Obrazy na stronie
PDF
ePub

254

Causes of the War investigated.

fell, and were buried in one grave; never had the country seen such a bloody hour. Captain Mosely, hearing the report of the guns, flew to the scene of action, with a few men, renewed the conflict, killed ninety six of the enemy, and wounded forty, losing only two of his own men.

The enemy soon burnt 32 houses in Springfield, among which was the house of their minister. The general court, then sitting in Boston, appointed a committee, who, with the ministers of the vicinity, might suggest what were the sins, which brought these heavy judgments, and what laws could be enacted for the prevention of those sins. Their report was received October 19, and measures were taken to carry the design into ef fect. The same day, at Hatfield, the New England troops obtained a decisive victory over the enemy. Seven or eight hundred of them assaulted the town, but were repulsed in such a vigorous manner, that they fled in every direction; numbers of them were drowned in attempting to cross the river; others reached the Narraganset country before they rested. The English, on this important day, lost but one man. Those in Narraganset retired to a small piece of dry land, in a great swamp, seven miles west of the south ferry, that goes over to Newport. Here they collected stores, and built the strongest fort they ever had in this country. A circle of pallisadoes was sur

Terrible Conflict.

255

rounded by a fence of trees, a rod in thickness. The entrance was on a long tree over the water, so that only one person could pass at a time. This was guarded in such a manner, that every attempt to enter would have been fatal. By the help of Peter, an Indian prisoner, but now a necessary guide, one vulnerable spot was discovered; at one corner the fort was not raised more than four or five feet in height, but here a block house was erected, so that a torrent of balls might be poured into this gap.

General Winslow, with fifteen hundred men from Massachusetts, 300 from Connecticut, with 150 Indians, being arrived near the place about one o'clock, having travelled eighteen miles without refreshment or rest, discovered a party of the enemy, upon whom they instantly poured a shower of balls; the Indians returned the fire, and fed. · into the fort. The English pursued, and without waiting to reconnoitre, or even to form, rushed into the fort after them; but so terrible was the torrent of fire from the enemy, they were obliged to retire. The whole army then made a united onset, hardly were they able to maintain their ground; some of their bravest captains fell. In this awful crisis, while the scale of victory hung doubtful, some of the Connecticut men, who were in the rear, ran round to the opposite side, where was a narrow place destitute of pallisadoes ;. they leaped over the fence of trees, and fell on the

[blocks in formation]

rear of the enemy. This decided the contest. They were soon totally routed.

As they fled, their wigwams were set on fire. Instantly 600 of their dwellings were in a blaze. Awful was the moment to the poor savages. Not only were they flying from their last hope of safety, and from their burning houses; but their corn, their provisions, and even many of their aged parents and helpless children, were fuel to the terrible conflagration. They could behold the fire, they could hear the last cries of their expiring families; but could afford them no relief. Seven hun. dred of their warriors they had left dead on the field of battle; 300 of them afterward died of their wounds. They had been driven from their country, and from their pleasant fire sides; now their last hopes were torn from them; their cup of sufferings was full.

Sad was the day of victory to the English. Six brave captains fell before their eyes; eighty men were killed or fatally wounded, 150 were wound. ed, who recovered. Twenty fell in the fort, ten or twelve died the same day, on their march back to their camp, which they reached about midnight; it was cold, and stormy, and the snow deep; several died the next morning, so that this day, December 20, they buried thirty four in one grave. By the 22d, forty were dead, and by the end of January, twenty more. Of the three hun

More Indian Ravages.

257

dred from Connecticut, eighty were killed or wounded. Of their five captains, three were killed, and one so wounded that he died in nine months. In the fort they had taken a large number of prisoners, about 300 warriors, and as many women and children. It was supposed that about 4000 natives were in the fort when the assault was made.

The natives never recovered the loss of this day, The destruction of their provisions in the fort was the occasion of great distresses in the course of the winter. But a thaw, in January, gave them some relief, when a party fell on Mendon, and laid it in ashes. In February, they received some recruits from Canada, when they burned Lancaster, and took forty captives, among whom was Mrs. Rowlandson, the minister's wife, he being on a journey to Boston to obtain soldiers for their defence. Marlborough, Sudbury, and Chelmsford soon felt the terror of their arms. February 21, they penetrated as far as Medfield, burned half the town, and killed about twenty of the inhabitants; in four days they were in Weymouth on the sea shore, and in the same month they dared to enter Plymouth, and destroy two families. Had they been so disposed fifty years before, instead of two families, they might easily have destroyed the whole colony. In March, they were in Warwick, and burned the town. They were pursued by cap

X 2

258

Curious Indian Artifice.

tain Pierce, with fifty English and twenty Indian soldiers, but he was overpowered by numbers, himself and forty nine of the English, with eight of the Indians, being slain, after they had killed 140 of the enemy. The same day, Marlborough was in flames, and several people were killed at Springfield.

While parties were thus carrying terror through the towns, in the oldest settlements of the colony, others were ravaging further west. In March, Northampton was assaulted, five persons killed, and five houses burned. They soon attacked Sudbury, and burned Groton; exclaiming to the garrison, we have burned your meetinghouse; what will you do for a house of prayer ?"

66.

In some of these skirmishes, the christian Indians were very helpful, and displayed great presence of mind. In the action in which captain Pierce was killed, one of them fled and concealed himself behind a rock, but observing that he was discovered, and that an enemy lay ready to fire on him the moment he should move, he took a stick and gently raised his hat in sight, the other instantly fired a ball through it ; when, dropping his hat, he rose and shot his adversary. At the same time, another Indian saved himself and the only Englishman who was saved, by running after him with his hatchet as if he intended to kill him. Another rescued himself by this stratagem. He besmeared

« PoprzedniaDalej »