoke for the convenience of 
 wood and water, these huts were commonly erected in 
 groves, near some river, brook or living spring; when 
 either failed the family removed to another place. 
 
 They lived in a poor low manner, their food was coarse 
 and simple, without any kind of seasoning—they had 
 neither spice, salt or bread—their food was principally 
 the entrails of moose, deer, bears, and all kinds of wild 
 beasts and fowls; of fish and snakes they were extreme-. 
 Jy fond—they had strong stomachs and nothing came a- 
 miss !—they had no set meals, but like other wild crea¬ 
 tures ate when they were hungry, and could find any 
 thing to satisfy the cravings of nature—they had but lit¬ 
 tle food from the earth except what it spontaneously pro¬ 
 duced—Indian corn, beans and squashes, were the only 
 eatables for which the natives of New-England laboured. 
 
 Their household furniture was of but small value— 
 
 — j t i ■ , . . * -• - 
 
 their beds were composed of mats or skins; they had 
 neither chairs or stools, but commonly sat upon the 
 ground with their elbows upon their knees—a few wood¬ 
 en and stone vessels and instruments served all the pur¬ 
 poses of domestic life—their knife was a sharp stone, 
 shell or kind of reed, which they sharpened in such a 
 manner as to cut their hair, make their bows and ar¬ 
 rows, &c—they made their axes of stone, which they 
 shaped somewhat similar to our axes, but with the dii- 
 
|ference of their being made with a neck instead of as? 
 eye, and fastened with a withe, like a blacksmith's chis- 
 sel. 
 
 V - ; • 
 
 The manner of the courtship and marriage of the na- 
 lives manifested the impurity of their morals,—When a 
 young Indian wished for marriage, he presented. the 
 girl with whom he was enamoured, with bracelets, belts 
 and chains of wampum—if she received his presents 
 they cohabited together for a time upon trial—if they 
 pleased each other they were joined in marriage : but if 
 after a few weeks, they were not suited, the man, leav¬ 
 ing his presents, quitted the girl and sought another mis¬ 
 tress, and she another lover—in this manner they court¬ 
 ed until two met who were agreeable to each other. 
 
 The natives of New-England, although they consisted 
 of a great number of different nations and clans, appear 
 to have spoken radically the same language—from Pis- 
 cataqua to Connecticut, it was so nearly the same, tha£ 
 the different tribes could converse tolerably together— 
 the Mohegan or Pequot language was essentially that of 
 all the Indians in New-England—the word Mohegan, is 
 a corruption of Muhhekaneew, in the 6’mgular, or of 
 Muhhekaneek in the plural number.—The Penobscots, 
 bordering on Nova-Scotia, the Indians of St. Francis, in 
 Canada, the Delawares, in Pennsylvania, the Shawanese, 
 on the Ohio, and the Chippewaus, at the westward of 
 lake Huron, all now speak the same radical language. 
 
 CHAP. IV. 
 
 pF THE DIFFERENT TRIBES OF INDIANS IN¬ 
 HABITING THE WESTERN COUNTRY. 
 
 WE shall now speak of the Indians who occupy the 
 
interior of America.—They are the descendants of those 
 who once inhabited the sea-coasts, and who were driven 
 by the English (as mentioned in the preceding chapter) 
 far to the westward, so that but few of their descendants 
 pre now to be found within less than two or three hun¬ 
 dred miles of the sea : for though many of them have 
 been instructed in the knowledge of Christianity, and dis¬ 
 tricts of land have been allotted them in several of the 
 British colonies, where they have been fqrmed into so¬ 
 cieties; yet it has been found that in proportion as they 
 Jay by their ancient customs, and conform to the manners 
 of civilized life, they dwindle away, either because the 
 change is prejudicial to their constitutions, or because 
 when settled among the English they have great oppor¬ 
 tunities of procuring spirituous liquors, of which both 
 sexes are in general inordinately fond ; very little care 
 being ever taken to prevent those who are inclined to take 
 •advantage of them in trade, from basely intoxicating them, 
 for that purpose s this has a powerful effect on their con¬ 
 stitutions, and soon proves fatal, producing diseases to 
 which they were formerly strangers. Thus where a few 
 years ago there were considerable settlements of them, 
 their name is almost forgotten ; and those who still re¬ 
 main, have for the most part, joined themselves to other 
 nations in the interior part of the country, on the banks 
 of the lakes and rivers. 
 
 The Indians in Canada, and to the south of it, are tall 
 and straight beyond the proportion of most other nations; 
 their bodies are strong, but it has been observed that this 
 is a strength rather suited to endure the exercise of the 
 chase, than much hard labour, by which they are soon 
 consumed; they have generally supple limbs, and the 
 smallest degree of deformity is very rarely seen amongst 
 them. Their features are regular, their complexion 
 somewhat of a copper colour, or a reddish brown ; their 
 
hair, which is long, black, and lank, is as strong as that 
 of a horse. They carefully eradicate the hair from every 
 part of the body except the head, and there they confine 
 it to a tuft at the top ; whence an erroneous idea has 
 much prevailed, that the men of this country are natu¬ 
 rally destitute of beards ; but it is unquestionable that it 
 is only an artificial deprivation. 
 
 They generally wear only a blanket wrapped about 
 them, or a shirt, both of which they purchase of the 
 English traders: when the Europeans first came among 
 them they found some nations entirely naked, and others 
 with a coarse cotton cloth, wove by themselves, round 
 their waist ; but in the northern parts their whole bodies 
 were in winter covered with skins. 
 
 The Huran Indians possess a very pleasant and fertile 
 country on the eastern side of the lake which bears the 
 same name. Half a century ago they were very nume¬ 
 rous, and could raise six or seven hundred warriors, but 
 they have suffered greatly from the attacks of neighbor¬ 
 ing tribes. They differ in their manners from any of the 
 Indian tribes by which they are surrounded. They build 
 regular houses which they cover with bark, and are con¬ 
 sidered as the most wealthy Indians on the continent, 
 having not only many horses, but some black cattle and 
 swine. They likewise raise much corn, so that after 
 providing for their own wants, they are enabled to barter 
 the remainder with other tribes. Their country extends 
 one hundred and fifty miles eastward of the lake, but is 
 narrower in the contrary direction : the soil is not exceed¬ 
 ed by any in this part of the world : the timber is tali 
 and beautiful, the woods abound with game, and abun¬ 
 dance of fish may be obtained from the rivers and lakes; 
 so that if it was well cultivated, the land would equal that 
 on any part of the sea coast of North-America. A mis¬ 
 sionary of the order of Carthusian friars, by permission 
 
of the bishop of Canada, resides among them, and is by 
 them amply rewarded for his services. 
 
 Those tribes of Indians which inhabit the banks of 
 lakes Champlain, George, and Ontario, were formelv 
 called Iroquois , but have since been known by the name 
 of “ the five Mohawk nations and u the Mohawks of 
 Canada the former are called Onondagoes, Oniades, 
 Senecas, Tuscaaovies, and Troondock ; these fought on 
 the side of the English in the contest for territory with 
 France; the Cohnawahgans and St. Francis Indians 
 joined the French. 
 
 The knowledge which we have of the Indians further 
 to the S. W. as far as beyond 42° N» latitude, is chiefly 
 obtained from the very worthy provincial officer Major 
 Carver, who travelled into those parts> in the year 1766, 
 and whose placid manners and artless sincerity could not 
 fail of recommending him to men whom nature alone 
 had instructed. He visited twelve nations of Indians, a- 
 mpng which the following appear to be the most consid¬ 
 erable : the Chipeway, who dwell to the southward of 
 lake Superior, and the Ottawas ; the Winnebags to the 
 YV. of lake Michigan, who with the Saukies, and Otti- 
 ganmies occupy the whole extent of country from the 
 lake to the Mississippi, below 42° N. latitude, where the 
 Ousconsin river discharges itself. The Nandowesse, the 
 most numerous and extended Indian nation, inhabit the 
 country on the W. of the Mississippi, on the borders of 
 Louisiana. 
 
 The Indians in general are strangers to the passion of 
 jealousy ; and the most profligate of their young men 
 very rarely attempt the virtue of married woman, nor do 
 such often put themselves in the way of solicitation, al¬ 
 though the Indian women, in general, are armorous, and) 
 before marriage, not less esteemed lor gratifying theip 
 passionappears to have been a very prevalent cus- 
 
(dm with the Indians of this country, before they frec&Aid 
 acquainted with the Europeans, to compliment strangers 
 with their wives ; and the custom still prevails, not onl^ 
 among the lower rank, but, even among the chiefs them* 
 selves, who consider such an offer as the greatest proof 
 of courtesy they can give a stranger. 
 
 The men are remarkable for their indolence, oh which' 
 they even seem to value themselves ; saying that labour 
 would degrade them, and belongs solely to the women. 
 While they are formed only for war, hunting and fishing $ 
 it is, however, their business to make arms for hunting 
 and lines for fishing} to form their canoes, and build 
 their houses; but they frequently make the women as¬ 
 sist them in these, besides attending to all domestic af¬ 
 fairs, and cultivating the land. They have a method of 
 lighting up their huts with torches, made of the splin¬ 
 ters cut from the pine or birch tree. 
 
 The Indians have generally astonishing patience and 
 equanimity of mind, with the command of every passion 
 except revenge. They bear the most sudden and unex¬ 
 pected misfortune with calmness and composure, with¬ 
 out uttering a word, or the least change of countenance. 
 Even a prisoner, who knows not whether he may not in 
 a few hours be put to the most cruel death, seems en¬ 
 tirely unconcerned, and eats and drinks with as much 
 cheerfulness as those into whose hands he has fallen. 
 Their resolution and courage under sickness and pain, 
 is really astonishing. Even when under the shocking 
 torture to which prisoners are frequently exposed, 
 they will not only make themselves cheerful, but provoke 
 and irritate their tormentors by most severe reproaches. 
 
 They are grave in their deportment upon serious oc¬ 
 casions, observant of those in company, respectful to the 
 old ; of a temper cool and deliberate, by which they are 
 never in haste to speak before they have well thought of 
 
89— 
 
 the matter, and sure that the person who spoke before 
 them has finished all that he had to say. In their pub* 
 lie councils, every man is heard in his turn, according 
 as his years, his wisdom, or his services to his country, 
 have ranked him. Not a whisper, nor a murmer is 
 heard from the rest, while he speaks; no indecent corn*, 
 mendations, no ill timid applause. The young attend 
 for their instruction ; for here they learn the history of 
 their nation, are animated by those who celebrate the 
 warlike actions of their ancestors ; are taught what is 
 the interest of the country, and how to cultivate and pur¬ 
 sue it. 
 
 Hospitality is exercised among them with the utmost 
 generosity and good will. Their houses, their provi¬ 
 sions and even their young women, are presented to a 
 guest. To those of their own nation they are likewise 
 very humane and beneficent. If any of them succeed 
 ill in hunting, if his harvest fails, or his house is burnt, 
 he feels no other effect of his misfortune, than its giving 
 him an opportunity of experiencing the benevolence and 
 regard of his countrymen, who, for that purpose, have 
 almost every thing in common. But to the enemies of 
 his country, or to those who have privately offended him, 
 the native American is implacable. He never indeed 
 makes use of oaths, or indecent expressions, but cruelly 
 conceals his sentiments, till by treachery or surprise he 
 can gratify his revenge. No length of time is sufficient 
 to allay his resentment; no distance of place is great 
 enough to protect the object ; he crosses the steepest 
 mountains, pierces impervious forests, and traverses tbs 
 most hideous deserts ; bearing the inclemency of the 
 seasons, the fatigue of the expedition, the extremes of 
 hungar and thirst, with patience and cheerfulness, in 
 hopes of surprising his enemy, and exercising uron him 
 
 the most shocking barbarities. When these cannot be 
 
 M 
 
effected, the revenge is left as a legacy, transferred frbfft 
 generation to generation from father to son, till an op¬ 
 portunity offers of taking what they think ample satis¬ 
 faction. To such extremes do the Indians pissh their 
 friendship, or their enmity ; and such indeed is, in gene- 
 ral, the character of all uncivilized nations. They, how¬ 
 ever, esteem nothing so unworthy a man of sense, as a 
 peevish temper, and a proneness to a sudden and rash 
 anger. 
 
 On the other hand, they are highly sensible of the 
 Utility and pleasures of friendship : for each of them, at a 
 certain age, makes choice of some one nearly of the same 
 standing in life to be their most intimate and* bosom 
 friend j these two enter into mutual engagements, by 
 Which they oblige themselves to brave any danger and run 
 any risque, to assist and support each other. This attach¬ 
 ment is even carried so far as to overcome the fear of 
 death, which they consider only as a temporary separa¬ 
 tion, being persuaded that they shall meet and be united 
 in friendship in the other world, never to be separated 
 more ; and that there they shall need one another’s assis¬ 
 tance as well as here* 
 
 It does not appear that there is any Indian nation that 
 has not some sense of a deity, and a kind of superstitious 
 religion. Their ideas of the nature and attributes of 
 God are very obscure, and some of them absurd, though 
 they conceive of him as the Great Spirit, and imagine 
 that his more Immediate residence is on the island of the 
 great lakes. They seem to have some idea that there 
 are spirits of a higher and more excellent nature than 
 man f and supposing them to be every where present, 
 frequently invoke them, and endeavor to act agreeable to 
 their desires. They likewise imagine that there is an 
 evil spirit, who they say is always inclined to mischief, 
 and bears great sway in the creation j this indeed is the 
 
—* 91 — 
 
 principal object of their devotions ; they generally ad¬ 
 dress him most heartily, beseeching him to do them no 
 harm : but supposing the others to be propitious, and 
 ever inclined to do good; they intreat those spirits to 
 bestow blessings upon them and prevent the evil spirit 
 from hurting them. Major Carver relates that one of 
 the most considerable chiefs among the Otlawaws with 
 whom he remained a night, on attending him to his canoe 
 the next morning, with great solemnity, and in an auda* 
 ble voice offered up a fervent prayer, as he entered his 
 canoe, “ that the Great Spirit would favor him with a 
 prosperous voyage ; that he would give him an uncloud¬ 
 ed sky, and smooth waters by day, and that he might 
 lie down by night on a beaver blanket, enjoying uninter¬ 
 rupted sleep and pleasant dreams ; and also that he 
 might find continual security under the great pipe of 
 peace.” To procure the protection of the good spirit, 
 they imagine it necessary to distinguish themselves, and 
 that they must above all other attainments, become good 
 warriors, expert hunters, and steady marksmen. 
 
 Their priests often persuade the people that they have 
 revelations of future events, and are authorized to com¬ 
 mand them to pursue such and such measures. They 
 also undertake to unfold the mysteries of religion, and to 
 solve and interpret all their dreams. They represent the 
 other world as a place abounding with an inexhaustible 
 plenty of every thing desirable, where they shall enjoy 
 the most full and exquisite gratification of all their senses. 
 —This is doubtless the motive that induces the Indians 
 to meet death with such indifference and composure $ 
 none of them being in the least dismayed at the news 
 that he has but a few hours or minutes to live, but with 
 the greatest intrepidity sees himself upon the brink of 
 being separated from all terrestrial things, and with 
 great serenity talks to all around him ; thus a father 
 
leaves his dying advice to his children, and takes a for¬ 
 mal leave of all his friends. 
 
 f 
 
 They testify great indifference for the productions of 
 art; when any curious piece of mechanism is shown them, 
 they say, “ It is pretty, I like to look at it," but express 
 no curiosity about its construction. Such however is not 
 their behaviout when they are told of a person who dis¬ 
 tinguishes himself by agility in running; is well skilled 
 in hunting ; can take a most exact aim ; work a canoe 
 along a rapid with great dexterity ; is skilled in all the 
 arts which their stealthy mode of carrying on a war is 
 capable of; or is acute in discovering the situation of a 
 country, and can, without a guide pursue his proper 
 course through a vast forest, and support hunger, thirst, 
 and fatigue with invincible firmness ; at such a relation 
 their attention is aroused ; they listen to the interesting 
 tale with delight, and express in the strongest terms 
 their esteem for so great so wonderful a man. 
 
 They generally bury their dead with great decency, 
 and deposit in the grave such articles as the deceased had 
 made the greatest use of and been most attached to ; as 
 his bow and arrow's, pipes, tobacco, &c. that he may not 
 be in want of any thing when he comes to the other 
 country. The mothers mourn for their children a long 
 time, and the neighbours make presents to the father ; 
 and he in return gives them a feast. 
 
 Every band has a leader who bears the title of Sachem 
 or chief warrior, and is chosen for his tried valor and skill 
 in conducting war ; to him is entrusted ail military ope¬ 
 ration, but his authority does not extend to civil affairs, 
 the pre eminence there being given to another, who pos¬ 
 sesses it by a kind of hereditary claim, and whose assent 
 is necessary to render valid all conveyances of land, or 
 treaties of whatever kind, to which he affixes the maijt 
 of the tribe or nation. Though these military ancj civil 
 
chiefs are considered as the heads of the band, and the 
 latter is usually styled king, yet the American Indians 
 consider themselves as controlled by neither civil or mil¬ 
 itary authority : every individual regards himself as free 
 and independent, and would never renounce the idea of 
 liberty ; therefore injunctions conveyed in the style of a 
 positive command, would be disregarded and treated with 
 contempt. Nor do their leaders assume an ascendancy 
 repugnant to these sentiments, but merely advise what is 
 necessary to be done, which is sufficient to produce the 
 most prompt and effectual execution, never producing 
 a murmur. 
 
 Their great council is composed of the heads pf tribes 
 and families, with such whose capacity has raised them 
 to the same degree of consideration. They meet in a 
 house, built in each of their towns for that purpose, and 
 also to receive ambassadors, to deliver them an answer, to 
 sing their traditionary songs, or to commemorate the 
 dead. In these councils they propose all such matters as 
 concern the state, and which have been already digested 
 in the secret councils, at which none but the head men 
 assist. The chiefs seldom speak much themselves at 
 these general meetings, but entrust their sentiments 
 with a person who is called their speaker, or orator, their 
 being one of this profession in every tribe or town ; and 
 their manner of speaking is natural and easy, their words 
 Strong and expressive, their style bold, figurative, and 
 laconic, whatever is told tending either to form the 
 judgment or rouse the passions. 
 
 When any business of consequence is transacted, they 
 appoint a feast upon the occasion, of which almost the 
 £ whole nation partakes. Before the entertainment is rea¬ 
 dy, the principal person begins a song on the remark¬ 
 able events of their history, and whatever may tend to 
 their honour or instruction. The others sing in their 
 
94 - 
 
 turn. They also have dances, chiefly of a martial kind 5 
 and no solemnly or public business is carried on without 
 songs and dances. 
 
 As the Indians are high spirited and soon irritated, the 
 most trifling provocations frequently rouse them to arms, 
 and prove the occasions of bloodshed and murder.—*Their 
 petty private quarrels are often decided this way, and ex¬ 
 peditions undertaken without the knowledge or consent 
 of a general council. These private expeditions are 
 winked at, and excused, as a means of keeping their 
 young men in action, and inuring them to the exercises 
 of war. * 
 
 But when war becomes a national affair, it is entered 
 upon with great deliberation. They first call an assem¬ 
 bly of the sachems or chief warriors, to deliberate upon 
 the affair, and every thing relating to it. In this general 
 congress among the northern Indians and the Five Na¬ 
 tions, the women have a voice as well as the men. When 
 they are assembled, the chief sachem or president, pro¬ 
 poses the affair they have met to consult upon, and tak¬ 
 ing up the tomahawk, which lies by him, says “ Who 
 among you will go and fight against such a nation f 
 Who among you will bring captives from thence to re¬ 
 place our deceased iriends, that our wrongs may be 
 revenged, and out name and our honour maintained, as 
 long as the rivers flow, the grass grows, or the sun and 
 moon shall endure ?” Then one of the principal warri¬ 
 ors rising, harrangues the whole assembly, and after¬ 
 ward, addressing himself to the young men, enquiries 
 who among them will go along with him, and fight their 
 enemies ? When they generally rise, one after another, 
 and fall in behind him, while he walks round the circle, 
 till he is joined by a sufficient number. 
 
 On such occasions they have usually a deer, or some 
 other beast roasted whole ; and each of them, as they 
 
—95 
 
 t 
 
 consent to go to war, cuts off a piece and eats, saying, 
 l< Tims will I devour our enemies,” mentioning the na¬ 
 tion they are going to attack. The ceremony being per¬ 
 formed, the dance begins, . and they sing the war song, 
 which has relation to their intended expedition and con¬ 
 quest, or to their own skill, courage, and dexterity in 
 fighting, and the manner in which they will vanquish 
 their enemies. There expressions are strong and pathet¬ 
 ic, attended with a tone that inspires terror. 
 
 **Such is the influence of their women in these consul¬ 
 tations, that the issue depends much upon them. It any 
 one of theft* in conjunction with the chiefs, has a mind 
 to excite one, who does not immediately depend upon 
 them, to take a part in the war, she presents, by the 
 hands of some trusty young warrior, a string of wam¬ 
 pum, to the person whose help she solicits, which sel¬ 
 dom fails of producing the effect. But when they soli¬ 
 cit an offensive or defensive alliance with a whole nation, 
 they send an embassy with a large belt of wampum and 
 a bloody hatchet, enviting them to come and drink the 
 blood of their enemies. 
 
 The wampum used on these and other occasions be¬ 
 fore their acquaintance with Europeans, was only small 
 shells, which they picked up by the sea coasts, and on 
 the banks of the lakes. It now consists principally of 
 a kind of cylindrical beads, made of white and black 
 shells, which are esteemed among them as silver and 
 gold are among us. The black they think the most val¬ 
 uable ; both of them are their greatest riches and orna¬ 
 ments, answering all the ends of money among us.— 
 They have the art of stringing, twisting, and interweav¬ 
 ing them into their belts, collars, blankets, 2kc. in ten. 
 thousand different sizes, forms, and figures, so as not 
 only to be ornaments for every part of dress, but ex¬ 
 pressive of all their important transactions. They die 
 
 %• 
 
the wampum of various colours and shades ; and as they 
 are made significant of almost any thing they please, by 
 these their records are kept, and their thoughts commu¬ 
 nicated to one another, as ours are by writing. Thus 
 the belts that pass from one nation to another, in all im¬ 
 portant transactions, are carefully preserved in the cabin 
 of their chiefs, and serve both as a kind of record or his¬ 
 tory, and as a public treasure; hence they are never 
 used on trifling occasions. 
 
 The calmut, or pipe of peace, is of no less impor¬ 
 tance, nor is it less revered among them. The bowl of 
 this pipe is made of a kind of soft red stone, easily 
 wrought and hollowed out; the stem is of cane, or a 
 kind of light wood, painted with different colours, and 
 adorned with the heads, tails, and feathers, of the most 
 beautiful birds, &c. The use of the calmut, is to smoke 
 either tobacco or some ether herb used instead of it, 
 when they enter into an alliance or any solemn engage¬ 
 ment ; this being esteemed the most sacred oath that 
 can be taken, the violation of which is thought to be 
 most infamous, and deserving severe punishment in the 
 other life. When they treat of war, the whole pipe and 
 all its ornaments are red ; sometimes it is red only on 
 one side, and by the disposition of the feathers &c. a 
 person acquainted with their customs, knows at first sight 
 the intentions or desires of the nation who presents it. 
 Smoaking the calmut is also upon some occasions and in 
 all treaties considered as a sacred oath, as a seal of their 
 decrees, and a pledge of their performance of them. 
 The size and decorations of their caimuts are common¬ 
 ly proportioned to the importance of the occasion, to the 
 quality of the persons to whom they are presented, and 
 to the esteem and regard they have for them. 
 
 Another instrument of great importance among them 
 is the tomahawk. This is an ancient weapon, used by 
 
— 97 — 
 
 them in war, before they were taught the use of iron 
 or steel, since which hatchets have been substituted in 
 the room of them, but still it retains its use and im¬ 
 portance in public transactions : and like the pipe, is fre¬ 
 quently very significant. This instrument is formed in 
 some respects like a hatchet, having a long handle ; the 
 head, which is a round knob of solid Wood calculated to 
 knock a man down, has on the other side a point, bend¬ 
 ing a little toward the handle; and near the centre 
 where the handle pierces the head another point projects 
 forward, of a considerable length, which serves to thrust 
 with like a spear. The tomahawk is also ornamented 
 with painting and feathers, disposed and variegated in 
 many significant forms according to the occasion and end 
 for which they are used ; and on it is kept a kind of 
 journal of their marches and most important occurren¬ 
 ces, in a sort of hieroglyphics. When the council is 
 called to deliberate on war, the tomahawk is colored red ; 
 and when the council sits it ia laid clown by the chief, 
 and if war be concluded upon, the captain of the young 
 warriors takes it up, and holding it in his hand, dances 
 and sings the war-song. When the council is over, this 
 or some other of the same kind, is sent by the hands of 
 the same warrior to every tribe concerned ; who with it 
 presents a belt of wampum, and delivers his message, 
 throwing the tomahawk on the ground, which is taken 
 up by one of the most expert warriors, if they choose 
 to join ; if not, -it is returned with a belt of their wam¬ 
 pum suited to the occasion. 
 
 Each nation or tribe has its distinct ensigns, generally 
 consisting of some beast, bird, or fish. Thus the Five 
 Nations have the bear, otter, wolfe, tortoise, and eagle ; 
 by these names the tribes are generally distinguished, 
 and the shapes of these animals are pricked and painted 
 
 on several parts of their bodies. Generally, when they 
 
 N 
 
march through the woods, they at every encampment* 
 cut the figure o£ their arms on the trees, especially when 
 they have had a successful campaign, that travellers may 
 know that they have been there ; recording also in their* 
 way the number of prisoners and scalps they have taken. 
 
 Their military appearance is very odd and terrible.— 
 They cut off all their hair, except a spot on the crown 
 of their head, and pluck out their eye*brows, The lock 
 left upon the head is divided into several parcels, each of 
 which is stiffened, and intermixed with beads and feath¬ 
 ers of various shapes and colours, the whole twisted and 
 connected together. They paint themselves with a red 
 pigment down to the eyebrows, which they sprinkle over 
 with white down. The gristle of their ears are slit al¬ 
 most quite round, and hung with ornaments that have 
 generally the figure of some bird or beast drawn upon 
 them. Their noses are likewise bored and hung with 
 beads, and their faces painted with various colors. On 
 their breasts are a gorget or medal of brass, copper, or 
 some other metal ; and by a string which goes round 
 their necks, is suspended that horrid weapon called the 
 scalping knife. 
 
 Thus equipped, they march forth, singing their war 
 song, till they lose sight of their village ; and are gener¬ 
 ally followed by their women, who assist them in carrying 
 their baggage, whether by land or water, but commonly 
 return before they proceed to action. 
 
 They have generally one commander for every ten 
 men ; and if the number amounts to one hundred, a gen¬ 
 eral is appointed over thi* others, not properly to com- 
 mand, but to give his opinion. They have no stated 
 rules ot discipline, or fixed methods of carrying on a 
 war ; but make their attacks in as many different ways 
 as there are occasions, but generally in flying parties? 
 equipped for that purpose. 
 
The weapons used by those who trade with the Eng¬ 
 lish and French are commonly a firelock, a hatchet, and 
 a scalping-knife ; but the others use bows, tomahawks 
 and pikes. As the commander in chief governs only by 
 advice, and can neither reward nor punish, every private 
 may return home when he pleases without assigning any 
 reason tor it ; or any number may leave the main body? 
 and carry on a private expedition, in whatever manner 
 they please, without being called to account for their 
 conduct. 
 
 When the Indians return trom a successful campaign, 
 they contrive their march so as not to approach their vil¬ 
 lage till toward the evening. They then send two or 
 thrfee forward to acquaint their chief, and the whole vil¬ 
 lage, with the most material circumstances of their cam¬ 
 paign. At day-light next morning, they give their prison¬ 
 ers new clothes, paint their faces with various colors, and 
 put into their hand a white Staff, tasselled round with the 
 tails of deer. This being done, the war-captain sets up 
 a cry, and gives as many yells as he has taken prisoners 
 and Scalps, and the whole village assemble at the water 
 side. As soon as the warriors appear, four or five of their 
 young men, well clothed, get into a canoe, if they come 
 by water, or otherwise march by land : the two first car¬ 
 rying each a calmut, go out singing to search the pri¬ 
 soners, whom they lead in triumph to the cabin where 
 they are to receive their doom. The owner of this cabin 
 has the power of determining their fate, though it is of¬ 
 ten left to some women who has lost her husband, brother, 
 or son in the war; and when this is the case, she gene¬ 
 rally adopts him into the place of the deceased. The 
 prisoner has victuals immediately given him and while 
 he is at this repast, a consultation is held ; and if it b$ 
 resolved to save his life, two young men untie him, and 
 taking him by the hands, lead him to the cabin of the 
 
I 
 
 100 — 
 
 1 
 
 person into whose family he is to be adopted, and there 
 he is received with all imaginable marks of kindness. He 
 is treated as a friend, as a brother, or as a husband, and 
 they soon love him with the same tenderness as if he stood 
 in the place of one of their friends. In short, he has no 
 
 T 
 
 other marks of captivity, bfot his not being suffered to re¬ 
 turn to his own nation, for his attempting this would be 
 punished with certain death. 
 
 But if the sentence be death, how different their con¬ 
 duct 1 these people, who behave with such disinterested 
 affection to each other, with such tenderness to those 
 whom they adopt, here shew that they are truly savages ; 
 the dreadful sentence is no sooner passed, than the whole 
 village set up the death cry ; and, as if there were no 
 medium between the most generous friendship and the 
 most inhuman cruelty ; for the execution of him whom 
 they had just before deliberated upon admitting into their 
 tribe is no longer deferred, than whilst they can make the 
 necessary preparations for rioting in the most diabolical 
 cruelty. They first strip him, and fixing two posts in 
 the ground, fasten to them two pieces from one to the 
 other; one about two feet from the ground, the other 
 about five or six feet higher : then obliging the unhappy 
 victim to mount upon the lower cross piece, they tie his 
 legs to it a little asunder: his hands are extended and 
 tied to the angles formed by the upper piece. In this 
 posture they burn him all over the body, sometimes first 
 daubing him with pilch. The whole village, men, wo¬ 
 men, and children, assemble round him, every one tor¬ 
 turing him in what manner they please, each striving to 
 exceed the other in cruelty, as long as b e has life. -But 
 if none of the bye-standers are inclined to lengthen out 
 his torments, he is either shot to death, or inclosed with 
 dry bark, to which they set firej they then leave him on 
 the frapie, and in the evening run from cabin to cabbv 
 
 p 
 
superstitiouly striking with small twigs, the furniture, 
 walls, and roofs, to prevent his spirit from remaining 
 there to take vengeance for the evils committed on his 
 body. The remainder of the day and the night follow- 
 
 m r 
 
 ing is spent in rejoicing. 
 
 This is the most usual method of murdering their pri¬ 
 soners ; but sometimes they fasten them to a single 
 stake, and build a fire around them ; at other times they 
 cruelly mangle their limbs, cut off their fingers and tees 
 joint by joint, and sometimes scald them to death. 
 
 What is the most extraordinary, if the sufferer be an 
 Indian, there seems during the whole time of his execu¬ 
 tion, a contest between him and his tormentors, which 
 shall outdo the other, they in inflicting the most horrid 
 pains, or he in enduring them : not a groan, nor a sigh, 
 Jiot a distortion of countenance escapes him in the midst 
 of his torments. It is even said, that he recounts his own 
 exploits, informs them what cruelties he has indicted up¬ 
 on their countrymen, and threatens with the revenge that 
 will attend his death : that he even reproaches them for 
 their ignorance of the art of tormenting; points out 
 methods of more exquisite torture, and more sensible 
 parts of the body to be afflicted. 
 
 The scalps, those dreadful proofs of the barbarity of 
 these Indians, are valued, and bung up in their houses as 
 the trophies of their bravery ; and they have certain days 
 when the young men gain a new name or title of honor, 
 according to the qualities of the persons to whom these 
 scalps belonged. This name they think a sufficient .re¬ 
 ward for the dangers and fatigues of many campaigns, as 
 it renders them respected by their countrymen, and terri¬ 
 ble to their enemies. 
 
 In the late American revolution, Britain had the inhu¬ 
 manity to reward these sons of barbarity for depredations 
 corn mi’ted upon those who were struggling in the cause 
 
of liberty !—It was through their instigation that the 
 hatchets of the Indians were made drunk with American 
 blood !—the widow’s wail, the virgin’s shriek, and infant’s 
 trembling cry, was music in their ears. In cold blood 
 they struck their cruel tomahawks into the defenceless 
 head of a Miss M‘Kray, a beautiful girl, who was that ve¬ 
 ry day to have been married !—the particulars of the in¬ 
 human transaction follow :—Previous to the late war 
 between America and Great-Britain, a British officer by 
 the name of Jones, an accomplished young man, resid¬ 
 ed near Fort Edward—his visits thither became more 
 frequent, when he found himself irresistibly drawn by 
 charms of native worth and beauty. Miss M^KTiay, 
 whose memory is dear to humanity and true affection, 
 was the object of his peregrinations. 
 
 Mr. Jones had not taken the precautions necessary in 
 hazardous love, but had manifested to the lady by his 
 constant attention, undissembled and ingenious demean¬ 
 or, that ardent affection, which a susceptible heart com¬ 
 pelled her implicity to return. In this mutual inter¬ 
 change of passions, they suffered them selves.to be trans¬ 
 ported on the ocean of imagination, till the unwelcome 
 necessity of a separation cut off every springing hope. 
 The war between Great Britain and America commen¬ 
 ced— a removal from this happy spot was in consequence 
 suggested to Mr. JoNiis, as indispensible. Nothing 
 cou’d alleviate their mutual horror, but duty—nothing 
 could allay their reciprocal grief, so as to render a sep* 
 crate corporeal existence tolerable, but solemn vow r s, 
 with the ideas of a future meeting. Mr. Jones repaired 
 to Canada, where all intercourse with the Provincials 
 was prohibited. Despair, which presented itself in ag¬ 
 gravated colours when General Burgoyne’s expedition 
 through the States was fixed, succeeded to Ids former 
 hopes.—The British army being encamped about three 
 
— 103 
 
 Smiles from the Fort, a descent was daily projecting* 
 Here Mr. Jones could not but recognize the spot, on 
 which rested all his joys. He figured to his mind the 
 dread, which his hostile approach must raise in the 
 breast of her, whom of all others, he thought it his high¬ 
 est interest to protect.—In spite of arrettes and com¬ 
 mands to the contrary, he found means secretly to con¬ 
 vey a letter, inlreating her not to leave the town with 
 the family, assuring her, that as soon as the fort should 
 have surrendered, he would convey her to an asylum, 
 where they might peaceably consummate the nuptial 
 ceremony. Far from discrediting the sincerity ot him 
 who could not deceive her, she heroically refused to fol¬ 
 low the flying villagers. The remonstrances of a father, 
 or the tearful intreaties of a mother and numerous friends 
 could not avail ! It was enough that her lover was her 
 friend—she considered hertelf protected by the love and 
 voluntary assurances of her youthful hero. With the 
 society of a servant maid, she impatiently waited the 
 desired conveyance. Mr. Jones finding the difficulty in¬ 
 to which he was brought, at length, lor want of better 
 convoy, hired a party of twelve Indians, to carry a let¬ 
 ter to Miss M’Kray, with his own horse, for the pur¬ 
 pose of carrying her to the place appointed. They set 
 off, fired with the anticipation of their promised premi¬ 
 um, which was to consist of a quantity of spirits, on con¬ 
 dition that they brought her off in safety, which, to an 
 Indian, was the most cogent stimulus the young lover 
 could have named. Having arrived in view of her win¬ 
 dow^ they segaciously held up the letter, to prevent the 
 fears and apprehensions which a savage knows he must 
 excite, in the sight of tenderness and sensibility. Her 
 faith and expectations enabled her to divine the business 
 of these ferocious missionaries, while her frightened 
 maid uttered nought but shrieks and cries* They ar» 
 
 ■V, v , '.,'''4 v-\t 
 
— 304 — 
 
 rived, and by their signs convinced her from whom they 
 had their instructions. If a,doubt could remain, it was 
 removed by the letter—it was from her lover. A lock 
 of his hair, which it contained, presented his manly 
 figure to her glowing fancy. 
 
 Here, reader, guess what mast have been her ecsta- 
 cy.—She resolved to brave even the most horrid aspect, 
 which might appear between her and him, whom she 
 considered already hers, without a sigh—she-did not for 
 a moment hesitate to follow the wishes cf her lover ; and 
 took journey with these bloody messengers* expecting 
 very soon to be shielded in the arms of legitimate affec¬ 
 tion. A short distance only then seemed to seperate two 
 of the happiest of mortals.—Alas ! how soon are the 
 most brilliant pictures of felicity defaced by the burning 
 hand of affliction and wo ! How swiftly are the halcyon 
 dreams, which lull the supine indolence of thought, suc¬ 
 ceeded by the real pangs which are inflicted by a punish¬ 
 ing providence or a persecuting foe ! 
 
 Having risen the hill, at about equal distances from 
 the camp and her former home, a second party of In¬ 
 dians having heard of the captivating offer made by Mr. 
 Jones, determined to avail themselves of the opportuni¬ 
 ty. The reward was the great object. A clashing of 
 real and assumed lights was soon followed by a furious 
 and bloody engagement, in which several were killed on 
 each side. The commander of the first party, perceiv¬ 
 ing that nought but the lady’s death could appease the 
 fury of either, with a tomahawk deliberately knocked her 
 from her horse, mangling her scalp from her beautiful 
 temples, which he excitingly bore as a trophy of zeal 
 to the expectant and anxious lover ! Here, O disap¬ 
 pointment, was thy sting ! It was with the greatest dif¬ 
 ficulty that Mr. Jones could be kept from total deliri- 
 ti©i His horror and indignation could not be appeased 5 
 
— 105 — 
 
 his remorse for having risked his most valuable treasure 
 in the hands of savages! drove him almost to madness. 
 When the particulars of the melancholy event reached 
 Gen. Burgoynk, he ordered the survivors of both these 
 parties to immediate execution. 
 
 CHAP. V. 
 
 INVASION of NEW-YORK and NEW-ENGLANOj 
 
 AND 
 
 DESTRUCTION of SCHENECTADY, by the 
 FRENCH and INDIANS , in 1690, 
 
 IN the year 1690, the Mohawks having made several 
 successful expeditions against the Canadians, the Count 
 Frontenac (to raise the depressed spirits of the latter) 
 despatched several parties of French and Indians to attack 
 the frontier settlements of New-York and New-England* 
 A detachment of nearly 500 French and Indians, under 
 the command of Monsieurs P. Aillebout, De Waulet 
 and Lk Wayne, were despatched from Montreal for this 
 purpose ;—they were furnished with every thing neces¬ 
 sary for a winter’s campaign.—After a march of twenty- 
 two days, they on the 8th February reached Schenectady 
 —they had on their march been so reduced as to harbour 
 thoughts of surrendering themselves prisoners of war to 
 the English ; but their spies (who bad been for several 
 days i-n the village, entirely unsuspected) representing in 
 so strong terms the defenceless state of the inhabitants, 
 as determined them to make an immediate attack.—They 
 found the gates open and unguarded—they entered them 
 about eleven o’clock at night, and the better to effect their 
 hellish purpose divided their.main body into several dis- 
 
 O 
 
tinct parties of six or seven men each -the inhabitants 
 were in a profound sleep, and unalarmed until the enemy 
 had broken open their doors and wilh uplifted tomahawks 
 were surrounding their beds l —before they had time to 
 rise, the savages began the perpetration of the most in¬ 
 human barbarities i—no language can express the cruel¬ 
 ties which were committed—in less than one hour two 
 hundred of the unfortunate inhabitants were slain and 
 the whole village enwrapt in flames !—-A detail of the 
 cruelties committed by the barbarians cannot be read 
 without horror.—They ravished, rifled, murdered and 
 mutilated the inhabitants without distinction of age or sex, 
 without any other provocation or incitement than brutal 
 lust and wantonness of barbarit}’ ■—pregnant women 
 were ripped open and their infants cast into the flames or 
 dashed against the posts of the doors ! !—such monsters 
 of barbarity ought certainly to be excluded from all the 
 priviledges of human nature, and hunted down as wild 
 beats, without pity or cessation.—A few of the inhabitants 
 escaped, and in their shirts (in a severe and stormy night) 
 fled to Albany—twenty-five of the fugatives in their flight 
 perished with the cold. The enemy after destroying the 
 inhabitants killed all the horses and cattle which they 
 could find, with the exception of about thirty of the for¬ 
 mer, which‘they loaded with their plunder and drove off. 
 
 When the news of the horrid massacre reached Alba¬ 
 ny, an universal fear and consternation seized the inha¬ 
 bitants—the country became panic struck ; and many en¬ 
 tertained thoughts of destroying the town and abandoning 
 thai part of the country to the enemy. 
 
 A' second party of the enemy which Count Frontenag 
 had detached from the main body at the three rivers (un¬ 
 der command of Sieur Bartel, an officer of distinguish¬ 
 ed character in Canada) on the 18 th February fell upon 
 Salmon Falls (a plantation on the river which divides 
 
New-Hampshire from the province of Maine)—-the party 
 consisted of about 70 men, more than half of whom were 
 Indians ; they commenced the attack at break of day, ia 
 three different places, and although the inhabitants were 
 surprized, yet they fled to their arms and defended them¬ 
 selves with bravery which even their enemies applauded ; 
 but they were finally overpowered by numbers, and for¬ 
 ty three of them (men, women and children) fell victims 
 to savage barbarity. 
 
 The depredations of the French and Indians filled the 
 inhabitants of the western country with fear and alarm* 
 —The Assembly of New-York conceived it necessary to 
 make every exertion to prevent the settlement of the 
 French at Albany—it was resolved that two companies 
 ol 100 men each should be raised and sent forward for 
 that purpose. For the defence of the frontier towns in 
 New-England, it was ordered that a constant watch should 
 be kept in the several towns, and that all males (above 
 18 and under 60 years of age) should be held in readi¬ 
 ness to march at the shortest notice. 
 
 On the 20th March, at a proposed meeting of Com- 
 missionecs from New-York and New-England, a plan 
 was proposed and adopted for envading Canada —800 men 
 were ordered to be raised for the purpose—the quotas of 
 the several colonies were fixed, and general rules adop¬ 
 ted for the management of the army. A small vessel 
 was sent express to England the beginning of April, 
 carrying a representation of the exposed state of the 
 colonies and the necessity of the reduction of Canada— 
 a prayer was also forwarded to his majesty for a supply 
 of arms and ammunition, and a number of frigates to> 
 attack the enemy by water, while the colonial troops 
 made an invasion by land. John Winthrop, Esq. was 
 appointed major-general and commander in chief of the 
 land army, and arrived with the troops under his com- 
 
— 108 — 
 
 mand near the falls at the head of Wood Creek, early in 
 the month of August. 
 
 When the army arrived at the place appointed for the 
 rendezvous of the Indians, from the Five Nations (who 
 had engaged to assist the English) instead of meeting 
 with that powerful body which they expected and which 
 the Indians had promised, there was no more than 70 
 warriors from the Mohawks and Gneidas !—When the 
 general had advanced about 100 miles, he found that 
 there were not canoes sufficient to transport one half the 
 English across the lake—upon representing to the In¬ 
 dians the impossibility of the army’s passing into Cana¬ 
 da without a much greater number of canoes, they re¬ 
 plied that it was then too late in the season to make ca¬ 
 noes, as the bark would not peel—in short, they artfully 
 evaded every proposal, and finally told the general and 
 bis officers that they looked too high and advised them 
 only to attack Chambly, and the out settlements on this 
 side of St. Lawrence—thus did these Indians (who a few 
 years before had so harrassed all the French and Indians 
 in Canada) exhibit the greatest proofs of cowardice !—. 
 the English finding it impossible to cross the iake with 
 advantage, returned to Albany, and thus the expedition 
 failed. 
 
 In the year 1693, Count Frontenac finding that he 
 could not accomplish a peace with the Mohawks (who of 
 all the Indians had been by far the most destructive to 
 the settlements in Canada) determined on their destruc¬ 
 tion. He collected an army of about 700 French and 
 Indians, and, having supplied them with every thing ne¬ 
 cessary for a winter campaign, sent them against the 
 Mohawk castles.—They commenced their march from 
 Montreal on the 15th January 1693—after enduring in¬ 
 credible hardships, they fell in with the first castle about 
 the Ipth February—the Mohawks were unprepared for 
 
— 109 
 
 an attack, not having the least intimation of the approach 
 of the Canadians—the enemy killed and captured about 
 SO of the Mohawks at this castle and then proceeded for 
 the second, at which they were equally successful; a . 
 great part of the Mohawks were at Schenectady and the 
 remainder perfectly secure ;—when they arrived at the 
 third castle they found about eighty warriors collected at 
 a war-dance, as they designed the next day to go upon 
 an cnterprize against their enemies—a conflict ensued; in 
 which the Canadians, after losing about thirty men, were 
 victorious, and the third castle was taken. The Canadi¬ 
 ans in their descent took near three hundred prisoners, 
 principally women and children.—The brave Colonel 
 Schuyler of Albany (receiving information of the ap¬ 
 proach of the enemy) at the head of a party of volun¬ 
 teers of about 400 English and Dutch, pursued them— 
 on the 25ih February he was joined by about 300 Indians, 
 and with this force on the 29th fell in with the enemy, 
 whom he found lodged in a fortified camp—the Canadi¬ 
 ans made three successive sallies upon the colonel, and 
 were as often repulsed, he kept his ground, wailing for 
 provisions and a reinforcement from Albany :--the ene¬ 
 my at length taking the advantage of a violent snow 
 storm, escaped, and marched to Canada;—the day fol¬ 
 lowing Capt. Sims, with a reinforcement and a supply 
 of provision arrived from Albany, and the-day succeed¬ 
 ing the colonel reassumed the pursuit; but the Canadi¬ 
 ans luckily finding a cake of ice across the north branch 
 of Hudson river, made their escape: they were however 
 so closely pursued by the English and Dutch that they 
 could not prevent the escape of most of their prisoners, 
 who all (with the exception of nine or ten) returned in 
 safety to their country. Colonel Schuyler lost 12 of 
 his party, and had 19 wounded—according to the report 
 of the captives the enemy lost 50 men, five of whom 
 
 ■ V : « . O " : 
 
 . 1 
 
 •i Y\ ■ 
 
 
} 
 
 — 110 — 
 
 •# 4 ' « it ■' S.. . * . V - 
 
 were French officers, and two Indian guides, and had a- 
 bout 70 wounded. The Mohawks on their return found 
 about forty dead bodies of the enemy which they scalped 
 and devoured, indeed so great was their hunger ! 
 
 am — “IT r 
 
 CHAP. VI. 
 
 washingtonTexpedition, 
 
 IN 1753 -AND 
 
 DEFEAT of General BRADDOCK\ 
 
 By the Indians , in 1755. 
 
 IN 1753, the French and Indians began to make 
 inroads on our western frontiers along the Ohio. Gov- 
 ernor Dinwiddie, of Virginia, was very desirous to get 
 a letter of remonstrance to their commander in chief— 
 Me. had applied to several young gentlemen of his ac¬ 
 quaintance, but they were all so deficient in courage that 
 they could not be prevailed on for love or money, to ven¬ 
 ture out among the savages. Our beloved Washing¬ 
 ton happening to hear of it, instantly waited on his ex¬ 
 cellency, and offered his services, but not without being 
 terribly afraid lest his want of a beard should go against 
 him. However, the Governor was so charmed with hi g 
 modesty and manly air, that he never asked him a sylla¬ 
 ble about his age, but after thanking him for u a noble 
 youth and insisting on his taking a glass of e with 
 him, slipped a commission into his hand. The > xt day f 
 accompanied by an interpreted and a couple ol r vants, 
 he set out on his expedition, which was, from start to 
 pole, as disagreeable and dangerous as any thin lercu- 
 lus himself could have wished. Soaking rains, chilling 
 blasts, roaring floods, pathless woods, and met ains 
 clad in snows, opposed his course ; but opposed in ain. 
 The glorious ambition to serve his country imps t an 
 
animation to his nerves, which rendered him superior to 
 all difficulties. 
 
 Returning homewards, he was waylaid and shot at by 
 a French Indian, and though the copper-colored ruffian 
 was not 15 steps distant when he fired at him, yet not 
 even so much as the smell of lead passed on the clothes 
 of our young hero. On his return to Virginia, it was 
 found that he had executed his negociations, both with 
 the French and Indians, with such fidelity and judgement, 
 that he received the heartiest thanks of the Governor and 
 Council for the very important services he had done his 
 country. 
 
 He was now (in the 20th year of his age) appointed 
 major and adjutant-general of the Virginia forces. Soon 
 after this, the Indians continuing the encroachments, or¬ 
 ders were given by the English government, for the col¬ 
 onies to arm and unite in one confederacy.. Virginia 
 took the lead, and raised a regiment of four hundred 
 men, at the head of which she placed her darling Wash¬ 
 ington. 
 
 With this handtul of brave fellows, Col. Washington, 
 not yet 23 years of age, boldly pushed out into the In¬ 
 dian country, and there for a considerable time, Hanni¬ 
 bal-like, maintained the war against three times the 
 number of French and Indians. At the Red-Stones he 
 came up with a strong party of the enemy, whom he 
 engaged and effectually defeated, after having killed and 
 taken thirty one men. From his prisoners he obtained 
 undoubted intelligence, that the French forces on the 
 Ohio consisted of upwards of a thousand regulars and 
 many hundreds of Indians. But notwithstanding this 
 disheartening advice, he still pressed on undauntedly a- 
 gainst the enemy, and at a place called the Little Mead- 
 * ows, built a fort, which he called Fort Necessity. Here 
 he waited, hourly and anxiously looking for succours 
 
from New*York and Pennsylvania ; but he looked in 
 vain—nobody came to his assistance. Not long after 
 this his small force, now reduced to three hundred men, 
 were attacked by an army of 1100 French and Indians.. 
 Never did the true Virginian valor shine more glorious¬ 
 ly than on this trying occasion. 
 
 To see three hundred young fellows—commanded by 
 a smooth-faced boy—all unaccustomed to the terrors of 
 war—far from home, and from all hopes of help—shut 
 up in a dreary wilderness, and surrounded by four times 
 their number of savage foes, and yet, without sign of 
 fear, without thought of surrender, preparing for mortal 
 combat. Oh ! it was a noble sight !—Scarcely since the 
 days ot Leonidas and his three hundred deathless Spar¬ 
 tans, had the sun beheld its equal. With hideous whoops 
 and yells the enemy came on like a host of tygers. The 
 woods, and rocks, and tall tree tops (as the Indians climb¬ 
 ing to the tops of the trees, poured down their bullets 
 into the fort) were in one continued blaze and crash of 
 'fire-arms. Nor were our young warriors idle, but, ani- 
 fhaed by their gallant chief, plied their rifles with such 
 spirit, that their little .fort resembled a valcano in full 
 blast, roaring and discharging thick sheets of liquid fire 
 and of leaden deaths among their foes. For three glori- 
 cvs hours, Salamander like, inveloped in smoke and 
 flame, they sustained the attack of the enemy's whole 
 force, and laid two hundred of them dead on the spot 1-^-. 
 Disconraged by such desperate resistance, the French 
 general, the Count de Villiers sent in a flag to Wash¬ 
 ington^ extolling his gallantry to the skies, and offering 
 Kim the most honorable terms. It was stipulated that 
 Col. Washington and his little bend of heroes, should 
 march away with all the honors of war, and carry with 
 them ibeir military stores and baggage. 
 
 la the bpring of 1765, Washington, while busied m 
 
—113— 
 
 the highest military operations, was summoned to attend 
 Gen. Braddock, who in the month of February, arrived 
 at Alexandria, with 2000 British troops. The Assembly 
 of Virginia appointed 800 provincials to join him. The 
 object of this army was to mat ch through the country, 
 by the way of Will's Creek, to fort Du Q tesne (now 
 Pittsburgh, or Fort Pitt.) As no person was so well ac¬ 
 quainted with the frontier country as Washington, and 
 none stood so high in military fame, it was thought he 
 would be infinitely serviceable to general Braddock, At 
 the request of the Governor and Council he cheerfully 
 quitted his own command, to act as volunteer aid de» 
 camp to that very imprudent and unfortunate general.— 
 The army, near 3000 strong, marched from Alexandria 
 and proceeded unmolested within a few miles of Fort 
 Pitt. On the morning of the day in which they expect¬ 
 ed to arrive, the provincial scouts discovered a large party 
 of French and Indians lying in ambush. Washington, 
 With his usual modesty, observed to Gen. Braddock 
 
 • i , • »*> r 
 
 What sort of enemy he had now to deal with. An enemy 
 who would not, like the Europeans, come forward to a 
 fair contest in the field, but, concealed behind rocks and 
 trees carry on a deadly Warfare with their rifles. He con¬ 
 cluded with begging that Gen. Braddock would grant 
 him the honor to let him place himsell at the head of the 
 Virginia riflemen, and fight ihem in their own way.— 
 And it was generally thought that our young hero and 
 his 800 hearts of hickory, would very easily have beaten 
 them too, for they were no superior to the foice, which, 
 (with only three hundred) he had handled so rougldy a 
 twelve month before. But Gen. Bradd ck, wno had all 
 along treated the American officers and soldiers with in¬ 
 finite contempt, instead of following this truly salutary ad- 
 ice, swelled and reddened with most unmanly rage.— 
 
 High times, by G—d I” he exclaimed, strutting to and 
 
 P 
 
fro, with arms a kimbo, et High times ! when a young 
 buckskin can teach a British general how to fight !”— 
 Washington withdrew, biting his lips with grief and in¬ 
 dignation, to think what numbers of brave fellows would 
 draw short breath that day, through the pride and obsti¬ 
 nacy of one epauletted fool. The troops were ordered 
 to form and advance in columns through the woods 1! !— 
 In a little time the ruin which Washington had pre¬ 
 dicted ensued. This poor devoted army, pushed on by 
 their mad-cap general, fell into the fatal snare which was 
 laid for them. All at once a thousand rifles began the 
 work of death. The ground was instantly covered with 
 the dying and the dead. The British troops, thus slaugh¬ 
 tered by hundreds, and by an enemy whom they coukl 
 not see, were thrown irrecoverably into panic and con¬ 
 fusion, and in a few minutes their haughty general with 
 1200 of his brave but unfortunate countrymen, bit the 
 ground. PoorBRADDOCK closed the tragedy with great 
 decency. He was mortally wounded in the beginning 
 of the action, and Washington had him placed in a 
 cart ready for retreat. Close on the lelt, where the 
 weight of the French and Indian fire principally fell, 
 Washington and his Virginia riflemen, dressed in blue, 
 sustained the shock. At every discharge of their rifles 
 the wounded general cried out, « O my brave Virginia 
 blues 1 Would to God I could live to reward you for such 
 gallantry But he died. Washington buried him in 
 the road, and to save him from discovery and the scalp¬ 
 ing knife, ordered the waggons on their retreat to drive 
 over his grave !—O God ! what is man l Even a thing of 
 nought I ! 
 
 Amidst all this fearful consternation and carnage, 
 amidst all the uproar and horrors of a rout, rendered still/ 
 more dreadful by the groans of the dying, the screams 1 
 the wounded, the piercing shrieks of the women, and t 
 
§?ells of the furious assaulting savages, Washington, 
 balm and self-collected, rallied his faithful riflemen, led 
 them on to the charge, killed numbers of the enemy who 
 were rushing on 'with tomahawks, checked their pursuit, 
 and brought off the shattered Remains of the British army. 
 
 With respect to our beloved Washington, we cannot 
 hut mention here two very extraordinary speeches that 
 were uttered about him at this time, and which, as things 
 have turned out, look a good deal like prophecies. A fa¬ 
 mous Indian warrior who assisted in the defeat of Brad- 
 dock, was often heard to swear that Washington was 
 not born to be killed by a bullet , « for,* continued he, u I 
 had 17 fair fires at him with my rifle, and , after all , I 
 could not bring him to the ground .”—And, indeed, whoever 
 considers that a good rifle, levelled by a proper marks¬ 
 man, hardly ever misses its aim, will readily enough 
 conclude with this unlettered savage, that some invisible 
 hand must have turned aside his bullets. 
 
 The Rev. Mr. Davies, in a sermon occasioned by 
 Gen. Braddock's defeat, has these remarkable words— 
 « 1 beg leave to point the attention of the public to that heroic 
 youth , Col. George Washington, whom I cannot but 
 hope providence has preserved for some great service to this 
 Country . 
 
 CHAP. VII. 
 
 ADVENTURES OF CAPT. DANIEL BOON, 
 Comprising an account of the WARS with the 
 INDIANS, on the OHIO, from 1769 to 1732. 
 
 WRlffEN Br HIMSELF. 
 
 “ IT was on the first of May, 1769, that I re¬ 
 signed my domestic happiness, and left my family an4 
 
peaceable habitation on the Yadkin river in North-Cayo« 
 lina, to wander through the wilderness of America, in 
 guest of the country of Kentucky, in company with 
 
 * r 
 
 John Finley, John Stuaut, Joseph Holden, James 
 
 Monay and William Cool. 
 
 * 
 
 On the 7 1 h June, after travelling in a western direc¬ 
 tion, we found ourselves on Red river, where John Fin¬ 
 ley had formerly been trading with the Indians, and 
 from the top of an eminence saw with pleasure the 
 beautiful level of Kentucky. For some time we had ex¬ 
 perienced the most uncomfortable weather. We now 
 encamped, made a shelter to defend us from the inclem¬ 
 ent season, and began to hunt and reconnoitre the coun¬ 
 try. We found abundance of wild beasts in this vast 
 forest. The buffaloes were more numerous than cattle 
 on other settlements, browsing on leaves of the cane, or 
 crossing the herbage on these extensive plains. We savy 
 hundreds in a drove, and the numbers about the salt 
 springs were amazing.— In this forest, the habitation of 
 beasts of every American kind, we hunted with great 
 success umil December. 
 
 On the 22d December, John Stuart and I had a 
 pleasing ramble ; but fortune changed the day at the 
 close of it. We had passed through a great forest, in 
 which sio d myriads pf trees, some gay with blossoms, 
 others rich with fruits. Nature was here a series of 
 wonders and a fund of delight. Here she displayed her 
 ingenuity and industry in a variety of flowers and fruits, 
 beautifully colored, elegantly shaped, and charmingly fla¬ 
 vored ; and we were favored with numberless animals 
 presenting themselves perpetually to our view. In the 
 decline of the day, near Kentucky river, as we ascended 
 the brow of a small hill, a number of Indians rushed 
 out of a thick cane brake and made us prisoners. The 
 Indians plundered us and kept us in confinement seven 
 
days. During this we discovered no uneasiness or der 
 sire to escape, which made them less suspicious : but in 
 the dead of night, as we lay by a large fire in a thick 
 cane brake, when sleep had locked up their senses, my 
 situation not disposing me. to rest, I gently awoke my 
 companion.— We seized this favourable opportunity and 
 departed, directing our course toward our old camp, but 
 found it plundered and our company destroyed or disper° 
 sed. 
 
 About this time, as my brother with another adventur¬ 
 er who came to explore the country shortly after us, was 
 wandering thiough the forest, they accidentally found 
 our camp. Notwithstanding our unfortunate circum¬ 
 stances, and our dangerous situation, surrounded with 
 hostile savages, our meeting fortunately in the wilder¬ 
 ness, gave us the most sensible satisfaction. 
 
 Soon after this, my companion in captivity , John Stu¬ 
 art, was killed by the savages, and the man who came 
 with my brother (while on a private excursion) was soon 
 after attacked and killed by the wolves. We were now 
 in a dangerous and helpless situation, exposed daily to 
 perils and death, among savages and wild beasts, not a 
 white man in the country but ourselves. 
 
 Although many hundred miles from our families in 
 the howling wilderness, we did not continue in a state of 
 indolence, but hunted every day, and prepared a little 
 cottage to defend us from the winter storms. We met 
 with no disturbance during the winter. On the 1st of 
 May, 1770, my brother returned home for a new recruit 
 of horses and ammunition, leaving me alone, without 
 bread ; salt, or sugar, or even a horse or a dog.—I pas¬ 
 sed a few days uncomfortably—the idea of a beloved wife 
 and family, and their anxiety on my account, would have 
 disposed me to melancholy if I had further indulged the 
 thought. 
 
— 118— 
 
 One day I undertook a tour through the country, when 
 the diversity and beauties of nature I met with in this 
 charming season, expelled every gloomy thought. Just 
 at the close of the day, the gentle gales ceased ; a pro¬ 
 found calm ensued ; not a breath shook the tremulous 
 leaf. I had gained the summit of a commanding ridge* 
 and looking around with astonishing delight beheld the 
 ample plains and beauteous tracts below. On one hand 
 I surveyed the famous Ohio rolling in silent dignity, and 
 marking the western boundary ol Kentucky with incon¬ 
 ceivable grandeur. At a vast distance I beheld the 
 mountains lift their venerable brows and penetrate the 
 clouds. All things were still. I kindled a fire near a 
 fountain of sweet water, and feasted on the line of a 
 buck which I had killed a few hours before. The shades 
 of night soon overspread the hemisphere, and the earth 
 seemed to gasp after the hovering moisture. At a dis¬ 
 tance I frequently heard the hideous yells of savages; 
 My excursion had fatigued my body and amused my 
 mind. I laid me down to sleep, and awoke not until the 
 sun had chased away the night. I continued this tour 
 and in a few days explored a considerable part of the 
 country, each day equally pleased as the first; after 
 which I returned to my old camp, which had not been 
 disturbed in my absence. I did not confine my lodging 
 to it, but often reposed in thick cane brakes to avoid the 
 savages, who I believe frequently visited my camp, but 
 fortunately for me, in my absence. No populous city 
 with all its varieties of commerce and stately structures, 
 could afford so much pleasure to my mind, as the beau¬ 
 ties of nature I found in this country. 
 
 Until the 27th July, 1 spent the time in an uninter¬ 
 rupted scene of sylvan pleasures, when my brother, to 
 my great felicity, met me, according to appointment at 
 our old camp. Soon after we left the place and proceed■? 
 
ed to Cumberland river, reconnoitreing that part of the 
 country, and giving names to the different rivers. 
 
 In March, 1771, I returned home to my family, being 
 determined to bring them as soon as possible, at the 
 risk of my life and fortune, to reside in Kentucky, which 
 I esteemed a second paradise. 
 
 On my return I found my family in happy circumstan¬ 
 ces. I sold my farm on the Yadkin, and what goods we 
 could not cany with us, and on the 25th September, 
 1773, we took leave of our friends and proceeded on our 
 journey to Kentucky, in company with five more families, 
 and forty men that joined us in Powell’s Valley, which i9 
 350 miles from the new settled parts of Kentucky 
 but this promising beginning was soon overcast with a 
 cloud of adversity. 
 
 On the 10th October the rear of our company was at* 
 tacked by a party of Indians ; who killed six, and wound¬ 
 ed one man. Of these my eldest son was one that fell 
 in the action. Though we repulsed the enemy, yet this 
 unhappy affair scattered our cattle and brought us into 
 extreme difficulty—we retreated forty miles to the set¬ 
 tlement on Clench river. We had passed over two 
 mountains, Powell’s and Walden’s, and were approach¬ 
 ing Cumberland mountain, when this adverse fortune 
 overtook us. These mountains are in the wilderness, in 
 passing from the old settlements in Virginia to Kentucky, 
 are ranged in a southwest and northeast direction, are of 
 great length and breadth, and not far distant from each 
 other. Over them nature hath formed passes less diffi¬ 
 cult than might be expected from the view of such huge 
 piles. The aspect of these cliffs are so wild and, horrid, 
 that it is impossible to behold them without terrors 
 
 Until the 6th June, 1774, I remained with my family 
 on the Clinch, when I and another person were solicited 
 by Governor Dunmore, of Virginia, to conduct a num- 
 
ber of surveyors to the falls of Ohio. This was a toff 
 of 800 miles, and took us sixty two days. 
 
 On my return, Gov. Dunmore gave me the command 
 of thfee garrisons during the campaign against the 
 Shawanese. In March, 1775, at the solicitation of a 
 number of gentlemen of Morth-Carolina, I attended their 
 treaty at Wataga, with the Cherokee Indians, to purchase 
 the lands on the south side of Kentucky river. After this 
 I undertook to mark out a road in the best passage from 
 the settlements through the wilderness to Kentucky. 
 
 Having collected a number of enterprising men well 
 armed, I soon began this work—we proceeded until we 
 came within fifteen miles of where Boonsboroogh now 
 stands, where the Indians attacked us, and killed two 
 and wounded two more of our party. This was on the 
 22d March, 1775—two days after we were again attacked 
 by them, when we had two more killed and three wound¬ 
 ed. After this we proceeded on to Kentucky fiver with¬ 
 out further opposition. 
 
 On the 1st April we began to erect the fort of Boons- 
 borough, at a salt lick, sixty yards from the river on the 
 south side. On the 4th the Indians killed one of our 
 men. On the 14ch of June, having completed the fort, 
 I returned to my family on the Clinch, and whom I soon 
 after removed to the fort—my wife and daughter were 
 supposed to be the first white women that ever stood up¬ 
 on the banks of Kentucky river 1 
 
 On the 24ih December the Indians killed one^of our 
 men and wounded another ; and on the 14th July, 1776, 
 they took my daughter prisoner—-I immediately pursued 
 them with eight men, and on the 16ih overtook and en¬ 
 gaged them, I killed two of them and recovered my 
 daughter. 
 
 The Indians having divided themselves into several 
 parties, attacked on one day all onr infant settlements 
 
and forts, doing a great deal of damage—the husband¬ 
 men were ambushed and unexpectedly attacked while 
 toiling in the field. They continued this kind of war¬ 
 fare until the 15th April 1777, when nearly 100 of them 
 attacked the village of Boonsborough, and killed a num¬ 
 ber of its inhabitants.- On the 19th Colonel Logan’s 
 fort was attacked by 200 Indians—there were only 15 
 men in the fort, of whom the enemy killed two and 
 wounded one. 
 
 On the 20ih August Col. Bowman arrived with 100 
 men from Virginia, with which additional force we had 
 almost daily skirmishes with the Indians, who began 
 now to learn the superiority of the “ long knife,* as they 
 termed the Virginians ; being cut generated in almost 
 every action. Our affairs began now to wear abetter as¬ 
 pect, the Indians no longer daring to face us in open 
 field, but sought private opportunities to destroy us. 
 
 On the 7th February, 1773, while on a hunting excur¬ 
 sion, alone, I met a party of 102 Indians, and 2 French’ 
 men, marching to attack Boonsborough—they pursued 
 and took me prisoner, and conveyed me to Old Chclico- 
 the, the principal Indian town on Little Miami, w here we 
 arrived on the 18th February, after an uncomfortable 
 journey.—On the 10th March I was conducted to De¬ 
 troit, and while there was treated with great humanity by 
 Governor Hamilton, the British commander at that 
 port, and Intendant for Indian 
 
 The Indians had such an affecti(®^£br me, that they 
 refused 1001. sterling offered them by the Governor, if 
 they would consent to leave me with him, that he might 
 be enabled to liberate me on my parole. Several English 
 gentlemen then at Detroit, sensible of my adverse fortune* 
 and touched with sympathy, generously offered to supply 
 my wants, which I declined with many thanks, adding 
 
 Q 
 
that I never expected it would be in my power to recora- 
 pence such unmerited generosity. 
 
 On the 10th April the Indians returned with me to 
 Old Chelicothe, where ive arrived on the 25th.—This 
 was a long and fatiguing march, although through an 
 exceeding fertile country, remarkable for springs and 
 streams of water. At Chelicothe I spent my time as 
 comfortable as I could expect ; was adopted, according 
 to their custom, into a family, where I became a son, and 
 had a great share in the affection of my new parents, 
 brothers, sisters, and friends. I was exceedingly familiar 
 and friendly with them, always appearing as cheerful 
 and contented as possible, and they put great confidence 
 in me. I often went a hunting with them, and frequently 
 gained their applause for my activity at our shooting 
 matches. I was careful not to exceed many of them in 
 shooting, for no people are more envious than they in 
 this sport. I could observe in their countenances and 
 gestures the greatest expressions of joy when they ex¬ 
 ceeded me, and when the reverse happened, of envy.— 
 The Shawanese king took great notice of me, and treated 
 me with profound respect and entire friendship, often 
 entrusting me to hunt at my liberty. I frequently return¬ 
 ed with the spoils of the woods, and as often presented 
 some of what I had taken to him, expressive of duty to 
 my sovereign. My food and lodging was in common 
 with them, not so good indeed as I could desire, but ne¬ 
 cessity made every thing acceptable. . $j» 
 
 I now began to meditate an escape, and carefully 
 avoided giving suspicion. I continued at Chelicothe un* 
 til the first day of June, when I was taken to the salt 
 springs on Sciotha, and there employed ten days in the 
 manufacturing of salt. During this time I hunted with 
 ray Indian masters, and found the land for a great extent 
 *bout this river to exceed the soil of Kentucky. 
 
12S— 
 
 On my return to Chelicothe, 450 of the choicest In¬ 
 dian warriors were ready to march against Boonsbo- 
 rough; they were painted and armed in a frightful man¬ 
 ner. This alarmed me and I determined to escape. 
 
 On the 16th of June, before sunrise, I went off secretly, 
 and reached Boonsborough on the 20th, a journey cf 160 
 miles, during which I had only one meal. I found our 
 fortress in a bad state, but we immediately repaired our 
 flanks, gates, posterns, and formed double bastions, which 
 we completed in ten days. One of my fellow prisoners 
 escaped after me, brought advice that on account of my 
 flight, the Indians had put off their expedition for 3 weeks. 
 
 About August 1st, I set out with 19 men to surprise 
 Point Creek Town on Sciotha, within four miles of which 
 we fell in with 40 Indians going against Boonsborough— 
 we attacked them and they soon gave way without any 
 loss on our part—-the enemy had one killed and two 
 Wounded—-we took three horses and all their baggage.— 
 The Indians having evacuated their town, and gone alto¬ 
 gether against Boonsborough, we returned, passed them 
 on the 6th, and on the 7th arrived safe at Boonsborough. 
 
 On the 8ih, the Indian army, consisting of 444 men, 
 under the command of Capt. Duquesne, and eleven oth¬ 
 er Frenchmen, and their own chiefs, arrived and sum¬ 
 moned the fort to surrender. I requested two days con¬ 
 sideration, which was granted. During this we brought 
 in through the posterns all the horses and other cattle 
 we could collect. 
 
 On the 9th, in’the evening, I informed their command¬ 
 er, that we were determined to defend the fort, while a 
 man was living. They then proposed a treaty, and said 
 if we sent out nine men to conclude it, they would with¬ 
 draw. The treaty was held within si&sy yards of the 
 fort, as we suspected the savages. Tiie? articles were 
 agreed to and signed ; when the Indians told ns it was 
 
their custom for two Indians to shake hands with every 
 white man in the treaty, as an evidence of friendship. 
 We agreed to this also. They immediately grappled us 
 to take us prisoners, but we cleared ourselves of them, 
 though surrounded by hundreds, and gained the fort safe, 
 except one man who was wounded by a heavy fire from 
 the enemy. 
 
 The savages began now to undermine the fort, begin¬ 
 ning at the water mark of Kentucky river, which is 60 
 yards from the foi l; this we discovered by the water be¬ 
 ing made muddy by the clay—we countermined them by 
 cutting a trench across their subterraneous passage. The 
 enemy discovering^this by the clay we threw out of the 
 fort, desisted. On the 20th August they raised the siege, 
 during which we had two men killed and four wounded. 
 We iost a number of cattle. The loss of the enemy was 
 37 killed, and a much larger number wounded. We 
 picked up 125ibs. of their bullets, besides what stuck in 
 the logs of the fort. 
 
 In July, 1779, during my absence, Col. Bowman, with 
 160 men, went against the Shawanese of Old Chelicothe. 
 He arrived undiscovered, a battle ensued, which lasted 
 until ten in the morning, when Col. Bowman retreated 
 30 miles. The Indians collected all their strength and 
 pursued him, when another engagement ensued for two 
 hours, not to Col. Bowman’s advantage. Col. Harroo 
 proposed to mount a number cf horse and break the en. 
 eroy's line, who at this time fought with remarkable fury. 
 This desperate measure had a happy effect, and the sav¬ 
 ages fled on all sides. In these two engagements we 
 had nine men killed and one wounded. Enemy's loss 
 uncertain, only two scalps were taken. 
 
 June 22d, 1780, 5C0 Indians and Canadians under Col. 
 Biro, attacked Riddle’s and Martin’s station, and the 
 Forks of Licking river, with six pieces of urtiilefy * they 
 
took all the inhabitants captives, and killed one man and 
 two women, loaded the others with the heavy baggage? 
 and such as failed in the journey were tomahawked. 
 
 The hostile disposition of the savages, caused General 
 Clark, the commandant at the falls of Ohio, to march 
 with his regiment and the armed force of the country 
 against Peccuway, the principal town of the Shawanese, 
 on a branch of the great Miami, which he attacked with 
 great success, took seventy scalps, and reduced the town 
 to ashes, with the loss of seventeen men. 
 
 About this time I returned to Kentucky with my fami¬ 
 ly; for during my captivity, my wife, thinking me kil¬ 
 led by the Indians, had transported family and goods 
 on horses through the wilderness, amidst many dangers, 
 to her father’s house ip North-Carolina. 
 
 On the 6th of October, 1780, soon after my settling 
 again at Boonsborough, I went with my brother to the 
 Blue Licks, and on our return, he was shot by a party 
 of Indians, they followed me by scent of a dog, which I 
 shot .and escaped. The severity of the winter caused 
 great distress in Kentucky, the enemy during the sum¬ 
 mer having destroyed most of the corn. The inhabi¬ 
 tants lived chiefly on Buffdloe’s flesh. 
 
 In spring, 1782, the Indians harrassed us. In May, 
 they ravished, killed and scalped a woman and her two 
 daughters near Ashton’s station, and took a negro pris¬ 
 oner. Capt. Ashton pursued theip %^th 25 men, and 
 in an engagement which lasted two hours, his party were 
 obliged to retreat, having 8 killed and 4 mortally wound¬ 
 ed ; their brave commander fell in the action. 
 
 August, 10th, two boys were carried off from Major 
 Hoy’s station—Capt. Holder pursued the enemy with 
 17 men, who were also defeated, with the loss of 7 kil¬ 
 led and 2 wounded. Our affairs became more and more 
 alarming. The savages infested the country and dt> 
 
stroyed the whites as opportunity presented. In a field 
 near Lexingon, an Indian shot a man and running to 
 scalp him, was himself shot from the fort and fell dead 
 upon ’he enemy. All the Indian nations were now uni* 
 ted against us. 
 
 August 15th, 500 Indians and Canadians came against 
 Briat’s station, five miles from Lexington, they as¬ 
 saulted the fort and killed all the cattle round it; but be¬ 
 ing repulsed they retired the third day, having about 80 
 killed, their wounded uncertain. The garrison had 4 
 killtd and 9 wounded. 
 
 August 18 th, Colonels Todd and Trigg, Major Har- 
 iand and myself,' speedily collected one hundred and 
 seventy-six men, well armed, and pursued the savages. 
 They had marched beyond the Blue Licks, to a remark¬ 
 able bend of the main fork of Licking River, about 43 
 miles from Lexington, where we overtook them on the 
 19th. The savages observing us, gave way, and we ig¬ 
 norant of their numbers, passed the river. When they 
 saw our proceedings (having greatly the advantage in 
 situation) they formed their line of battle from one end 
 of the Licking to the other, about a mile from the Blue 
 Licks. The engagement was close and warm for about 
 fifteen minutes, when we, being overpowered by num¬ 
 bers, were obliged to retreat, with the loss of 6 7 men, 
 7 of whom were taken prisoners, The brave and much 
 lamented Colonels Todd and Trigg, Major Harland, 
 and my second son, were among the dead. We were 
 afterwards informed, that the Indians, on numbering 
 
 their dead, finding that they had four more killed than 
 
 * 
 
 we, four of our people they had taken were given up to 
 their young warriors, to be put to death after their bar¬ 
 barous manner. 
 
 On our retreat we were met by Col. Logan, who was 
 hastening to join us, with a number of well armed mem 
 
This powerful assistance we wanted on the day of battle. 
 The enemy said one more fire from us would have made 
 them give way. 
 
 I cannot reflect upon this dreadful scene, without great 
 sorrow. A zeal for the defence of their country led these 
 heroes to the scene of action, though with a few men, to 
 attack a powerful army of experienced warriors. When 
 we gave way, they pursued us with the utmost eagerness, 
 and in every quarter spread destruction. The river was 
 difficult to cross, and many were killed in the flight, some 
 just entering the river, somd in the water, others alter 
 crossing in ascending the cliffs. Some escaped on horse¬ 
 back, a few on foot ; and being dispersed every where, 
 in a few hours, brought the melancholy news of this un¬ 
 fortunate battle to Lexington. Many widows were now 
 made. The reader may guess what sorrow fiiled the 
 hearts of the inhabitants, exceeding any thing that I am 
 able to describe. Being reinforced, we returned to bury 
 the dead, and found their bodies strewed every where, 
 cut and mangled in a dreadful manner. This mournful 
 scene exhibited a horror almost unparalleled ; some torn 
 and eaten by wild beasts ; those in the river eaten by 
 fishes ; all in such a putrid condition, that no one could 
 be distinguished from another. 
 
 When General Clark, at the falls of Ohio, heal'd of 
 our disaster, he ordered an expedition to pursue the sav¬ 
 ages, we overtook them within two miles of their towns, 
 and we should have obtained a great victory, had not 
 some of them met us when about two hundred poles 
 from their camp. The savages fled in the utmost disor¬ 
 der, and evaluated all their towns. We burned to a°Tes 
 
 i 
 
 Old Chelicothe, Peccaway, New Cheiicothe, and Wills- 
 Tovvn ; entirely destroyed their corn and other fruits ; 
 and spread desolation through their country. We look 
 seven prisoners and fifteen scalps, and lost only four 
 
iben, two of whom were accidentally killed by ourselveso 
 This campaign damped the enemy, yet they made se¬ 
 cret incursions. 
 
 In October a party attacked Crab Orchard, and one of 
 them being a good way before the others, boldly entered 
 a house, in which were only a woman and her children, 
 and a negro man. The savage used no violence, but.at- 
 tempted to carry off the negro, who happily proved too 
 strong for him, and threw him on the ground, and in the 
 struggle the woman cut off his head with an axe—whilst 
 her little daughter shut the door. The savages instantly 
 came up and applied their tomahawks to the door, when 
 the mother putting an old rusty gun barrel through a 
 crevice, the savages immediately went off. 
 
 From that time till the happy return of peace between 
 the United States and Great Britain, the Indians did us 
 no mischief. Soon after this the Indians desired peace. 
 
 Two darling sons and a brother I have lost by savage 
 hands, which have also taken from me 40 valuable horses, 
 and abundance of cattle. Many dark and sleepless 
 nights have I spent, separated from the cheerful society 
 of men, scorched by the summer's sun, and pinched by 
 the winter's cold, an instrument ordained to settle th£ 
 wilderness. 
 
 DANIEL BOON. 
 
 Fayette County , Kentucky, 
 
 CHAP. VIII. 
 
 EXPEDITION and DEFEAT op Gen. MAUMEE, 
 b r t’he INDIANS , 1790. 
 
 ALTHOUGH a peace was happily effected be» 
 tween the two contending parties, Great-Britain and Af 
 
—129— 
 
 merica, in 1783, yet the Savages, who had been per¬ 
 suaded to take a part with the former were unwilling to 
 bury the bloody hatchet—they had not sufficiently bath¬ 
 ed that destructive weapon in the blood of the Ameri¬ 
 cans—without any pretext whatever, they continued to 
 exercise toward them the most wanton acts of barbarity. 
 It appeared from respectable evidence, that from the 
 year 1783, until the month of October 1790, the time 
 the United States commenced offensive operations a- 
 p-ainst the said Indians, that on the Ohio, and the fron- 
 tiers on the south-side thereof, they killed, wounded and 
 took prisoners, about one thousand five hundred men, 
 women and children, besides carrying off upwards of two 
 thousand horses, and other property to the amount of 
 fifty thousand dollars. 
 
 The particulars of many of the instances of barbarity 
 exercised upon the prisoners, of different ages, and sexes, 
 although supported by indisputable evidence, are of too 
 shocking a nature to be presented to the public—it is 
 sufficient here to observe that the scalping knife and toma¬ 
 hawk, were the mildest instruments of death. That in 
 some cases torture by fire,, and other execrable means 
 were used. 
 
 But the outrages which were committed upon the 
 frontier inhabitants, were not the only injuries that were 
 sustained ; repeated attacks upon detachments of the 
 troops'of the United States, were at different times made. 
 The following from its peculiar enormity deserves reci¬ 
 tal.—In April 1790, Maj. Doughty (in service of the 
 United States) was ordered to the friendly Chicasaws on 
 public business. He performed this duty in a boat, hav¬ 
 ing with him a party of fifteen men. While ascending 
 the Tetmesee river, he was met by a party of forty In¬ 
 dians, in four canoes, consisting principally of Shavva- 
 
 hese and out-cast Cherokees.—They aporoached under 
 
 R 
 
a white flag, the well known emblem of peace. Thef 
 came on board the Major’s boat, received his presents* 
 continued with him nearly an hour, and then departed in 
 the most friendly manner,—But, they had scarcely clear, 
 ed his oars before they poured in a fire upon his crew, 
 which was returned as soon as circumstances would per¬ 
 mit, and a most unequal combat was sustained for several 
 hours, when they abandoned their design, but not until 
 they had killed and wounded eleven out of fifteen of the 
 boat’s crew. * 
 
 Al! overtures of peace failing, and the depredations 
 still continuing, an attempt at coercion became indispen¬ 
 sable; accordingly, on the 50th September, 1790, the 
 President, by and with the consent and advice of the 
 Congress of the United States, dispatched Gen. Harmer, 
 with 320 Federal troops and 1133 militia, under his com¬ 
 mand, to attack and destroy their principal villages; 
 
 The troops after seventeen days march from Miami, 
 reached the great Miami village, without any other mo¬ 
 lestation than that of having a number of their pack 
 horses stolen. On their arrival they found the village 
 deserted, and all the valuable buildings in flames, set on 
 fire by the Indians. After a short tarry, they proceeded 
 to the neighbouring villages, without molestation, and 
 destroyed five of them, and a large quantity of corn, 
 computed at fifteen thousand bushels, which they found 
 buried in different places ; and very large quantities of 
 vegetables of every kind. 
 
 The first opposition that was met with, a party of about 
 150 Kentucky militia, and 30 regular troops, all under 
 the command of Col. Harding, of Kentucky, were de¬ 
 tached from the main body lying in the great Miami vil¬ 
 lage, to pursue the trail of a party of Indians, which had 
 the d;>y before been discovered. After a pursuit of about 
 six miles, they came up with, and were attacked on stir. 
 
prize by a body of Indians, who were concealed in the 
 thickets on every side of a large plain ; and on the first 
 onset the militia without exchanging a single shot, made 
 a most precipitate retreat and left the regular troops to 
 stand the whole charge of the Indians ; the conflict was 
 short and bloody, the troops were soon overpowered by 
 numbers, and all fell except two officers, and two or three 
 privates, after defending themselves at their bayonet 
 points, with the greatest passible obstinacy. Ensign 
 Hartshorn was one of the officers who providentially 
 escaped, and his escape appeared to depend more on a 
 lucky circumstance of faltering over a log in his retreat, 
 and by that means screening himself irom the eye of his 
 pursuers, than from any other circumstance. Capt. 
 Armstrong, who commanded the party, likewise made 
 his escape, by plunging himself into a pond or swamp up 
 to his neck, within two hundred yards of the field of ac¬ 
 tion, where he remained the whole night a spectator to 
 the horrid scene of the war dance performed over the 
 dead and wounded bodies of the poor soldiers that had 
 fallen the preceding day ; where their shrieks, mixed 
 with the horrid yells of the savages, rendered his situa¬ 
 tion shocking. 
 
 After this, some few skirmishes succeeded, but noth* 
 ing material, until the second capital action, which hap¬ 
 pened two days after the army left the Miami village—» 
 at ten miles distance from the town, the General order¬ 
 ed a halt, and detached from four to five hundred mili¬ 
 tia, and about sixty regular soldiers, under the command 
 of Major Wyllys and Colonel Harding, who were or¬ 
 dered to march back to the town. On their first entrance 
 there appeared a small body of Indians, who immediate¬ 
 ly fled at the first onset, and by that means decoyed the 
 whole body of the militia, by making their flight in dif¬ 
 ferent directions, and encouraging the militia to pursue * 
 
jby this stratagem the few regular troops were left alon$ ? 
 and the Indians had effected their design, for the moment 
 they found the small handful of regular troops detached 
 from the main body of the militia, they commenced the 
 attack with their whole force, excepting the flying par¬ 
 ties that had diverted the militia; and although they 
 soon found some part of the militia returning on their 
 backs, pursued their object of routing and destroying the 
 troops, as the only sure plan of success ; which after a 
 most bloody conflict on each side, they effected. 
 
 Nothing could exceed the intrepidity of the savages on 
 this occasion; the militia they appeared to despise, and 
 with all the undauntedness conceivable, thievv down their 
 guns, and rushed upon the bayonets of the regular sol¬ 
 diers ; a number of them fell, but being so far superior 
 in numbers, the regulars were soon overpowered, for 
 while the poor soldier had his bayonet in one Indian, two 
 more would sink their tomahawks in his head. The de¬ 
 feat of the troops was complete, the dead and wounded 
 were left on the field of action, in possession of the savages. 
 
 The following is a copy of the official return of the kil¬ 
 led and wounded in the expedition ;— 
 
 Killed of the Federal Troops . 
 
 1 Major, 1 Lieutenant, 73 rank and file—total 75,—— 
 
 ♦ * ’ 
 
 Wounded—3 rank and file. 
 
 Killed of the Militia . 
 
 I Major, 3 Captains, 2 Lieutenants, 4 Ensigns, 98 
 
 rank and file—total 108-Wounded—2 Lieutenants, 1 
 
 Ensign, 25 rank and file—total—28. 
 
 The regular troops all to nine, including two commis¬ 
 sioned officers, were killed— among the slain was Major 
 Wyllys, and a number of brave and valuable soldiers. 
 1 he Indians, it appeared, from some cause, did not think 
 'ft prudent to pursue their successes from the field of ac~ 
 
lion, as most of the troops that were not killed or badly 
 wounded* made their escape, which they could not have 
 effected had the enemy pursued with their usual fury. 
 
 CHAP. IX. 
 
 EXPEDITIONS OF GENERALS SCOTT AND 
 
 WILKINSON, 
 in Mat and August’) 1791. 
 
 Gen. SCOTT to the SECRETARY of WAR. 
 
 SIR) 
 
 “ IN prosecution of the enterprise, I marched 
 (with 850 troops under my command) four miles from 
 the banks of the Ohio on the 23d May, and on the 24th 
 I resumed my march, and pushed forward with the ut¬ 
 most industry, directing my route to Ouiattannan, in the 
 best manner my guides and information enabled me, 
 though I found 'myself greatly deficient in both. 
 
 (i By the 31st, I had marched one hundred and thirty- 
 five miles, over a country cut by four large branches of 
 White River, and many smaller streams with steep mud¬ 
 dy banks : During this march, I traversed a country al¬ 
 ternately interspersed with the most luxuriant soil, and 
 deep clayey bogs from one to five miles wide, rendered 
 almost impervious by brush and briars. Rain fell in tor¬ 
 rents every day, with frequent blasts of wind and thunder 
 storms. These obstacles impeded my pregress, wore 
 down my horses, and destroyed my provisions. 
 
 “ On the morning of the 1st instant as the enemy enter¬ 
 ed an extensive praire, I perceived an Indian on horse¬ 
 back a few miles to the right : I immediately made a dp- 
 
— 134 ~ 
 
 £achment to intercept him, but he escaped. Finding 
 myself discovered, I determined to advance with all the 
 rapidity my circumstances would permit, rather with the 
 Jiope than the expectation of reaching the object sought 
 that day ; for my guides were strangers to the country 
 which I occupied. At 1 o’clock, having marched by 
 computation one hundred and fifty five miles from the 
 Ohio, as I penetrated a grove which bordered on an ex¬ 
 tensive prarie, I discovered two small villages to my left, 
 pt two and four miles distance. 
 
 My guides now recognised the ground and informed 
 me that the main town was four or five miles in my front? 
 behind a point of wood which jutted into the pairie. I 
 immediately detached Col. John Hardin, with 60 mouli¬ 
 ed infantry, and a troop of light horse under Captain 
 M‘Coy, to attack the villages to the left, and moved on 
 briskly with my main body in order of battle toward the 
 town the smoke from which was discernable. My guides 
 were deceived with respect to the situation of the town > 
 for instead of standing at the edge of the plain through 
 which I marched, I found in the low ground bordering 
 on the Wabash, on turning the point of woods, one house 
 presented in my front. Capt. Price was ordered to as¬ 
 sault that with forty naen. He executed the command 
 with great gallantry, and killed two warriors. 
 
 M When I gained the summit of the eminence which 
 overlooks the villages on the banks of the Wabash, I dis¬ 
 covered the enemy in great confusion, endeavoring to 
 make their escape over the river in canoes. I .instantly 
 ordered Lieutenant Colonel Commandant Wilkinson to 
 rush forward with the first battalion ; the order was exe¬ 
 cuted with promtitude, and this detachment gained the 
 bank of the river just as the rear of the enemy had em¬ 
 barked : And regardless of a brisk fire kept up from a 
 Kickapoo town on the opposite bank, they in a few min- 
 
— 135 — 
 
 • t 
 
 tiles , by a well directed fire from their rifles, destroyed all 
 the savages with which five canoes were crowded. 
 
 “ The enemy still kept possession of the Kickapoo 
 town. I determined to dislodge them, and for the pur¬ 
 pose ordered captains King’s and Logsdon’s companies 
 to march down the liver below the town and cross under 
 the conduct of Major Barbee : Several of the men 
 swam the river, and others passed in a small canoe.— 
 This movement was unobserved, and my men had taken 
 post on the bank before they were discovered by the ene¬ 
 my who immediately ahandoned the village.—About this 
 time word was brought me that Col. Hardin was incum¬ 
 bered with prisoners, and had discovered a stronger vil¬ 
 lage further to my left, than those I had observed, which 
 he was proceeding to attack. I immediately detached 
 Capt. Brown with his company to support the Colonel $ 
 but the distance being six miles, before the captain ar¬ 
 rived the business was done, and Col. Hardin joined me 
 little before sunset, having killed six warriors and taken 
 fifty*two prisoners. Captain Bull, the warrior who dis¬ 
 covered me in the morning had gained the main town 
 and given the alarm a short time before me ; but the vil¬ 
 lages to the left were uninformed of my approach and 
 had no retreat. The next morning I determined to de¬ 
 tach my Lieut. Col. Commandant with five hundred men, 
 to destroy the important town of Kelhlipecanunk, at the 
 mouth of the Eel river, eighteen miles from my camp, and 
 on the west side of Wabash. But on examination I dis¬ 
 covered my men and horses to be crippled and worn down 
 by a long laborious march, and the active exertions of 
 the preceding day ; that three hundred and sixty men 
 only could be found in capacity to undertake the enter¬ 
 prise, and they prepared to march on foot. 
 
 “ Col. Wilkinson marched with this detachment at 
 
 half after five in the evening} and returned to my camp 
 
— 136 — 
 
 the next day at one o’clock, having marched thirty-six 
 miles in twelve hours, and destroyed the most important 
 settlement of, the enemy in that quarter of the federal 
 territory. 
 
 “ The following is Col. Wilkinson’s report respect¬ 
 ing the enterprise 
 
 “ Sir—The detachment under my command, destined 
 to attack the village Kethlipecanunk, was put in motion 
 at half after 5 o’clock last evening. Knowing that an 
 enemy whose chief dependence is in his dexterity as a 
 marksman, and alertness in covering himself behind 
 trees, stumps, and other impediments to fair sight, 
 would not hazard an action in the night, I determined to 
 push my march until I approached the vicinity of the 
 villages where I knew the country to be champaigne. 
 
 I gained my point without a halt, twenty minutes before 
 
 II o’clock ; lay upon my arms until 4 o’clock, and half 
 an hour after assaulted the town at all quarters. The 
 enemy was vigilent, gave way on my approach, and in 
 canoes crossed Eel creek, which washed the northeast 
 part of the town.—That creek was not fordable. My 
 corps dashed forward with the impetuosity becoming 
 volunteers, and were saluted by the enemy with a brisk 
 fire from the opposite side of the creek. Dauntless they 
 rushed on to the water’s edge, and finding the river im¬ 
 passable, returned a volley, which so galled and discon¬ 
 certed their antagonists, that they threw away their fire 
 without effect. In five minutes the Indians were driven 
 from the covering, and fied with precipitation. I have 
 three men slightly wounded. At half past five the town 
 was in flames, and at six o’clock I commenced my re¬ 
 treat. 
 
 “ I am Sir, Yours, See. 
 
 “JAJVIES WILKINSON* 
 Brigadier General Sco rtf*’’ 
 
it Many of the inhabitants of Kithlipecanunk were 
 French, and lived in a state of civilization ;—misunder¬ 
 standing the object of a white flag, which appeared on 
 an eminence opposite to me in the afternoon of the first, 
 I liberated an aged squaw, and sent with her a message 
 to the savages, that if they would come in and surrender, 
 their towns should be spared, and they should receive 
 good treatment. [It was afterwards found that this white 
 flag was not intended as a signal of parley, but was placed 
 there to mark the spot where a person of distinction 
 among the Indians, who had died some time’ before, was 
 interred.] On the 4th, I determined to discharge 16 of 
 the vreakest and most infirm of my prisoners with a talk 
 to the Wabash tribes, a copy of which follows. My mo¬ 
 tives to this measure were, to rid the army of a heavy in¬ 
 cumbrance, to gratify the impulses of humanity, to in¬ 
 crease the panick my operations had produced, and by 
 distracting the council of the enemy, to favour the views 
 Of government. 
 
 “ On the same day, after having burned the towns 
 and adjacent villages, and destroyed the growing corn 
 and pulse, I began my march for the rapids of Ohio, 
 where I arrived the 14th, without the loss of a single 
 man by the enemy, and five only wounded, having killed 
 thirty-two, chiefly warriors of size and figure, and taken 
 fifty*eight prisoners. 9 * 
 
 7o the various tribes of the Peanhashaws , and all the nations 
 
 of Red People , living on the waters of the Wabash River. 
 
 {£ THE Sovereign Council of the Thirteen United 
 States, have long patiently borne your depredations a- 
 gainst their settlements on this side of the great moun¬ 
 tains, in hope that you would see your error, and cor¬ 
 rect it, by entering into bonds of amity and lasting peace. 
 Moved by compassion, and pitying your misguided coun¬ 
 cils, they have not unfrequently addressed you on this 
 
jeer, bOt without effect. At length their patience is ex> 
 hausted, and they have stretched forth the arm of power 
 against you. Their mighty sons and chief warriors have 
 at length taken up the hatchet, they have penetrated far 
 into your country, to meet your warriors, and punish them 
 for their transgressions. But you fled before them and 
 decline the battle, leaving your wives and children to their 
 mercy. They have destroyed your old town, Quiattanau* 
 and the neighbouring villages, and have taken many pri¬ 
 soners. Resting here two days, to give you time to col¬ 
 lect your strength, they have proceeded to your town of 
 Kethiipecanunk ; but you against fled before them ; and 
 that great town has been destroyed. After giving you 
 this evidence cf their power, they have stopped their 
 bands, because they are as merciful as strong, and they 
 again indulge the hope, that you will come to a sense of 
 your true interest, and determine to make a lasting peace 
 with them and all their children forever. The United 
 States have no desire to destroy the red people, al¬ 
 though they have the power to doit; but should you de¬ 
 cline this invitation, and pursue your unprovoked hostili¬ 
 ties, their strength will again be exerted against you, year 
 warriors will be slaughtered, your wives and children 
 carried into captivity, and you may be assured, that those 
 who escape the fury of our mighty chiefs, shall find no 
 resting place on this side the Great Lakes; The war¬ 
 riors of the United States wish not to distress or destroy 
 women and children, or old men, and although policy ob¬ 
 liges them to retain some in captivity, yet compassion 
 and humanity have induced them to set others at liberty, 
 who will deliver you this talk. Those who are carried 
 off will be left in the care of our great chief and warrior 
 Gen. St. Clair, near the mouth of the Miami and Op¬ 
 posite to the Licking River, where they will be treated- 
 with humantiy and tenderness $ if you wish to recover 
 
A 
 
 them, repair to that place by the first clay of July next: 
 determine with true hearts to bury the hatchet and smoke 
 the pipe of peace, they will then be restored to you, and 
 you may again set fjbwn in security at your old towns* 
 and live in peace and happiness, unmolested by the peo¬ 
 ple of the United States, who will become your friends 
 and protectors, and will be ready to furnish you with all 
 the necessaries you may require. But should you fool¬ 
 ishly persist in your warfare, the sons of war will be let 
 joose against you, and the hatchet will never be buried 
 until your country is desolated, and your people humbled 
 to the dust.” 
 
 (Signed) CHARLES SCOTT, Brig . Gen,. 
 
 GENERAL WILKINSON’s EXPEDITION. 
 
 GENERAL WILKINSON to GOVERNOR ST . CLAIR , 
 
 Sir, 
 
 HAVING carried into complete effect the enter- 
 prize which you were pleased to direct against L’An- 
 guille, and having done the savages every other damage 
 on the Wabash, to which I conceived my force adequate, 
 I embrace the first moment’s recess from active duty to 
 detail to your Excellency the operations of the expedi¬ 
 tion intrusted to my conduct. 
 
 I left the neighborhood of Fort-Washington on the 
 first inst. at one o’clock, and agreeable to my original 
 plan, feinted boldly at the Miami villages, by the most 
 direct course the nature of the ground, over which I 
 had to march, would permit j I persevered in this plan 
 until the morning of the 4th inst. and thereby avoided 
 the hunting ground of the enemy, and the paths which 
 led direct from White River to the Wabash, leaving th$ 
 
bead waters of the first to my left; I then being about 
 seventy miles advanced of Fort Washington, turned 
 north-west. I made no discovery until the 5th, about 9 
 o’clock, A. M. when I crossed three much frequented 
 paths within two miles of each other, and all bearing 
 east of north ; my guides were urgent for me to follow 
 these paths, which betrayed their ignorance of the coun¬ 
 try, and convinced me I had to depend on my own judg¬ 
 ment only. In the afternoon of that day, I was obliged 
 to cross a deep bog, which injured several of my horses 
 exceedingly, and a few miles beyond I struck a path 
 bearing north by west, marked by the recent footsteps of 
 five or six savages. My guides renewed their applica¬ 
 tion to me to follow this path, but I pursued my own 
 course. I had not got clear of my encampment, next 
 morning, before my advance reported an impassable bog, 
 in my front, extending several miles on either hand, and 
 the guides asserted that the whole country to the Wa¬ 
 bash was cut by such bogs, and that it would be impos¬ 
 sible for me to proceed unless I followed the Indian paths, 
 which avoided these bogs, or led through them at places 
 where they were least difficult. Although I paid little 
 regard to this information, as delay was dangerous, and 
 every thing depended on the preservation of my horses, 
 I determined to return to the right, and fall into the path 
 I had passed the evening before, which varied in its 
 course from N by W. to N* E. The country had now 
 become pondy, in every direction, I therefore resolved 
 to pursue this path until noon, in the hope that it would 
 conduct me to better ground, or to some devious trace 
 Which might lead to the object sought. 
 
 At 7 o’clock I crossed an east branch of Calumut riv¬ 
 er, about 40 yards wide, and about noon my advance 
 guard fired on a small party of warriors and took a pris¬ 
 oner, the rest run off to the eastward. I halted about a 
 
mile beyond the spot where this affair happened, and o® 
 examining the prisoner found him to be a Delaware, .liv¬ 
 ing near the scite of the late Miami village, which he 
 informed was about thirty miles distant j I immediately 
 fetrogaded four miles, and filed off by the right over 
 some rising ground, which I had observed between the 
 east branch of the Calumut river and a creek four or five 
 miles advahCe of it, taking my course N. 60 W. This 
 pleasure fortunately extricated me from the bogs and 
 ponds, and soon placed me on firm ground ; late in the 
 afternoon I crossed one path running from N. to S, and 
 shortly after fell in with another varying from N. W. to 
 N. I pursued this about two miles, when I encamped— 
 but finding it still inclining northward, X determined to 
 abandon it in the morning. I resumed my march ort 
 the 6th at 4 o’clock, the Calumet being to the westward 
 of me I was fearful I should strike the Wabash too high 
 up, and‘perhaps fall in with the small town, which you 
 mentioned to me at the mouth of the former river. I 
 therefore steered a due west course, and at 6 o’clock A. 
 M. crossed a road much used both by horse and foot, 
 hearing due north. I now knew that I was near a Shaw- 
 anese village, generally supposed to be on the waters of 
 White river, but actually on the waters of the Calumet, 
 and was sensible that every thing depended on the ce¬ 
 lerity and silence of my movements, as my real object 
 had become manifest, I therefore pushed my march vig¬ 
 orously, leaving an officer and 20 men in ambush to 
 watch the road, in order to intercept or beat off any par¬ 
 ty of the enemy which might casually be passing that 
 way, and thereby prevent as long as possible the discov 
 ery of my real intentions. 
 
 At 3 o’clock I crossed Calumet river, now 80 yards 
 wide, and running down N. N. W. I was now sensible 
 iYom my reckoning compared with my own observations, 
 
during the late expedition under Gen: Scott* and the 
 information received from your Excellency and others, 
 that I could not be very far from I/Anguiiie. The par¬ 
 ty left at the road, soon fell in with four warriors en¬ 
 camped half a mile from the right of my line of march, 
 killed one and drove off the others to the northward, 
 ^ly situation had now become extremely critical, the 
 Whole country to the north being in alarm, which made 
 me greatly anxious to continue my march during the 
 night, but I had no path to direct me, and it was impos¬ 
 sible for me to keep my course, or for horsemen to march 
 through a thick swampy country in utter darkness. I 
 quitted my camp on the 7th, as soon as I could see my 
 wav, crossed one path at three miles distance, bearing 
 N. E. and at seven miles fell into another very much 
 used, bearing N. W. by N. which I at once adopted* as 
 the direct rout to my object, and pushed forward with 
 the utmost despatch. I halted at 12 o’clock to refresh 
 the horses, and examine the men’s arms and ammuni¬ 
 tion ; marched again at half after one, and at 15 min¬ 
 utes before five I struck the Wabash, at one and an 
 half leagues above the mouth of Eel river, being the 
 ■very spot for which I had aimed from the commence¬ 
 ment of my march, I crossed the river and following 
 the path a N. by E. course, at the distance of two and 
 an half miles, my reconnoitreing party announced Eel 
 river in front, and the town on the opposite bank. I 
 dismounted, ran forward, and examined the situation of 
 the town as far as was practicable without exposing my¬ 
 self, but the whole face of the country from the Wabash 
 to the margin of Eel river, being a continued thicket of 
 brambles, black jacks, weeds and shrubs, of various 
 kinds, it was impossible for me to get a satisfactory view 
 without endangering a discovery. I immediately deter¬ 
 mined to post two companies near the bank of the rives* 
 
— 143 
 
 opposite to the town, and above the ground I then occu¬ 
 pied to make a detour with Major Caldwell, and the 
 second battalion, until I fell into the Miami trace, and 
 by that route to cross the river above, and gain the rear 
 of the town, and to leave directions with Maj. M’Dowell, 
 who commanded the first battalion, to lie perdue until I 
 commenced the attack, then to dash through the river 
 •With his corps and the advanced guard, and assault the 
 houses in front and upon the left. 
 
 In the moment I was about to put this arrangement in^ 
 to execution, word was brought me that the enemy had 
 taken the alarm and were flying.—I instantly ordered a 
 general charge, which was obeyed with alacrity, the men 
 forcing their way over every obstacle, plunged through 
 the river with vast intrepidity.—The enemy was unable 
 to make the smallest resistance.—'Six warriors and (in 
 the hurry and confusion of the charge) two squaws and 
 a child were killed-—thirty-four prisoners were taken, and 
 an unfortunate captive released—with the loss of two 
 men killed, and one wounded.—I found this town scatter¬ 
 ed along Eel river for full three miles, on an uneven 
 shrubby oak barren, intersected alternately by bogs al# 
 most impassable, and impervious thickets ol plumb and 
 hazie.—Notwithstanding these difficulties, if I may credit 
 the report of the prisoners, very few who were in town 
 escaped ; expecting a second expedition, their goods were 
 generally packed up or buried.—Sixty warriors had cros¬ 
 sed the Wabash to watch the paths leading from the 
 Ohio ; the head chief with all the prisoners and a num¬ 
 ber of families were out, digging a root, which they sub¬ 
 stitute in the place of the potatoe, and about one hour 
 before my arrival, all the warriors, except eight, bad 
 mounted their horses and rode up the river to a French 
 store to purchase ammunition.—This ammunition had 
 arrived from the Miami village that very day, and the 
 
$qhaws informed me was stored about two miles frofts 
 town; I detached Major Caldwell in quest of it, but 
 he failed to make any discovery, although he scoured the 
 country for seven or eight miles up the river. I encamp¬ 
 ed in the town that night, and the next morning I cut up 
 the corn scarcely in the milk, burnt the cabins, mounted 
 my young warriors, squaws and children in the best man¬ 
 ner in my power, and leaving two infirm squaws and a 
 child with a short talk (which will be found annexed) I 
 commenced my march for the Kickapoo town in the 
 praire.— I felt my prisoners a vast incumbrance, but I 
 was not in force to justify a detachment, having barely 
 523 rank and file, and being then in the bosom of the 
 Ouiattanou country, one hundred and eighty miles re¬ 
 moved from succour, and not more than one and a half 
 days forced march from the Pattawamees, Shawanese 
 and Delawares. 
 
 Not being able to discover any path in the direct course 
 to the Kickapoo town, I marched by the road leadiug to 
 Tippecanoe, in the hope of finding some diverging trace 
 which might favour my design.-—I encamped that even¬ 
 ting about six miles from Kenapacomaque, the Indian 
 name for the town I had destroyed, and marched next 
 morning at four o’clock.—My course continued west jtill 
 about nine o’clock, when I turned to the north west on a 
 small bunting path, and at a short distance I launched 
 into the boundless prat ies of the west, with the inten¬ 
 tion to pursue that course, until I should strike a road 
 which leads from the. Pattawamees of Lake Michigan, 
 immediately to the town I sought. With this view I 
 pushed forward, through bog after bog, to the saddle 
 skirts in mud and water, and after persevering for eight 
 hours, I found myself environed on all sides with mo¬ 
 rasses which forbade my advancing, and at the same 
 time rewired it difficult for me to extricate my little 
 
iny. The way by which we had entered was so muctt 
 beat and softened by the horses, that it was almost im¬ 
 possible toreturn by that route, and my guides pronoun¬ 
 ced the morass in front impassable.—A chain of thin 
 groves extending in the direction to the Wabash, at this 
 time presented to my left, it was necessary I should gain 
 these groves, and for this purpose I dismounted, went 
 forward, and leading my horse through a bog to the arm¬ 
 pits in mud and water, with difficulty and fatigue I ac¬ 
 complished my object, and changing my course to S. by 
 W. I regained the Tippecanoe road at 5 o’clock, and 
 encamped on it at 7 o’clock, after a march of thirty miles, 
 which broke down several of my horses. 
 
 I am the more minute in detailing the occurrences of 
 this day because they produced the most unfavourable 
 effect. I was in motion at four next morning, and at 
 eight o’clock my advanced guard made some discoveries, 
 which induced me to believe we were near an Indian vil¬ 
 lage. I immediately pushed that body forward in a trot, 
 and followed with Major Caldwell, and the 2nd bat¬ 
 talion, leaving Major M’Dowell to take charge of the 
 prisoners. I reached Tippecanoe at 12 o’clock, which 
 had been occupied by the enemy, who watched my mo¬ 
 tions and abandoned the place that morning. After the 
 destruction of this town in June last, the enemy had re¬ 
 turned and cultivated their corn and pulse, which I found 
 in high perfection and in much greater quantity than at 
 L’Anguille. To refresh my horses and give time to cut 
 down the corn, I determined to halt until the next morn, 
 ing, and then resume my march to the ICickapoo town 
 in the praire, by the road which leads from Ouiattan- 
 on to that place. In the course of the day I had dis¬ 
 covered some murmUrings and discontent among the 
 men, which I found bn enquiry to proceed from their 
 
 reluctance to advance into the enemy’s country 5 this 
 
 T * 
 
f 46'— 
 
 induced me to call for a state of the horses and pron* 
 sions, when to my great mortification 270 horses were 
 returned lame and tired, with barely five clay's provision 
 for the men. 
 
 Under these circumstances I was compelled to aban¬ 
 don my designs upon the Kickapoos of the praire, and 
 with a degree of anguish not to be comprehended but 
 by those who have experienced similar disappointments ; 
 1 marched forward to a town of the same nation, situate 
 about three leagues west of Ouittanon—as I advanced 
 to the town, the enemy made some shew of fighting 
 me, but vanished at my approach. I destroyed this 
 town, consisting of thirty houses, with a considerable 
 quantity of corn in the milk, and the same day I mov¬ 
 ed on to Ouiattanon, where I forded the Wabash, and 
 proceeded to the site of the villages on the margin of 
 the praire, where I encamped at seven o’clock. At this 
 town and the villages destroyed by Gen, Scott in June, 
 we found the corn had been re-planted, and was now in 
 high cultivation, several fields being well ploughed, all 
 which we destroyed. On the 12th, I resumed my march, 
 and falling into Gen. Scott’s return trace, I arrived 
 without material accident at the rapids of the Ohio, on 
 the 21st inst. after a march, by accurate computation, of 
 451 miles from Fort Washington. 
 
 The services which I have been able to render fall 
 short of my wishes, my intention and expectation—but, 
 Sir, when you reflect on the causes which checked my 
 career, and blasted my designs, I flatter myself you will 
 believe every thing has been done which could be done in 
 my circumstances ; I have destroyed the chief town of 
 the Ouiattanon nation, and made prisoners the sons and 
 sisters of the king ; 1 have burnt a respectable Kickapoo 
 village, and cut down at least 430 acres of corn, chiefly 
 in the milk. The Ouiattanons left without horses, home 
 
er provision, must cease to war, and will find active 
 employ to |pbsist their squaws and children during the 
 impending winter. 
 
 Should these services secure to the country which I 
 immediately represented, and the corps which I had the 
 honor to command, the favorable consideration of govern¬ 
 ment, I shall infer the approbation of my own conduct, 
 which, added to a consciousness of having done my duty, 
 will constitute the richest reward I can enjoy. 
 
 With the most perfect respect, I have the honor to be 
 your Excellency’s obedient and most humble servant: 
 
 JAMES WILKINSON - . 
 
 Gov, Sr, Ci a is. 
 
 A Talk from Col , Wilkinson , to the Indian Nations living 
 
 on the river Wabash, 
 
 THE arms of the United States are again ex¬ 
 erted against you, and again your towns are in flames, 
 and your wives and children made captives—again you 
 are cautioned to listen to the voice of reason, to she for 
 peace, and submit to the protection of the United States, 
 who are willing to become your friends and fathers ; but, 
 at the same time, are determined to punish you for every 
 injury you may offer to their children. Regard not 
 those evil counsellors, who, to secure to themselves the 
 benefits of your trade, advise you to measures which in¬ 
 volve you, your women and children, in trouble and dis¬ 
 tress. The United States wish to give yotf’peace ; be¬ 
 cause it is good in the eyes of the Great Spirit, that all 
 his children should unite and live like brothers ; but if 
 you foolishly prefer war, their warriors are ready to meet 
 you in battle, and will not be the first to lay down the 
 hatchet# You may find your squaws and your children 
 
pnder the protection oF our great chief and warrior 
 General St.Clair, at Fort Washington $ him you 
 will make all applications, for an exchange of prisoners, 
 or for peace. 
 
 JAMES WILKINSON.* 5 
 -- — 
 
 CHAP. X. 
 
 DEFEAT OF GENERAL ST. CLAIR, 
 
 By the INDIANS—1791. 
 
 Gen. ST. CLAIR to the SECRETARY of WAR. 
 
 i 
 
 C{ Fort Washington , Nov. 9, 1791. 
 
 “ S7if, 
 
 “ YESTERDAY afternoon the remains of the 
 army under my command got back Jto this place, and I 
 have now the painful task to give an account of a warm, 
 and as unfortunate an action as almost any that has been 
 fought, in which every corps was engaged and worsted, 
 except the first regiment, that had been detached upon a 
 service I had the honor to inform you of in my last des¬ 
 patch, and had not joined me. 
 
 On the'3d inst. the army had reached a creek about 
 twelve yards wide running to the southward of west, 
 which I believe to have been the river St. Mary, that 
 empties into the Miami of the lake, arrived at the village 
 about 4 o’clock in the afternoon, having marched near 9 
 miles, and were immediately encamped upon a very com¬ 
 manding piece of ground in two lines, having the ^bove 
 mentioned creek in front, the right wing composed of 
 Butler's, Clarke’s, and Patterson’s battallions,cpm- 
 rnanded by Major-General Butler, formed the first line, 
 ai&d the left wing consisting of Bedinger’s and Gai- 
 
?SER ? s battalions, and the second regiment commanded 
 by Col. Drake, formed the second line, with an interval 
 between them of about seventy yards, which was all the 
 ground would allow. 
 
 The right flank was pretty well secured by the creek, a 
 steep bank, and Fa lkener’s corps, some of the cavalry 
 and their piquets covered the left Sank : the militia were 
 thrown over the creek and advanced about one quarter of 
 a mile, and encamped in the same order ; there were a 
 few Indians who appeared on the opposite side of the 
 creek, but, fled with the utmost precipitation on the ad¬ 
 vance of the militia ; at this place, which I judged to be 
 about 15 miles from the Miami village, I had determined 
 to throw up a slight work, the plan of which was con¬ 
 certed that evening with Maj. Ferguson, wherein to 
 have deposited the men’s knapsacks, and every thing else 
 that was not of absolute necessity, and to have moved on 
 
 to attack the enemy as soon as the first regiment was 
 
 * 
 
 come up, but they did not permit me to execute either ; 
 for on the 4th, about half an hour before sun-rise, and 
 when the men had been just dismissed from the parade, 
 (for it was a constant practice for to have them all under 
 arms a considerable time before light,) an attack was 
 made upon the militia ; those gave way in a very little 
 time, and rushed into camp, through Maj, Butler’s bat¬ 
 talion, which, together with part of Clark’s they threw 
 into considerable disorder, and which notwithstanding 
 the exertions of both these officers, was never altogether 
 remedied, the Indians followed close at their heels ; the 
 fire however of the front line checked them, but almost 
 instantaneously a very heavy attack began upon that line, 
 and in a few minutes it was extended to the second like¬ 
 wise ; the great weight of it was directed against the 
 centre of each, where the artillery was placed, and from 
 which the men were repeatedly driven with great slaugh- 
 
ter ; finding no great effect from the fire, and confusion 
 beginning to spread from the great number of men who 
 were fallen in all quarters, it became necessary to try 
 what could be done by the bayonet. 
 
 , \ 
 
 Lieut. Col. Darke, was accordingly ordered to make 
 a charge, with a part of the second line, and to turn the 
 left flank of the enemy- This was executed with great 
 spirit. The Indians instantly gave way, and were driven 
 back three or four hundred yards : but for want of a suf¬ 
 ficient number of riflemen to pursue this advantage, they 
 soon returned and the troops were obliged to give back in 
 their turn. At this moment they had entered our camp 
 by the left flank, having pursued back the troops that 
 were posted there. 
 
 Another charge was made here by the second regi¬ 
 ment, Butler's and Clark's battallions, with equal 
 effect, and it was repeated several times, and always with 
 success—but in all of them many men were lost, and 
 particularly the officers, which, with some raw troops, 
 was a loss altogether irremediable. In that I just spoke 
 of made by the second regiment and Butler’s battalion, 
 Maj. Butler was dangerously wounded, and every offi¬ 
 cer of the second regiment fell except three, one of which, 
 Capt. Greaton, was shot through the body. 
 
 Our artillery being now silenced, and all the officers 
 killed, except Capt. Ford, who was badly wounded, more 
 than half of the army fallen, being cut off from the road, 
 it became necessary to attempt the regaining it, and to 
 make a retreat if possible. To this purpose the remains 
 of the army was formed as well as circumstances would 
 admit, towards the right of the encampment ; from 
 which, by the way of the second line, another charge was 
 made upon the enemy, as if with the design to turn their 
 right flank—but in fact to gain the road : this was effect, 
 ed ; and as soon as it was open, the militia took along it? 
 
151— 
 
 followed by the troops— Maj. Clark with his battalion 
 severing the rear. 
 
 The retreat in those circumstances, was, you may be 
 sure a precipitate one—it was in fact a flight. The camp 
 and the artillery were abandoned, but that was unavoida¬ 
 ble, for not a horse was left alive to have drawn it off had 
 it otherwise been practicable. But the most disgraceful 
 part of the business is, that the greatest part of the men 
 threw away their arms and accoutrements, even after the 
 pursuit (which continued about four miles) had ceased. 
 
 I found the road strewed with them for many miles, 
 but was not able to remedy it ; for having had all my 
 horses killed, and being mounted upon one that could 
 not be pricked out of a walk, I could not get forward 
 myself, and the orders I sent forward, either to halt the 
 front, or prevent the men from parting with their arms, 
 were unattended to. 
 
 The rout continued quite to Fort Jefferson, twenty- 
 nine miles, which was reached a little after sun-setting. 
 The action began about half an hour before sun-rise, and 
 the retreat was attempted at half an hour after nine 
 
 4 
 
 o'clock. 
 
 I have not yet been able to get returns of the killed 
 and wounded ; but Major General Butler, Lieut. Col. 
 Oldham, of the militia. Major Ferguson, Major Hart, 
 and Major Clark> are among the former. 
 
 I have now, Sir, finished my melancholy tale—a tale 
 that will be felt, sensibly felt by every one that has sym¬ 
 pathy for private distress, or for public misfortune. I 
 have nothing, Sir, to say to the charge of the troops but 
 their want of discipline, which, from the short time they 
 had been in service, it was impossible they should have 
 . acquired, and which rendered it very difficult, when they 
 were thrown into confusion, to reduce them again to or¬ 
 der, and is <?ne reason why the loss has fallen so heavy 
 
upon the officers, who did every thing in their pbwer i8 
 effect it.—Neither were my own exertions wanting, but 
 worn down with illness, and suffering under a painful 
 disease, unable either to mount or dismount a horse 
 without assistance, they were not so great as they other¬ 
 wise would, or perhaps ought to have been. 
 
 We were overpowered by numbers ; but it is no mord 
 than justice to observe, that though composed of so ma¬ 
 ny different species of troops, the utmost harmony pre¬ 
 vailed through the whole army during the campaign. 
 
 At Fort Jefferson 1 found the first regiment, which 
 had returned from the service they had been sent upon, 
 without either overtaking the deserters, or meeting the 
 convoy of provisions; I am not certain. Sir, whether I 
 ought to consider the absence of this regiment from the 
 field of action as fortunate or otherwise. I incline to 
 think it was fortunate ; for I very much doubt, whether, 
 had it been in the action, the fortune of the day had been 
 turned, and if it had not, the triumph of the enemy 
 would have been more complete, and the country would 
 have been destitute of every means of defence. 
 
 - jf . * 
 
 Taking a view of the situation of our broken troops at 
 Fort Jefferson, and that there was no provisions in the 
 fort, I called on the field officers for their advice what 
 would be proper further to be done j and it was their 
 unanimous opinion, that the addition of the first regi¬ 
 ment unbroken as it was, did not put the army on so re¬ 
 spectable a footing as it was in the morning, because a 
 great part of it was now unarmed : that it had been 
 found unequal to the enemy, and should they come on, 
 which was probable, would be found so again ; that the 
 troops could not be thrown into the fort, both because it 
 was too small, and that there was no provision in it. 
 
 That provisions were known to be upon the read at 
 the distance of one or at most two marches j that thf 
 
fore it would be proper to move without loss of time to 
 meet the provisions, when the men might have the soon¬ 
 er an opportunity of some refreshment, and that a prop¬ 
 er detachment might be sent back with it, to have it 
 safely deposited in the fort. 
 
 This advice was accepted,- and the army was put in 
 motion again at ten o’clock, and marched all night, and 
 the succeeding day met with a quantity of four, part of 
 it was distributed immediately, part taken back to sup- 
 ply the army on the march to Fort-Hamilton, and the 
 remainder, about fifty horse loads sent forward to Fort 
 Jefferson, 
 
 I have said Sir, in the former part of nYy communica¬ 
 tion, that we were overpowered by numbers; of that 
 however, I have no other evidence, but the weight of the 
 fire which was always a most deadly one and generally 
 delivered from the ground, few of the enemy shewing 
 themselves on foot, except when they were charged and 
 that in a few minutes our whole camp which extended a- 
 bove 350 yards in length, was entirely surrounded and 
 attacked on all quarters. 
 
 The loss, Sir, the public has sustained by the fall of 
 so many officers, particularly General Butler, and Ma¬ 
 jor Ferguson, cannot be too, much regretted; but it is 
 a circumstance that will alleviate the misfortune in some 
 measure, that all of them fell most gallantly doing their 
 duty. I have the honor to be, Sir, your most obedient 
 servant, AUTHUR ST. CLAIR,” 
 
 4t Hon. Secretary of Vfar.'* 
 
 The defeat of Gen. St. Clair took place within six 
 miles of the Miami village. The loss on this occasion 
 was about six hundred killed and wounded (said to be 
 
 nearly equal to Braddqck’s defeat) with seven pieces of 
 
 U 
 
— 154*— 
 
 artillery, and all the stores. Gen. St. Clair had about 
 1200 men, had reason to expect an attack and kept his 
 men under arms all night, drawn up in a square. The 
 attack commenced about dawn of day, on all the lines* 
 but principally on the rear lines, which was composed 
 cf the militia. The Indians gave one lire and rushed 
 on, tomahawk in hand. The militia gave way to the 
 centre ; and before the artillery could be brought into 
 action, the matrosses were all killed and it fell into the 
 fiances of the enemy. 
 
 It was retaken but was useless for want of men to 
 manage the pieces. The action was continued obstinate¬ 
 ly until 9 o’clock, when the troops gave way. St. Clair 
 rallied his men, and brought them off in tolerable order* 
 with most of the wounded to Fort Jefferson, SO miles in 
 the rear of the action. The enemy pursued five miles. 
 
 The following is a copy of a return of the Officers killed and 
 wounded in the engagement 
 
 Killed. — 1 Major-General, 1 Lieut. Colonel, 4 Ma¬ 
 jors, 11 Captains, 10 Lieutenants, 9 Ensigns, 1 Sur¬ 
 geon.—Total S 7. 
 
 Wounded. — 2 Lieut. Colonels, 1 Major, 11 Captains, 
 6 Lieutenants, 6 Ensigns, 1 Surgeon.—Total 27, 
 
 Beside the above, there were about 550 privates killed 
 and many more wounded—few officers of distinction es¬ 
 cape ept Gen, St.Clair, who had many narrow 
 : ' c*. eight balls passed through hia cloathes. The 
 
 ;.tack was conducted with astonishing intrepidity on the 
 part of the Indians—in a few moments the General’s 
 lent was surrounded : however, he was rescued by a 
 party of regular soldiers, who repelled the enemy with 
 fixed bayonets; There was a party of the Chickasaw 
 nation on their way to join Gen. St. Clair, but did 
 
— 155— 
 
 not arrive in season—there was but one fellow only of 
 that nation in the action, who killed and scalped eleven 
 of the enemy with his own hands, and engaging with 
 the twelfth, he fell, greatly lamented by the Ameri. 
 
 cans. "y"' 
 
 Major-General Butler was wounded and carried to a 
 convenient place to have his wounds dressed, but an In¬ 
 dian having discovered the place to which he was con* 
 veyed, broke through the troops who attended him, and 
 tomahawked and scalped the former before he was kil¬ 
 led by the troops.— [ICF 35 See Plate .] 
 
 Agreeable to the statement of the Indians, they kil¬ 
 led 650 of the American troops, and took seven pieces 
 ©f cannon—200 oxen and a great number of horses, but 
 no prisoners—and that their loss was only fifty-six warri¬ 
 ors killed.—They stated that they were 4000 strong, # 
 and were commanded by one of the Missasago Indians, 
 who had been in the British service in the late war ; that 
 he planned and conducted the attack, which was even 
 contrary to the opinion of a majority of the chiefs—and, 
 that after the Americans began their retreat, he told 
 the Indians they had killed enough, and that it was prop¬ 
 er to give over the pursuit, and return and enjoy the 
 booty they had taken—he was six feet in height, about 
 «45 years of age, of a very sour and morose countenance, 
 and apparently very crafty and subtle—his dtess was In¬ 
 dian hose and moccasons, a blue petticoat that came half 
 way down his thighs, an European waistcoat and surtout ; 
 his head was bound with an Indian cap that hung half 
 way down his back, and almost entirely filled with plain 
 silver broaches to the number of more than two hund¬ 
 red ; he had two ear-rings to each ear; the upper part 
 of each was formed of three silver medals about the 
 size of a dollar; the lower part was formed of quarters 
 ©f dollars, and fell more than 12 inches from his Cars; 
 
— 
 
 one from each ear over his breast—the other over his 
 back ; he had three very large nose jewels of silver that 
 were curiously painted. 
 
 The party af friendly Chickasaws, who were on their 
 way to join the American troops arrived at Fort Jeffer¬ 
 son two days after the bloody action.—They were com¬ 
 manded by Piomingo, or the Mountain Leader.—On 
 their way they discovered that the troops had been de¬ 
 feated, but saw but one of the enemy, who, mistaking 
 Piomjngo’s party for some of his own comrades, made 
 up to them ; he perceived his mistake, but too late to 
 retreat; he was accosted by Piomixgo, with u Rascal 
 you have been killing ’white men.” He endeavored to ex¬ 
 culpate himself, but Piomingo ordered two of his war¬ 
 riors to expand his arms, and a third, an old man (for 
 says Piomingo, “ none of my young men shall disgrace 
 themselves so much as to kill a wretch like thee’*) to 
 shoot him through the heart, which was accordingly .ex 
 ecuted ; they afterwards took off his scalp. 
 
 During Sr. Clair's bloody engagement, Adjutant 
 JBurcess received two wounds, the second of which 
 proved mortal: after the receipt of the first, he contin¬ 
 ued to fight with distinguished gallantry ; the second 
 unfortunately stopped his progress : faint with the loss 
 of blood, he fell : a woman, who attended him and was 
 particularly attached to him, raised him up, and while 
 supporting him in her arms, received a ball in her breast, 
 which put an immediate end to her existence I 
 
 Soon after Ensign Wilson (a much lamented youth) 
 fell, one of the savages attempted to take off his scalp, 
 which Col. Darke perceiving, he hastened to the spot, 
 and with his sword stabbed the miscreant through the 
 body. 
 
 / 
 
—157— 
 
 INDIANS DEFEATED. 
 
 A few weeks after the defeat of the troops under Gen. 
 St. Clair, Gen. Scott despatched from the men under 
 his command two spies to reconnoitre the enemy, who, 
 when they arrived at the distrance of a few miles from 
 the fatal spot where the bloody action was fought, they 
 discovered a large party of Indians diverting and enjoy¬ 
 ing themselves with the plunder they had taken, riding 
 the bullocks, &c. and appeared to be mostly drunk—the 
 men returned and communicated the important informa¬ 
 tion to Gen. Scott, who immediately thereupon divided 
 his troops into three divisions, advanced and fell on the 
 enemy by surprise—the contest was short but victorious 
 on the part of the American troops ; two hundred of 
 the enemy were killed on the spot, all the cannon and 
 stores in their possession retaken, and the remainder of 
 the savage body put to flight.—Gen. Scott losing but 
 six men, returned to head quarters in triumph, with most 
 of the cattle, stores, See. 
 
 Gen. Scott gave the following affecting account of 
 the appearance of the field on which the bloody action 
 between the American troops, under Gen, St. Clair, 
 and the savages, was fought:—“ The place had a very 
 melancholy appearance—nearly in the space of 350 yards 
 lay 500 skull bones— 300 of which were buried by my 
 men while on the ground ; from thence for five miles on, 
 and from the roads through the woods, was strewed with 
 skeletons, muskets, &c.” 
 
 DEFEAT OF MAJOR M‘MAHON. 
 
 On the 29th of July, 1794, Maj. McMahon marched 
 with 80 riflemen, under the command of Capt. Harts- 
 
158— 
 
 «orn, and 50 dragoons under the command of Capt. 
 Taylor, for Fort Recovery, as an escort to 300 pack- 
 horses loaded with flour for that garrison : on the morn¬ 
 ing following after they had deposited their loading, and 
 were preparing to set out on their return, they were at¬ 
 tacked by an army of 1200 Indians ; Capt. Hartshorn, 
 who had advanced with the riflemen about a quarter of a 
 mile into the woods, immediately look post .on a very 
 strong commanding piece of ground near the garrison, 
 and with unparalleled bravery, maintained the unequal 
 fight, till Maj. M‘Mahon, who had put himself at the 
 head of the cavalry, was killed, as was Capt. Taylor, and 
 Cornet Terry, and many of the men wounded. The 
 enemy now put their force against Capt. Hartshorn, 
 and in the moment when they were pushing to cut off 
 his communication with the garrison, Lieut, Drake, and 
 Ensign Dod, sallied out, at the head of 20 brave fellows, 
 who turned out voluntarily on *ihe occasion, and joined 
 him, after beating the enemy back at the point of the 
 bayonet ; at this instant the brave Capt. Hartshorn re¬ 
 ceived a shot which broke his thigh. Lieut. Craig was 
 killed, and Lieut. Marks taken prisoner. Lieut. Drake 
 now ordered a retreat, and in endeavoring to hold the en¬ 
 emy in check, so as to give the men time to save Capt. 
 Hartshorn, he received a shot in the groin. The ene¬ 
 my now pressed so hard as to compel the men to leave 
 their captain. 
 
 Great numbers of the Indians must have been killed, 
 
 • as they came forward in solid columns, up to the muzzle 
 of the guns, Lieut. Michael, who was with Capt. 
 Hartshorn, but whom he had detached with a few active 
 men to the flank of the enemy, was now missing ; and 
 while their companions in the fort were deploring their 
 fate and had given them up as lost, they saw him and 
 Lieut. Marks rushing through the thick of the enemy 
 
 ■ -$ 0 "' { 
 
I 
 
 —159— 
 
 at opposite directions, and though numbers of guns were 
 fired at them they got in safe . 4 Lieut. Michael lost every 
 man of his part^ except three, and Lieut. Marks got off 
 by knocking down the Indian who took him* 
 
 The Indians were observed to carry off great numbers 
 of killed and wounded on pack horses—the loss of the 
 Americans was 25 killed, and about 40 wounded—the 
 party commanded by Capt. Hartshorn brought in ten 
 scalps of the enemy. 
 
 CHAP. XL 
 
 DEPREDATIONS OF THE INDIANS ON THE- 
 
 FRONTIERS in 1791, 1792 and 1793. 
 
 ON the 10th December 1791, as two men and 
 three boys were fishing on Floyd’s fork of Salt Riv¬ 
 er, they were suddenly attacked by a party of Indians, 
 who killed the two men and made prisoners of the boys. 
 Soon after they liberated one of the lads, first presenting 
 him with a tomahawk, which they desired him to carry 
 to his friends and inform them what had become of his 
 companions. 
 
 About the 20th, a party of Indians attacked the house 
 of a Mr. Chenoweth, situated near the mouth of the 
 Wabash, they killed and scalped two of his children 
 and tomahawked and scalped his wife, whom they left 
 for dead—Mr. C. (who had his arm broken by the fire 
 of the savages) with the remainder of the family made 
 their escape.—A sick daughter who was confined to her 
 chamber, and who during the bloody affray had been for- 
 gotton by her father, remained ignorant of the horrid 
 massacre until the succeeding day ; when, no one of the 
 fwojly coming to her assist&nce 3 she succeeded in crawL 
 
— 160 —- 
 
 i 
 
 ing down stairs, where she was inexpressibly shocked at 
 the sight of a beloved parent stretched upon the floor, 
 almost lifeless, and beside of whom lay the managled 
 bodies of her dear brothers. Fortunately, her unhappy 
 lather returned the succeeding day to the house, and con¬ 
 veyed the two surviving members of his family to the 
 house of a friend, where they finally recovered. 
 
 On the 24th, a party of Indians attacked the dwel¬ 
 ling house of a Mr. John Merril , in Nelson county, 
 (Kentucky.)—Mr. Merril , who was first alarmed by 
 the barking of his dog, hastened to the door to discover 
 the cause, on opening of which, he received the fire of the 
 Indians which broke his right leg and arm—the Indians 
 now attempted to enter the house, but was prevented by 
 the doors being immediately closed and secured by Mrs$ 
 Merril and her daughter—the Indians succeeded in 
 hewing away a part of the door, through which passage 
 one of them attempted to enter, but the heroic mother, in 
 the midst of her screaming children and groaning hus¬ 
 band, seized an axe and gave the ruffian a fatal blow ; af¬ 
 ter which she hauled him through the passage into the 
 house !—the others (unconscious of the fate of their com¬ 
 panion) supposing that they had now nearly succeeded in 
 their object, rushed forward, four of whom Mrs. Merril 
 in like manner despatched before the others discovered 
 their mistake.—The remaining Indians, after retiring for 
 a few moments, returned and renewed their efforts to enter 
 the house—despairing of succeeding at the door they got 
 on the top of the house and attempted to descend the 
 chimney, to prevent which Mr* Merril directed his lit¬ 
 tle sou to empty upon the fire the contents of a feather¬ 
 bed, which had the desired effect, as the smoke and heat 
 caused thereby, soon brought down rather unexpectedly 
 two of the enemy :—Mr. Merril exerting every faculty 
 
 at this critical moment, seized a billet of wood with 
 
 - • 
 
tirhich he soon despatched the two half smothered Indians, 
 while in the mean time his heroic wife was busily engag¬ 
 ed in defending the door against the efforts of the only 
 remaining one, whom she so severely wounded with an 
 axe that he was soon glad to retire. 
 
 A prisoner who escaped from the enemy soon after 
 the transaction, informed that the wounded savage above 
 mentioned was the only one that escaped of the party, 
 which consisted of eight—that on his return being asked 
 by the prisoner “ what news,” he answered “bad news 
 for poor Indian, me lose a son, me lose a brother—the 
 squaws have taken the breach clout and fight worse than 
 the “ Long Knives !'* 
 
 * 
 
 Copy ol a letter from a gentleman residing at the west¬ 
 ward to a friend in New-York, dated, 
 f Marietta , February 1 , 179 2 . 
 
 “ Our prospects are much changed.—Instead of peace 
 and friendship with our Indian neighbors, a horrid savage 
 war stares us in the face ; the Indians, instead of being 
 humbled by the destruction of the Shavvanese towns, and 
 brought to beg for peabe, appear determined on a gener¬ 
 al war, in which our settlements are already involved—- 
 On the evening of the second instant, they fell on a set¬ 
 tlement about forty miles up the Muskingum, surprised 
 a block-house, killed fourteen persons, and. carried off 
 three others. The persons killed are, John and Philip 
 Stacy, sons to Col. William Stacy, from New Salem, Ez¬ 
 ra Putnam, son to Major Ezra Putnam, from Middle- 
 town, in Massachusetts, John Camp, from the same 
 place, Jonathan Farewell, and James Cash, and William 
 Patton, fiom New Hampshire, Zebulon Troop, f ora 
 Baare, William James, from Connecticut, Joseph Clarke, 
 from Rhode-Tsland, a man by the name of Meeks, with 
 
 V 
 
162 
 
 bis wife and children, from Virginia. These were all 
 killed-in and at the block-house. Francis and Isaac 
 Choat, from Leicester, and one Shaw, who kept at a hut 
 about 50 rods from the block house, was not found by the 
 party that went out, and it is hoped that they are prison¬ 
 ers.—What number of Indians were concerned in this 
 mischief, or from what tribe, we know not, but from those 
 Indians who till lately used to visit our settlement every 
 day, withdrawing themselves entirely from our sight, ever 
 since the expedition against the Shavvanese, there is little 
 reason to doubt but the Delawares and the Wiandots, as 
 weil as others, have had a hand in this nefarious business* 
 
 “ It is impossible for me to give a just idea of the 
 distress into which this event has thrown the inhabitants, 
 especially those of the out settlements. For my own 
 part I have lor some time been of opinion, that the spring 
 would open with a general attack on thtj frontiers, in which 
 event I did not expect we should escape, unless govern¬ 
 ment should timely send troops for our protection, which 
 tve was in hopes would be the case. But it seems the 
 enemy are determined to take advantage of our defence¬ 
 less situation. I consider this event as the forerunner of 
 other attacks cf a more serious nature, and which may 
 involve us in complete ruin, unless prevented by govern¬ 
 ment immediately taking measures for our protection.—* 
 To their protection I conceive we always had an indispu¬ 
 table claim, which claim, if possible, is increased by the 
 circumstances that have brought us under the resent* 
 ment of the Indians, and at least, in some measure pro¬ 
 duced the mischiefs that we are fallen into.” 
 
 Copy of a letter from a gentleman in Kentucky to his 
 friend in Philadelphia, dated 
 
 March 3, 1792. 
 
 s< As to the Indians, they have been troublesome all 
 
— 163— 
 
 winter. Since October last, 60 persons have been killed 
 within the limits of this district, besides a number des¬ 
 troyed on the Ohio ; among whom is our old acquain¬ 
 tance, Mr. John May, late of Botetoute, whose exit de¬ 
 serves notice, because he was actuated by motives of hu¬ 
 manity. The affair is thus related by a captive that has 
 lately made his escape from the Indians, who was a spec¬ 
 tator. and an unwilling instrument in the tragedy. 
 
 Mr. May, in descending the Great Kanhawa and Ohio, 
 about the 20th of February last, discovered on the western 
 shore of the latter, near the mouth of Sciotai a white 
 man, who, with a plaintive voice, was calling, for God’s 
 sake, to come and take a poor prisoner on board, that was 
 endeavouring to escape from the savages. This had the 
 intended effect. Mr. May ordered the boat towards the 
 shore, and did not discover his mistake until the Indians 
 rose up from their ambush, fired, shot him dead, and 
 wounded some dthers of the passengers on board, who 
 immediately endeavored to make off; but being toicl in 
 the English tongue, they should have good quarters, sur¬ 
 rendered without resistance. The Indians, however, on 
 boarding the boat, massacred all, without distinction* 
 Two days after, the same party attempted to decoy three 
 large boats ashore that were coming down from Fort Pitt, 
 but luckily they were discovered in time, and our people 
 sheered off. The enemy, being prepared, manned one 
 of their boats with about 30 warriors, and g i ave chase. 
 The crews of two of the boats, fearing they might be 
 overtaken, quitted them, and went on board the best sailor, 
 where they threw overboard all the horses, and some 
 heavy articles, and plied all their oars to effect their es¬ 
 cape. The Indians also exerted themselves in the pur* 
 suit, keeping on a steady course for about 20 miles, not¬ 
 withstanding 24 well armed white men were on board 
 tbe American boat, with one of our Colonels of 
 
1 
 
 
 *- m- 
 
 Thus, for want of a little resolution and skill, a favour¬ 
 able opportunity was lost, to destroy a number of the vile 
 enemies to the human race. The Indians, on their re¬ 
 turn, took possession of the two boats that were abandon¬ 
 ed, and found in them 17 horses, 5000 dollars worth of 
 merchandize, and considerable property, belonging to the 
 emigrants. 
 
 Fort M’Intosh, on the Ohio, was a short time since 
 attacked by a party of Indians—they secreted themselves 
 near the fort and succeeded in killing the centinel on du¬ 
 ty, they then rushed into the fort and discharged their 
 pieces on those within, but one man was wounded, who, 
 in endeavouring to escape, was tomahawked by an In¬ 
 dian. One ball just grazed the temple of Capt. Forbes, 
 who commanded the guard, and four others struck the 
 log above his head, the splinters and bits of which cut 
 his face, and left it as if scarified. The garrison consist¬ 
 ed ol twenty men and there were about forty of the 
 enemy. 
 
 Thus, sir, we find that Indian treaties do not secure 
 our country from the depredations of the savages oyr 
 last hope now is that the President of the United States 
 will, ere long, adopt such measures as will prove the 
 efficiency of the Federal Government, to protect the citi¬ 
 zens of the United States, however remotely situated 
 from the seat of government.” 
 
 Copy of a letter from a gentleman in South-Carolina to a 
 friend in New-York, dated 
 
 41 Charleston , August 6, 1792* 
 
 ** An express arrived from Gen. Pickens and Colonel 
 Anderson, which brings advices to the Governor, stating, 
 that a general Indian war on the western frontiers of the 
 southern states seems inevitable | that by intelligence from 
 
 
fche country of the Creeks, all the tribes except the Cus* 
 sataws are determined for war ; urged by Galphjn, the 
 successor of M‘Gillivray ; and that they have already 
 commenced hostilities within the Carolina line, a party of 
 them having killed and scalped a man on Tugaloo. We 
 hear his excellency has ordered one third of the militia 
 in the upper districts to be drafted, and held in readiness 
 for immediate service, should the savages make further 
 
 N ^ 
 
 depredations on the frontiers. 
 
 “ Yesterday evening a gentleman arrived here from 
 Augusta, in Georgia, who informed us, that six of the 
 Creek towns, with a number of Cherokees, had declared 
 war against the United States, and were actually march¬ 
 ing under the command of Bowles and Galfhin to at¬ 
 tack the frontiers? 
 
 “ On the 22d ult. the Indians, 37 in number, came to 
 the house of a Mr. Richarb Thresher, in Augusta, 
 and fired upon and killed Mr. Thresher, two children 
 and a negro woman ; Mrs. Thresher, to avoid if possi- 
 sible the fate with which she was threatened, fled with an 
 infant of about five or six. weeks old in her arms, and 
 leaped into the river ; the Indians pursued) shot her 
 through each thigh and right breast, stabbed her in the 
 left breast with a knife, cut her left arm nearly off, and 
 then scalped her. In this horrid situation she remained 
 until the neighbours could assemble in sufficient numbers 
 to cross the river and pursue the Indians. As the first 
 canoe was crossing she had strength enough to call for 
 assistance, they went, found her hanging by a bush in 
 water nearly up to her chin, her infant at the bottom of 
 the river, a few yards from her. She lived 24 hours, and 
 when informed by her physician that it was impossible 
 for her to survive much longer, she with a fortitude that 
 is rarely to be met with, called her friends around her, 
 and in a calm but pathetic manner, gave her hand to each 
 
one, wishing them a better fate than had befallen herself 
 and family ; and when after her speech failed, as neigh¬ 
 bors were constantly coming in, she continued to give 
 her hand until about five minutes before she resigned her 
 breath, which was without a groan. 
 
 “ Mrs. Thresher was about twenty-five years of age, 
 of a respectable family and elegant person, and possessed 
 an uncommon education* 
 
 “ On Thursday the 24th two men were killed in Frank¬ 
 lin, and 40 horses carried off; and since the accounts 
 above received, all the inhabitants on the frontiers have 
 retreated into forts, without arms or ammunition.—At 
 one meeting of near 40 persons they could only muster 
 five old muskets ; to heighten the horror of their condi¬ 
 tion, the Ind:ans were momently expected 
 
 u As similar murders are daily committed, it called up 
 the spirit of 800 gallant fellows, who marched last week 
 against the savages, determined to revenge the cruelties 
 perpetrated on the infant, the mother, and the defenceless. 
 
 To see the country all in forts, breaking up, leaving 
 their farms, their houses and corn burnt up, is truly dis¬ 
 tressing. At this time nearly half the country are in forts. 
 
 “ Captain Kenton with about 35 men, who went up 
 the Ohio in order to intercept the Indians who took Mor¬ 
 gan's station, fell in with a trail of a party of Indians on 
 the waters of Point Creek, coming in to the settlement. 
 He followed them, and at night observing he was near 
 them, sent forward some spies to discover their fires } 
 •unluckily the spies fell in with their camp, and before they 
 discovered it the Indians were alarmed by a dog who 
 flew cut at the spies ; upon which the Indians fired on 
 them ; the spies returned the fire ; upon hearing the fir¬ 
 ing the whole of the party came up, and the Indians re¬ 
 treated, leaving their baggage, amongst which was a 
 quantity of powder, lead, and blankets. Kenton had 
 
J 
 
 — 167— 
 
 cne man killed. It is supposed two Indians were killed 
 and carried off, from some discoveries that were made 
 next morning.’* 
 
 Copy of a letter from Fort Washington, dated April 
 
 20th 1792. 
 
 lt On Tuesday morning the 6th inst. Major Adair, 
 with 120 mounted volunteers from Kentucky, having 
 charge of a large number of pack horses laden with pro¬ 
 visions, destined for the advanced postfc, was most dar¬ 
 ingly attacked by nearly an equal party of Indians, al¬ 
 though under cover of Fort St. Clair—notwithstanding 
 which, and that cur people fought desperately, the In¬ 
 dians drove them into the fort, and carried off ail the 
 provisions and horses (both pack and cavalry) save about 
 twenty killed and four wounded, and stripped the camp 
 of every thing ; carrying the whole off with most, au¬ 
 dacious insult and triumph. But as soon as the party 
 were re-supplied with ammunition from the garrison, 
 they sallied forth near a quarter of a mile from the ene¬ 
 my ; but too late to recover the booty which the Indians 
 had made. The courage and daring spirit of these peo¬ 
 ple were particularly conspicuous on this occasion, as 
 they fought almost under the guns of the Fort. Our 
 loss w r as one captain and ten privates killed, and some 
 wounded, besides horses and provisions estimated at fif¬ 
 teen thousand dollars. Two of the enemy were found 
 dead a short distance from the field of action. If these In¬ 
 dians had writers among them, what honorable testimo¬ 
 ny and eulogy might they not give of the noble spirit 
 and heroic bravery of the native American character, 
 rather than depreciate it as the Europeans do. Two of 
 our men have lately made their escape from the Miami 
 villages and arrived here—they give account of a mock 
 
— 168 — 
 
 fight lately exhibited to amuse the numerous Indians As¬ 
 sembled there, and to divert there squaws and children. 
 —It was in ridicule of General St. Clair’s disposition 
 of his troops on the 4th November last, and of his flight 
 before the Indians, who pursued him and his army 
 whilst the other plundered his camp; they have given 
 out that they mean to celebrate this event annually, by a 
 like sham fight and a great dance to be called General 
 St. Clair’s fight and dance. It is to be hoped we yet 
 shall have an opportunity to retaliate, and to teach our 
 enemy to amuse themselves at our expense in a 'less lu¬ 
 dicrous manner. It seems Gen. St. Clair’s field of ac¬ 
 tion was on a branch of the Wabash, twenty-four leagues 
 from the Miami towns, which are now inhabited by the 
 hostile Indians. 
 
 « A letter from a correspondent, on whose veracity 
 we can rely, in the territory of the United Stales south 
 of the river Ohio, dated the 17th ult. states that every 
 thing wears a gloomy aspect on the western frontiers ; 
 that about the last of December, the Cherokeea sent in 
 peace talkers to Governor Blount, which were only 
 intended to facilitate the commission of further depreda¬ 
 tions by them, when the guards from cur out-posts were 
 withdrawn ; that from the 16th to the 26th of January, 
 the Indians killed and wounded 19 persons in Cumber¬ 
 land, among whom was Ewin Shelby, brother to the 
 Governor of Kentucky ; that four of the Chickamogga 
 towns and the upper Creeks have declared war ; that the 
 Creeks had killed a family in the county of George ; that 
 the barbarity exercised by them in this massacre, was 
 enough to make huinan nature shudder at the bare reci¬ 
 tal. —They butchered them like so many dogs, caught 
 their blood and bowels, exposed them to view, and then 
 gave the whole to a tame bear to devour ; that the Chero¬ 
 keea had killed two Creeks, wounded several, and takep 
 
 '■ ^J'% ^ ._-x 
 
 ■*AA /:*■ ♦ 
 
 * A 
 
5? 
 
 t .* 
 
 two prisoners ; that the Creeks threaten to retaliate, and 
 cut them all off; that the inhabitants of the territory are 
 waiting with impatience for the general government to 
 afford them succour and protection ; that treaties with the 
 savages will avail nothing, as, what promises they make 
 to-day, they will not hesitate to break to-morrow.” 
 
 Copy of a letter from Mr. John Corbly , (a Baptist mi¬ 
 nister) to his friend in Philadelphia, dated 
 
 4i Muddy Creek , (Penn.) Sept. 1, 1792. 
 
 tl Dear Sir , 
 
 “ The following are the particulars of the de« 
 struction of my unfortunate family by the Savages—On 
 the 10th May last being my appointment to preach at 
 one of my meeting houses, about a mile from my dwel¬ 
 ling house, I sat out with my loving wife and five chil¬ 
 dren, for public worship. Not suspecting any danger, 
 I walked behind a few rods with my bible in my hand, 
 meditating.—As I \fats thus employed, on a sudden, I 
 was greatly alarmed by the frightful shrieks of my dear 
 family before me—I immediately ran to their relief with 
 all possible speed, vainly hunting a club as I ran—when 
 within a few yards of them, my poor wife observing me 
 cried out to me to make my escape—at this instant an 
 Indian ran up to shoot me, I had to strip ao.d by so doing 
 out run him. My wife had an infant in her arms which 
 the Indians killed and scalped, after which they struck 
 my wife several times, but not bringing her to the ground, 
 the Indian who attempted to shoot me approaches her 
 and shot her through the body, after which they scalped 
 her !—my little son, about six years old, they despatched 
 by sinking their hatchets into his brains 1—my little 
 daughter, four years old, they in like manner killed and 
 
 X 
 
scalped ! My eldest daughter attempted an escape bf 
 concealing herself in a hollow tree, about six rods from 
 the fatal scene of action—observing the Indians retiring 
 (as she supposed) she deliberately crept from the place of 
 her concealment, when one of the Indians, who yet re¬ 
 mained on the ground, espying her, ran up to her and 
 with his tomahawk knocked her down and scalped her !— 
 but, blessed be God, she yet survives, as does her little 
 sister whom the savages in like manner tomahawked and 
 scalped—they are mangled to a shocking degree, but the 
 doctors think there are some hopes of their recovery. 
 
 When I supposed the Indians gone I returned to see 
 what had become of my unfortunate family—whom, alas, 
 1 found in the situation above described 1—No one, my 
 dear Iriend, can form a true conception of my feelings at 
 this moment—a view of a scene so shocking to humanity 
 quite overcome me—I fainted, and was unconciously 
 borne off by a friend who at the instant arrived to my relief. 
 
 Thus, deap sir, have I given you a faithful though a 
 short narrative of the fatal catastrophe—and amidst 
 which my life is spared, but for what purpose the Great 
 Jehovah best knows—oh, may I spend it to the praise 
 and glory of his grace, who worketh all things after the 
 council of his own will—‘the government of the world and 
 the church is in his hands. I conclude with wishing you 
 every blessing, and subscribe myself your affectionate 
 though afflicted friend, and unworthy brother in the gos¬ 
 pel ministry. JOHN CORBLY.” 
 
 On the 27th September, 1792, as five gentlemen 
 
 « 
 
 (Messrs. Jacobus Taller, Isaac Arnold, James Ste¬ 
 wart, Daniel Barclay, and Isaac Van Alstyne,) 
 were on their way to Detroit, at a place called the river 
 Burdel, on Lake Erie, they were suddenly attached by 
 
four Mahagon or Delaware Indians, (armed with mus¬ 
 kets and tomahawks) who fired on them and killed Mr. 
 Taller and Mr. Barclay dead on the spot, and wound¬ 
 ed Mr. Arnold— they then rushed on with their toma¬ 
 hawks—one attacked Mr. Arnold, who, after a smart 
 struggle, in which he received several wounds in his head, 
 disengaged himself, and having a musket at the instant 
 presented him by Mr. Stewart, snapped it (it unfortu¬ 
 nately not being charged) at the Indian, who immediately 
 thereupon with the three others fled to the woods. As 
 soon as they had disappeared, Mr. Arnold and his com¬ 
 panion hastened to the shore of the lake, in which they 
 launched their batteau, but when about thirty rods from 
 the shore, they were hailed by Mr. Van Alstyne, who 
 during the bloody contest had secreted himself in the 
 bushes—he begged of his companions to return and take 
 him on board, on which Mr. Arnold requested him to 
 proeeed'a few rods down the lake to a; point of land, 
 where he could more conveniently take him in—Mr. Van 
 Acstyne, it was supposed, misunderstanding his friend, 
 proceeded directly up the lake, to the very spot where 
 the Indians were then assembled, who with their toma¬ 
 hawks instantly despatched him ; after which they follow¬ 
 ed the two survivors, in an old canoe, two or three miles 
 down the lake, but being unable to overhaul them, they 
 discontinued the pursuit. 
 
 Copy of a letter from a gentleman in Marietta to his 
 friend in Washington, dated 
 
 “ Marietiq, March 4, 1793. 
 
 “ About eight weeks since, two brothers by the name 
 of Johnson, one 12, the other 9 years old, were playing 
 on the western bank of Short Creek, about twelve miles 
 from Wheeling, skipping stones in the water,—At a dia- 
 
iajtice they discovered two men, who appeared to be set¬ 
 tlers, being dressed with coats and hats.-—These men tp 
 amuse and deceive the children (as they even shewed) 
 engaged in the same sport, advancing towards the boys, 
 till by degress they got so near that the children discov¬ 
 ered them to be Indians ; but it was then too late to make 
 their escape. The Indians seized and carried them six 
 miles into the woods, where they made a fire, and took 
 up their lodgings for the night; their rifles and toma¬ 
 hawks they rested against a tree, and then laid down, 
 each Indian with a boy on his arm. The children as 
 may be supposed kept awake—the oldest begun to move, 
 and finding his Indian sound asleep, by degrees disen¬ 
 gaged himself, and went to the fire, which had then got 
 low and stirred it up ; the Indian not waking, he whisper¬ 
 ed to his brother, who likewise crept away, and both of 
 them went to the fire. The oldest boy then observed to 
 his brother, “ I think we can kill these Indians, and get 
 away from them”—the youngest agreed in the proposal 
 cf attempting it. The oldest then took one of the rifles, 
 and placed the muzzle, which he rested on a small stick 
 that he found for the purpose, close to the head of one 
 of the Indians, and committing the execution of this part 
 of the business to his brother, ordered him to pull the 
 trigger at the moment he saw him strike- the other In¬ 
 dian with one of the tomahawks. The oldest gave the 
 signal ; the youngest pulled trigger—the rifle shot away 
 the lower part of the Indian’s face and left him senseless $ 
 he then told his brother to lay on, for he had done for 
 his; after which he snatched up the gun and ran ; the 
 boy with the tomahawk gave the stroke with the wrong 
 end, the Indian started on his seat—the boy found the 
 mistake, and turning the tomahawk in his hand, gave 
 him another blow which brought him to the ground j he 
 repeated his strokes until he had despatched him, and 
 
then made the best of his way after his brother. When 
 the boys had found the path which they recollected to have 
 travelled before, the oldest fixed his hat on a bush, as a 
 directory to find the scene of action the next day. The 
 tomahawked Indian was found near the place where the 
 boys had left him. The other was not there ; but was 
 tracked by his blood, and although so weakened by his 
 wounds, that he could not raise his rifle to fire at his pur- 
 t suers (the whites) they suffered him to escape ; but it is 
 supposed he must have died of his wounds. These two 
 Indians were sent out to reconnoitre the best place for an 
 attack, which was to have been made by a body of warri¬ 
 ors, waiting in the neighborhood.’* 
 
 Copy of a letter from Colonel Robertson to General 
 
 Washington, dated 
 
 Nashville , Feb. 1, 1793. 
 
 « Sir—By accounts received from the Chickasaw na¬ 
 tion of Indians, we are inform'd that at a grand council 
 of their warriors, it was unanimously determined to com¬ 
 mence active operations against the whites ; the Chero- 
 kees they expect Will join them. The white inhabitants 
 in this quarter are drawing together, and are doing every 
 thing possible for their defence, but I fear without some 
 timely assistance we shall all fall a sacrifice to the wan¬ 
 ton barbarity of our savage foes, who we expect are now 
 on their way to this place to the number of one thou¬ 
 sand. Major Hall and his eldest son fell a sacrifice to 
 their fury two days ago, near Bedloe’s Lick. They have 
 killed about twenty-four persons in the course of a few 
 months in this settlement, besides a great number more 
 $iear it. 
 
 from Burke county we learn that <m the 11th instant 
 
— 174— 
 
 two men, a woman, and her little daughter, were scalp¬ 
 ed at William’s Swamp, on the Ogechee river, by a par¬ 
 ty of Indians—the little girl (to deter them from their 
 cruel design) held out a bottle of honey, telling them it 
 was rum, begging them in the mean time to spare her 
 life—they told her they did not want rum, but her hair ! 
 they knocked her down and scalped her, but we are hap¬ 
 py to learn she is in a fair way of recovery. 
 
 By a letter from Kentucky, I am informed that the 
 Indians have done more mischief in that state the pre¬ 
 sent year, than for at least four years past. Scarce a 
 boat can pass below Limestone but what is attacked by 
 them ; six or seven have been captured, some with very 
 valuable lading—by a prisoner who escaped from them a 
 short time since, we are informed that the Indians have 
 procured a boat, or rather a kind of floating battery, with 
 the sides built high and rendered bullet proof; this boat 
 is stationed near the mouth of the Great Miami. They 
 a few days since captured a boat in which were a CapU 
 Ashley and his family—a son of the captain having 
 been very spirited in the opposition, the savages imme¬ 
 diately put him to death, cut out his heart and broiled it, 
 which they afterwards devoured in the presence of the 
 unhappy father, who has since made his escape from 
 them—a proceeding so barbarous as this, I have never 
 heard of being practiced by the savages before*’* 
 
 Copy of a letter from General Clarke, to his Honor the 
 Governor of the State of Georgia, dated 
 
 u Long Creek , Sept. 24, 1793. 
 
 Sir—I had certain information that a man was killed 
 on the 14th near Greensborough, by a party of six or 
 seven Indians; and that on the 16th Col. Barber, with 
 a small party was waylaid by 50 or 60 Indians, by whqrri 
 
—175 — 
 
 three of his party were killed. This, together with a 
 variety of other accounts equally alarming, determined 
 me to raise what men I could in the course of 24 hours, 
 and march with them to protect the frontiers, in which 
 apace of time I collected 162 men, chiefly volunteers, 
 and proceeded to the place where Col. Barber had been 
 attacked, where I found the bodies of the three men 
 mentioned above, mangled in a shocking manner, and 
 after I had buried them, proceeded on the trail of the 
 murderers as far as the south fork of the Oakmulgee, 
 where, finding I had no chance of overtaking them, I 
 left it and went up the said river, until I met with a fresh 
 trail of Indians coming in towards our frontier settle¬ 
 ments ; I immediately turned and followed this trail un¬ 
 til the morning of the 21st, between 11 and 12 o’clock, 
 when I came up with them. They had just crossed a 
 branch called Jack’s Creek, through a thick cane brake, 
 and were encamped and cooking on an eminence. My 
 force then consisted of 130 men, 30 having been sent 
 back on account of their horses being tired and lost. I 
 drew up my men in three divisions, the right command¬ 
 ed by Col. Freeman and Major Clarke, who were or¬ 
 dered to surround and charge the Indians, which they 
 did with such dexterity and spirit that they immediately 
 drove them from their encampment back into the cane 
 brake, where, finding it impossible for them to escape, 
 they obstinately returned our fire until half past four 
 o’clock, when they ceased, except now and then a shot. 
 
 M During the latter part of the action they seized eve¬ 
 ry opportunity of escaping by small parties leaving the 
 rest to shift for themselves. About sunset I thought it 
 most adviseable to draw off, as the men had suffered for 
 want of provisions nearly two clays, and for want of wa¬ 
 ter during the action, but more particularly to take care 
 of the wounded, which amounted to eleven, and six kil- 
 
^—176— 
 
 led. From every circumstance I am certain there were 
 not less than 25 Indians killed, and probably double that 
 number wounded.—In short they were totally defeated, 
 with the loss of their provisions, cloalhing, See. consis¬ 
 ting of the following articles: 4 muskets, 32 brass ket¬ 
 tles, and 100 large packs, containing blankets, match- 
 coats, boots, moccasofis, tomahawks, pipes, upwards of 
 100 halters and bridles, &c. from all which I judge their 
 number was fully equal to ours. Col. Freeman and 
 Major Clarke distinguished themselves, and from the 
 spirit and bravery with which the whole of my little par¬ 
 ty acted during the action, I do not believe that had we 
 met them in the open woods, we should have been more 
 than five minutes in destroying them all. 
 
 “ While I was on this excursion two skirmishes hap¬ 
 pened near Greensborough, in one of which one man 
 was wounded, and in the other six stand of arms were 
 lost, being guarded by only two men, while the rest of 
 the party was gathering fodder. 
 
 “ I am, Sir, with the utmost respect, your Honor’s most 
 obedient, and very humble servant. 
 
 “ B. CLARK, Brig. Gen . 
 w The Hon, George Mathews , Governor of Georgia 
 
 Copy of a letter from an officer in the service of the Uni¬ 
 ted States to his friend in New York, dated 
 
 “ Buffaloe Creek , Sept; 27, 1793* 
 
 “ I left Fort Franklin the 3d instant, and arrived here 
 the 1 lth in the evening, at the house of Mr* Winnev, 
 who informs ipe that upwards of four thousand hostile In¬ 
 dians were now assembled at the Miami villages, and that 
 their number was daily increasing—Captain Powel and 
 several other gentlemen o; a British army dined with 
 me yesterday> apd from tl conversation I am perfectly 
 
convinced that the Indians are supported by the British id 
 the war against us—indeed. Captain Powel told me, that 
 all the intentions of the Indians was well known to them» 
 and the Indians were their allies, and of course they must 
 support them—he also informed me that ten scouts of 
 hostile Indians yvere then out to strike on the frontiers? 
 and that they would soon strike the Six Nations* Some 
 of the chiefs of the hostile Indians passed here about five 
 days ago on their way to Canada, but what their business 
 is I cannot learn.” 
 
 CHAP. XII. 
 
 BEFEAT OF THE INDIANS BY GEN. WAYNE, 
 
 August 20th, 1794. 
 
 Gen. WAYNE vro *re SECRETARY of WAR. 
 
 S 1 Ry 
 
 u IT is with infinite pleasure that I announce to 
 you the brilliant success of the Federal army under my 
 command, in a general action with the combined force of 
 the hostile Indians, and a considerable number of the vol¬ 
 unteers and militia of Detroit on the 20ih August on 
 the banks of the iVliamis, in the vicinity of the British 
 post and garrison at the foot of the Rapids. 
 
 The army advanced from Fort Washington on the 15th, 
 and arrived at Roach Dc Bi ui on the .S.h.and the k9th, 
 we were employed in making a temporary post for the 
 Teception ot ou? stoies ai d baggage, and in reconnoitr¬ 
 ing h position of the enemy t who were encamped behnd 
 a thick bushy wood and the British fort. 
 
 A 8 o’clock on the moaning of the 20,h, he army 
 again advanced in columns agreeable to the standing er- 
 
der of march, the legion an the right, its right flank 
 covered by the Miamis— -one brigade of mounted volun¬ 
 teers on the left under Brigadier-General Todd, and the 
 other in the rear-under Brigadier-General Barbee. A 
 select battalion of mounted volunteers moved in front of 
 the legation, commanded by Major Price, who was di¬ 
 rected to keep sufficiently advanced, and to give timely 
 notice for the troops to form in case of action, it being 
 yet undetermined whether the Indians would decide for 
 peace or war. 
 
 After advancing about five miles, Major Price’s corps 
 received so severe a fire from the enemy, who were seV 
 crewed in the woods and high grass, as to compel them to 
 retreat. 
 
 The legion was immediately formed in two lines, prin¬ 
 cipally in a close thick wood which extended for miles 
 on our left, and for a very considerable distance in front, 
 the ground being covered with old fallen timber, probably 
 occasioned by a tornado, which rendered it Impracticable 
 for the cavalry to act with effect, and afforded the enemy 
 the most favourable coven fer their mode of warfare ; the 
 Savages were formed in three lines within supporting 
 distance of each other, and extending for near two miles 
 at light angles with the river. I soon discovered from 
 the weight of the fire and extent of their lines, that the 
 enemy were in full force in front, in possession of their 
 iavorite ground, and endeavouring to turn our left flank ; 
 I therefore gave orders for the second line to advance to 
 support the first, and directed Major General Scott to 
 gain and turn the right flank of the Savages, with the 
 whole of the mounted volunteers by a circuitous route ; 
 at the same time I ordered the front line to advance and 
 charge with trailed arms, and rouse the Indians fron\ 
 their coverts at the point of the bayonet, and when up to 
 deliver a close and well directed fire on their backs, fo!« 
 
lowed by a brisk charge so as not to give them time to 
 load again* or to form their lines. 
 
 I also ordered Capt. M. Campbell, who commanded 
 the legionary cavalry, to turn the left flank of the enemy 
 next the river, and which afforded a favourable field for 
 that corps to act in—all those orders were obeyed with 
 spirit and promtitude ; but such was the impetuosity of 
 the charge by the first line of infantry that the Indians 
 and Canadian militia and volunteers were drove from all 
 their coverts, in so short a time, that although every 
 possible exertion was used by the officers of the second 
 line of the legion and by Generals Scott, Wood, and 
 Barbee, of the mounted volunteers to gain their proper 
 positions, but part of each could get up in season to par¬ 
 ticipate in the action, the enemy being drove in the 
 course of one hour more than two miles, through the 
 thick woods already mentioned by less than one half 
 their number. 
 
 From every account the enemy amounted to two thou¬ 
 sand combutants, the troops actually engaged against 
 them were short of nine hundred.—This horde of Sava¬ 
 ges, with their allies, abandoned themselves to flight, 
 and dispersed with terror and dismay, leaving our victo¬ 
 rious army in full and quiet possession of the field of bat¬ 
 tle, which terminated under the influence of the guns of 
 the British garrison. 
 
 The bravery and conduct of every officer belonging 
 to the army, from the Generals down to the Ensigns, 
 merit my approbation. 
 
 Lieutenant Covington, upon whom the command of 
 the cavalry devolved (capt. Campbell being killed) cut 
 down two Savages with his own hand, and Lieutenant 
 Webb one, in turning the enemy’s left flank. 
 
 The wounds received by Captains Slough, Prior, 
 Van Ranselaer and Rawlins, and Lieutenants M** 
 
•p- 180 — 
 
 #Lenny and Smith, bear honourable testimony of theif 
 bravery and conduct; in fact every officer and soldier 
 who had an opportunity to come into action displayed 
 that true bravery which will always insure success ; and 
 here permit me to declare that I have never discovered 
 more true spirit and anxiety for action than appeared to 
 pervade the whole of the mounted volunteers, and I am 
 well persuaded, that had the enemy maintained their 
 favorite ground for one half hour longer they would have 
 most severely felt the prowess of that corps. 
 
 But whilst I pay this just tribute to the living I must 
 not neglect the gallant dead, among whom we have to 
 lament the early death of those worthy and brave officers, 
 Capt. Campbell and Lieut. Towles, who fell in the 
 first charge. 
 
 The loss of the enemy was more than double to that 
 of the federal army—the woods were strewed for a con¬ 
 siderable distance with dead bodies of Indians and their 
 white auxiliaries, the latter armed with British muskets 
 and bayonets. We remained three days and nights on 
 the banks of the Miamis, in front of the field of battle, 
 during which time all the houses and ce v ..ukids were 
 consumed and destroyed for a considerate .distance above 
 and below the garrison, among which we 2 (he houses, 
 stores and property of Col. MhK.EE, the British Indian 
 agent and principal stimulator of the war now existing 
 between the United States and the savages. 
 
 The army returned to head quarters on the 27ih, by 
 easy marches, laying waste the villages and cornfields fop 
 about fifty miles on each side of the Miamis. It is not 
 improbable but that the enemy may make one desperate 
 eifort against the army, as it is said a reinforcement was 
 hourly expected at Fort Miamis from Niagara, as well 
 as numerous tribes of Indians living on the margins and 
 islands of the lakes. This is an event rather to be wish- 
 
—isi— 
 
 ed for than dreaded whilst the army remains in force 
 their numbers will only tend to confuse the savages, and 
 the victory will be the more complete and decisive, and 
 which may eventually insure a permanent and happy 
 peace. 
 
 The following is a return of the killed, and wounded, and 
 missing of the federal army, in the late action, to wit :— 
 
 Killed — 1 Captain, 1 Lieutenant, 3 Sergeants, 28 
 privates—Total 33. 
 
 Wounded—4 Captains, 2 Lieutenants, 1 Ensign, 4 
 Sergeants, 3 Corporals, 2 Musicians, 84 privates—Total 
 
 1GO. 
 
 I have the honor to be, your most obedient and very 
 fiumble servant, 
 
 ANTHONY WAYNE.’* 
 
 u To the Secretary of War, 9 ’ 
 
 The following circumstances, which took place pre¬ 
 vious to and during Gen* Wayne’s engagement, are 
 worthy of record. 
 
 At the ins-.ant Capt. Campbell was attempting to 
 turn the left-1: - k of the enemy, three of them plunged 
 into the river—two friendly negroes being on the opposite 
 side, and obsci aig the Indians making for the shore, 
 they placed themselves on-the bank behind a log, and as 
 soon as the Indians approached within shot, one of the 
 negroes fired and killed one of the Indians j the other two 
 got hold of him to drag him out, when the other negro 
 fired and killed another ; the remaining Indian got hold 
 of both those dead to pull them ashore, when the negro 
 who killed the first having agajn reloaded fired and killed 
 the third, and they all floated down the river. 
 
 Another circumstance is also related, viz. A soldier, 
 soon after the conclusion of the action, proceeding some 
 distance from the camp, met an Indian ; they attacked 
 
each other, the soldier with his bayonet, and the Indian 
 with his tomahawk ; some of the soldiers passing by that 
 way two days after, found them both dead* the soldier 
 with nis bayonet in the body of the Indian, and the In¬ 
 dian with his tomahawk in the soldiei's head. 
 
 The following circumstance took place previous to the 
 action :—A Mr. Wells, who, when very young, was ta¬ 
 ken prisoner by the Indians, and had resided several years 
 among them, had made his escape and was employed by 
 Gen. Wayne as a spy,—The day before the action he 
 was taken by the Indians, who determined to put him to 
 death. Finding it impossible to escape, he informed 
 them that Gen. Wayne had not 500 men under his 
 
 a 
 
 command, and did not expect an attack. On hearing 
 this, the Indians attacked G«.n. Wayne with a confidence 
 inspired by their (supposed) superiority of numbers, and 
 were repulsed as before mentioned. After the action, 
 Maj- Campbell, (in whose custody the Indians had left 
 Wells) enquired his motive for deceiving them ; he 
 answered, “ for the good of my country ."—For this he¬ 
 roic action, he was unfeelingly delivered to the Indians, 
 in whose hands it is supposed he experienced every 
 torture that savage barbarity could invent or inflict,—The 
 circumstances respecting Mr. Wells, were related by a 
 British drummer who deserted from the fort to General 
 Wayne. _ x 
 
 A council of Indians was held a few days after their 
 defeat .by Gen. Wayne, in which British Agents en¬ 
 deavoured to persuade them to risque another action, 
 but this they refused to do, expressing a willingness to 
 bury the bloody hatchet and return to their homes—their 
 loss they declared to be 200, and that their whole force 
 at the commencement of the action amounted to 1500 
 Indians and 80 Canadians. The body of the Collet tor of 
 Niagara was found among the slain. 
 
INNUMERABLE were the instances of Savage 
 fegt&ar-Uy exercised toward the defenceless inhabitants oC 
 the frontiers, fro«* the year 1783 to that of 1793—we 
 have recorded but a small number of them* but a num¬ 
 ber sufficiently large, we presume, to convince the read¬ 
 er of their enormity—not until those unfortunate people 
 had repeatedly solicited the aid of Government, did the 
 latter consent to take up- arms for the protection of their 
 defenceless brethren when every pacific measure fail- 
 ®4ffi«wfa,en every proposal of peace, however just and e- 
 quitahlep was rejected and treated with disdain—•human¬ 
 ity dictated that recourse should be had to more effectu¬ 
 al measures to put a stop to the .murderous career of m 
 unnatural enemy.—Henqs the-comfnsncemetit of hostil¬ 
 ities by the Americans, and hence the expeditions of 
 Generals Harmee, Scott, Wilkinson, St. Clair and 
 Wayne j— and although two of the former were defeat¬ 
 ed with-t?o inconsiderable loss, the glorious victory of the 
 latter brought about the desirable event—the enemy were . 
 taught thereby the superiority ofl.be whites, even. in 
 their favorite mods of warfare—they buried the hatchet 
 and'sued for peace, and a Treaty (satisfactory to both 
 parties) soon fallowed, to the arkfts of which, they 
 have ever since and continue faithfully to adhere* 
 
 The following list of names of the various' Indian na¬ 
 tions in North-America, in 1794, with , the number of 
 their fighting men, was obtained by' a gentleman .(Mr*. 
 Beni a hi in Hawkins) employed in the above metiuoned 
 Treaty i! | 
 
 The Choctaws or Fiat heads, 4500—Hatches, Hso— 
 Chickasaw*, 750—Cherokces, 2500—Cauba*} 15,i|-~Pi" 
 antas, a wandering tribe, 800—Kissqtsocoras. C oo— 
 kashaws, 250—Gughteaoiis, 400—Hikapous* 30u—JJei* 
 
awares, 300—Shawnese, 300—Miamies, 505—Uppei* 
 Creeks, Middle Creeks and Lower Creeks, 4000—Cowi- 
 tas, 700—Alibomas, 600—Akinsaws, 200—Ansaus, 1000 
 —Padomas, 500—white and freckled Pianis, 4000—Cau¬ 
 ses, 1600—Osages, 600—Grand Saux, 1000—Missouri, 
 3000—Saux of the Wood, 1800—Blances, or white In¬ 
 dians with beard, 1500—Asinboils, 1500—Christian Gau¬ 
 zes, 3000—Ouiscousas, 500—Mascotins, 500—Lakes, 
 400—Muherouakes, 250—Folle Avoines, or Wildoats, 
 350— Puans, 700—Powatamig, 350—Missasagues, wan¬ 
 dering tribe, 2000—Otabas, 900—Chipewas, 5000—Wi- 
 andots, 300—Six Nations, 1500—Round Heads, 2500— 
 Algoqums, 3000—Nepisians, 400—Chalas, 130—Ami- 
 tcstes,550—Muckniacks,700—Abinaguis, 350—Conaway 
 Hurins, 200,—Total, 58780. 
 

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 “ Majestic monarch of the cloud, To hear the tempest trumping loud When strive the warriors ofythe storm, Child of/the sun hto thee ’tis giv 
 
 Wlio rearst aloft thy regal form, And see the lightning lances driven. And rolls the thunder-drum of heaven, To guard the banner of the free. 
 

 
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 • On the memorable \%th of August , 1810 , 
 
 Where Tecumseh appeared with three hundred warriors, and attempting an insurrection, was subdued by the presence of mind and courage of Harrison. 
 

DATE DUE 
 
 DEC i 
 
 ) 5 7m 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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