Mary Rowlandson is taken captive.
While fighting in King Philip’s War (see entry for LATE JUNE 1675), Wampanoag and Narragansett warriors capture Mary Rowlandson, the wife of a Puritan minister, during an attack on the small white settlement of Lancaster, Massachusetts. For 12 weeks she is held captive before the Indians return her in exchange for a ransom. Her account of her experiences among the Indians will become one of America’s first bestsellers (see entry for 1682).
Indian support for Metacom’s rebellion dwindles.
Early in the year, Indian warriors in King Philip’s War (see entry for LATE JUNE 1675) attack more than 20 towns in Plymouth and Massachusetts. Despite these successes, the Indian uprising suffers a series of setbacks. Its leader, Metacom, attempts to persuade the powerful Mohawk to join his cause, but they remain loyal to the British and, more alarming to Metacom, fight alongside the colonists. With the help of the Mohawk, the English are victorious in a number of decisive battles, during one of which they capture and later execute Nar-ragansett chief Canonchet, one of the Indians’ most important leaders. The English also destroy much of the rebels’ food stores, leading to mass starvation. By the summer, Metacom’s followers are forced to surrender en masse.
Virginia colonists attack Indians in Bacon’s Rebellion.
Hoping to calm tension between colonists and Indians, William Berkeley, the governor of Virginia, forbids colonists from launching unauthorized attacks on Indian villages. Berkeley’s policy infuriates many of Virginia’s poor and landless, who are already angry at officials for hoarding the colony’s wealth. Organized by Nathaniel Bacon, a wealthy planter, these Virginians rebel against the colonial government and begin attacking Indian settlements without regard to whether their residents are the colonists’ allies or enemies. The movement loses much of its momentum after Bacon dies of dysentery in October, but colonists will continue to terrorize Virginia’s Indians until the rebels are finally defeated by Berkeley’s troops the following January.
Pamunkey leader Cockacoeske confronts the Virginia General Assembly.
Dubbed the “queen of the Pamunkey” by the English, Cockacoeske is summoned by the General Assembly, the governing body of Virginia. The assemblymen ask for the help of the 150 warriors at her command in putting down the colonists fighting the assembly’s authority in Bacon’s Rebellion. Cockacoeske answers their request first with an angry silence, then with a tirade against the English. Speaking through an interpreter, she demands to know why she should help them when in the past the English had never compensated her for warriors killed while fighting on their behalf, including her own husband Totopotomoy (see entry for 1656). The meeting ends with a disgusted Cockacoeske agreeing to supply the English with only 12 fighting men, far fewer than had been expected.
King Philip’s War ends with Metacom’s death.
An Indian informer tells colonial militiamen the location of Metacom’s camp on the Mount Hope Peninsula. They surround the Wampanoag rebellion leader and his small band of followers, and in the ensuring battle Metacom is shot and killed by an Indian fighting on the side of the English. The soldiers mutilate his corpse and take his severed head to Plymouth, where it will be displayed for the next 25 years. According to Wampanoag legend, Metacom kinsmen will one day steal the head and bury it at his home village of Mount Hope.
Metacom’s death effectively ends King Philip’s War (see entries for LATE JUNE 1675 and for SPRING 1676). The conflict proves devastating to the Indians of southern New England. In addition to spelling the end of their political independence, the fighting has decimated their populations. Approximately 3,000 people—about 40 percent of the total Indian population of the region—have been killed in battle or have died from starvation. Five hundred more Wampanoag have been captured by the militia and sold into slavery to help offset English war debts. Among them are Metacom’s widow and children.
The war has also been costly to the English. Approximately 600 colonists have been killed during the conflict. Fifty-two of their 90 settlements have been attacked, and at least 12 completely destroyed. With some 1,800 houses burned to the ground, most of these town sites will be abandoned for decades.
World History
