Part 8    p.15 to p. 16

After the fight, in which they struck such a terrible
blow, and so close to Boston, too, they seem to have re-
tired to their several camps, and soon to have gathered
to their great fishing-places in order to take the run
of fish.  Capt. Turner was still in command of the garri-
sons at the west.  From captives who had escaped, and
scouts here and there, came rumors of a great company
of Indians fishing at the "Upper Falls" of the Connecti-
cut.  Capt. Turner and his officers were anxious to
strike a blow against the enemy and Connecticut authorit-
ies were applied to and promised speedy reinforncements.
On May 12th the Indians made a raid into Deerfield mead-
ows and stamped some seventy head of cattle belongig to
the English.  Roused by this fresh outrage, the people
urged retaliation and Capt. Turner and his officers de-
termined to attack the Indians at their great fishing
place at once.  On May 18th the whole company of soldiers
and volunteers, about one hundred and fifty, mustered at
Hatfield, and marched out at evening towards the "Falls".
They included the outposts of the enemy, and at daylight
arrived undiscovered at the camp of the Indians at the
fishing-place.  The savages were asleep in their wigwams
and the English rushed down upon them and shot them by
the scores, pointing their muskets in through the wigwam
doors.  No resistance was possible and those who escaped
the first fire fled in terror to the river, pursued by
the soldiers and were cut down or driven into the water
without mercy; many were drowned attempting to cross the
river.

But it soon found that there were several other great
bodies of the Indians, above and below the Falls on
either side of the river, and these began to swarm to-
wards the fight.  Capt. Turner now prudently began a
retreat, having struck his blow.  As the soldiers retired
the enemy gathered in great numbers upon rear and flanks
seeking to force the English into narrow defiles.  Capt.
Holyoke commanded the rear-guard, and checked the enemy
by stout fighting, but for which, it is likely, the
whole command would have been lost.  Capt. Turner led
the advance, and while crossing Green River was shot
down by the Indians lying in wait.  Capt. Holyoke then
led the company back to Hatfield, fighting nearly the
whole way.   There the killed and missing numbered forty
five.  A few came in afterwards, reducing the number of
the lost to about forty.  It is estimated that some two
hundred Indians must have been destroyed.

The blow struck by Capt. Turner greatly intimidated the
enemy, though the retreat was so distastrous to the Eng-
lish.   The tribes became divided and demoralized.  They
seem to have broken up into small wandering parties.
Philip with large numbers of his adherents went down to-
wards Plymouth.  Massachusetts sent troops to the west-
ern frontiers again, and also to aid Plymouth.  The
operations in the field were mostly the pursuit of non-
combatants, the aged, and women and children.

p.16
Large numbers of the Wampanoags and Narragansets had now
returned with Philip to their own country.  Small parties
from time to time plundered and killed as opportunity
offered.  The colonists were roused to new activity
at the evident weakening of the Indians.  Aid was sent
to Plymouth, under Capt. Brattle and Capt. Mosely; and
Capt. Henchman did good service in the parts about Brook-
field.  Major Talcott, with a mixed force of English and
Indians, about five hundred in all, came up the river
and marched into Hadley about the 11th of June, and was
quartered there on the 12th, when the Western Indians,
some seven hundred strong, made their last great assault
in force in these parts.

The town was quite strongly garrisoned besides this re-
inforcement, of which probably the enemy knew nothing.
The attack was altogether unexpected and was furious and
determined, but the repulse was decided and sanguinary.
Major Talcott then led his force down into the Narragan-
set country, where, about the 2nd of July, he encounter-
ed a great body of Indians, and driving them into the
woods and swamps slew great numbers, and took many
captives.  The plight of the savages was pitiful; with-
out ammunition, without leadership, without country or
hope of any sort, they found no mercy now at the hands
of their olden foes, the Mohegans and Pequots, nor yet
the English.

The remaining operations of the war in these parts were
simply the hunting down of almost defenceless enemies.
The colonial authorities issued a proclamation, calling
all those Indians who had been engaged in the war to
come in and surrender, submitting themselves to the
judgement of the English courts.  Many parties sought
to take advantage of this, but were captured upon their
their approach by scouting parties, and treated as capt-
ives.  Some of those who had been prominent in the war
and could not hope for mercy, escaped to the eastward
and put themselves under the protection of Wannalancet
and his Pennacooks, who had remained neutral.  Some fled
further to the east and there incited war.

The constant success which the Connecticut troops had
always had after their use of the Mohegans and Pequots
was a plain rebuke to the Massachusetts colonists for the
numerous disasters from which the Christian Indians might
have saved them, if they had trusted and employed them.
As soon as Capt. Hunting and his Indian company were put
in the field, this appeared.  The Indians in small parties
skulking in woods and swamps might have eluded English
soldiers for years, but as soon as other Indians were
employed, escape was impossible.

At the close of July, many of Philip's followers had
been taken, and his wife and several of his chief men
were captives or had been killed.  With a small band of
his followers he was hiding in the swamps at Mount Hope
and Pocasset.  English scouting parties were active in
all parts of the colonies hunting down the trembling and
unresisting fugitives; and especially Philip.

To be continued  Part 9 (final) p. 17 to 18

Transcribed by Janice Farnsworth      Farns10th@aol.com

bigelow@slic.com Rod Bigelow at SLIC