Chapter 4: King Philip’s War (1675-1676)
Clash of Civilizations
King Philip’s War marked the end of the peaceful relationship between the Indians and the Colonists. Before the war, the Indians and the Colonists lived in a single society, though there were significant differences in how they lived. Decimated by disease and squeezed between their Indian enemies, the Mohawks and Mohegans, west of the Connecticut River, and the expanding English colonies to the East, the Wapanoags, Narragansetts, and the Nipmucks combined to wage war on the colonists, led by King Philip, the son of Massasoit.
In one sense King Philip’s War was a civil war, fought between various parts of the same society. Indians fought on both sides of the war. The Mohegans and Mohawks allied with the English against the Narragansetts, Nipmucks and Wapanoags. In proportion to the population versus the number of people killed, it was the deadliest war in American history and the single greatest disaster in 17th century New England.
In another sense, King Philip’s War was an outbreak of violence between two separate tribes: the Wampanoag Indians and their allies, on one hand, and the Colonists and their allies, on the other. The Colonists were a tribe in several respects. They had a racial identity, a common religion, a ruling Council or Court, and little respect for diversity. For example they rejected Quakers and anyone else who questioned their Puritanical vision of the world.
Massasoit had always been a firm friend of the Colonists. After Massasoit’s death his son Philip became the Sachem, or king, of the Wampanoag Indians. By the time Philip came to power the Wampanoag territory had been greatly reduced. Philip continued to sell off land, until finally the pressure of civilization had greatly reduced their hunting grounds, fishing spots, and corn fields. The Plymouth Court forbade the Colonists from purchasing more territory, reserving to Philip “Mount Hope”, which is today Bristol, Rhode Island.
The Indians had always been at a disadvantage in dealing with the English. The English ignored the laws, traditions, and customs of the Indians, instead imposing their own way of life, customs, and religion. Their intolerance, lack of understanding, and injustice towards the Indians created a chasm between the races. The language in the deeds was familiar to the English, but foreign to the Indian way of thinking, understood only by the Colonists.
The English looked upon the Indians as heathens, and believed the Indian territory was destined by God to be theirs. Some Indians were converted to Christianity, which was greatly resented by Philip and the Indian leaders. These were the “Praying Indians”.
The Indians lived mostly by hunting and fishing, although they ate corn at every meal in some form, and of course the corn was cultivated. By the time of King Philip’s War they were experts in the use of the flintlock gun, which was their most prized possession. They bought their guns and ammunition from the English at exorbitant prices.
For the most part the Colonists were entirely unable to understand the predicament of the Indians, not appreciating the pressures and inequities which had been placed upon their neighbors. Finally King Philip decided to strike back. He began to form a coalition with the Narragansett’s, Nipmucks, and other neighboring tribes. His plot was discovered and open warfare began in June, 1675 with hostilities in Plymouth Colony.
Matthew Fuller was appointed Captain to lead the Plymouth Colony forces, even though he was by this time seventy years old. At the time of King Philip’s War there were two separate colonies in what is today Massachusetts. These were the original Plymouth Colony, which encompassed Cape Cod and southern Massachusetts, and Massachusetts Colony, which ran north of Plymouth Colony to the Merrimack River and included present day Boston and its suburbs.
The Massachusetts General Court, which was the governing body of that colony, immediately sent three companies to assist Plymouth Colony. The commander of this first group was our direct ancestor Captain Daniel Henchman, a former school teacher and Puritan. The following is a portion of a letter from the Massachusetts Colony to the Plymouth Colony:
…We are now convened in Council to Consider of your desire of a supply of some men … and we have resolved to raise one hundred foots and 50 horse that shall be speedily … march to Plymouth Colony. …. Capt. Daniel Henchman was chosen and voted to go forth as Capt. of 100 men for the service of this colony … and go to Plymouth Colony. ….
To the Militia of the towns of Boston, Chas., Camb., Watertown, Roxbury, Dorchester, Dedham, Grantrey, Weymouth, Hingham, Maulden:
You are hereby required in his Majest’s name to take notice that … Council have ordered 100 able soldiers impressed out of the several Towns … for the aid and assistance of Plymouth against the Indians, and accordingly you are to … be ready at an hours warning from Cap’t Daniel Henchman who is appointed Captain and Commander of the Foote Company that each soldier shall have his Armes compleat and Snapsack ready to march and not to fail to be at the Rendezvous.
Captain Henchman was given the following written orders the next day:
To D. H. [Daniel Henchman] Capt. With the Consent of the Council for the Colony of Mass. in New England:
Whereas you are appointed Capt. of a foot Company to Serve in this Expedition for the assistance of our neighbors in Plymouth against the insolences and outrages of the natives, these are to will and require you to take charge of the said Company of foote, mounted as dragoons, & you are to command and instruct your inferior officers and soldiers according to military rules for the service and safety of the Country, and you to attend such orders from time to time as you shall receive from your superior Commanders on the Council of this Colony.
The first record we have of Daniel Henchman in Massachusetts Colony is as a school teacher in Boston in 1666. He was employed at a salary of £40 per year. He was “to assist Mr. Woodmancy in the Grammar Schools and teach the children to wright.” It is not clear when Daniel and his wife wife Sarah (Woodward) came to Boston. They were both born in London, and married about 1651, either in London or Massachusetts.
In 1668 Daniel was appointed by the Massachusetts Colony Court (the ruler of the colony) to a four-man committee to lay out, settle, and manage a new town half way between Boston and Springfield. This town would become Worcester, Massachusetts. Daniel and his committee surveyed the land, made their recommendations for Worcester, and also for two other towns.
Their efforts continued until finally, in 1674, the boundaries of Worcester were finalized. Daniel and his committee met with three Indian “sagamores”, or rulers, and obtained the execution of a deed from these Indians for eight square miles of land. The purchase price for this land was twelve pounds of money and two coats and four yards of cloth, valued at twenty six shillings. Witnesses to the deed were four other Indians, two of whom were sagamores and two of whom were “Praying Indians”. Praying Indians were Indians who had converted to Christianity.
Efforts to settle Worcester proceeded quickly. In 1675 lots were laid out. Daniel Henchman was granted 25 acres of land. A few houses were built, but quickly destroyed by the Indians.
By the time of King Philip’s War, Daniel Henchman and his wife Sarah (Woodward) had seven children. Their second daughter, Hannah, named after her grandmother who remained in England, would have been twelve years old when her father marched off to war. She was our direct ancestor.
Captain Henchman’s letters have been preserved and provide some of the best details of the hostilities. According to the historian George M. Bodge, “He is seen to have been one of the most trusted officers of the Court.”
Captain Henchman marched to Plymouth Colony, eventually surrounding Philip at Pocaset, where he built a fort and determined to “starve Philip out.” However Philip escaped somehow to the Nipmuck country, leaving about one hundred women and children behind in the swamp where they had been hiding. The Massachusetts men went in chase, joined by the Plymouth forces and the friendly Mohegan and Natick Indians. He marched those in his command further in pursuit, but without success, until they were exhausted and out of supplies. In August he was ordered by the Governor and Council to bring his soldiers back to Boston, which he did.
Now an intensely bitter debate occurred in Boston about how to treat captive Indians. Captain Henchman had treated his captives with moderation, while others were more bloodthirsty. The Court sustained Captain Henchman and reappointed him to lead over 100 men back into the field. However the men refused to serve under Captain Henchman, preferring a leader who would permit them to kill their Indian captives.
Therefore Captain Henchman, who was still deeply trusted by the Council, was sent out to the various towns on the Massachusetts frontier to set up defenses and provision the towns with soldiers and supplies. This he did, engaging in a number of battles with the Indians near Mendon and Hassanameset.
The men were sent home for the winter. After completing their Spring planting, Captain Henchman was again dispatched from Boston at the end of May, 1676. They were mustered at Concord, then marched towards the Connecticut River, where they were to rendezvous with militia from Connecticut. They made a rendezvous at the planned town of Worcester. The Indians had destroyed the few cabins there. Engaging in fighting along they way, they met up with the Connecticut Colony militia in the upper Connecticut River at Hadley where they again fought. This area had been the scene of several massacres and ambushes the prior fall.
At first the colonial militias used the Matchlock musket. The Matchlock was like a blunderbuss. It was very heavy, and too long to hold up, so each soldier had to carry a forked “rest” upon which to set the heavy weapon. The Indians all used the more modern Flintlock, which could be carried, loaded, aimed, and fired much more easily. The militias quickly transitioned to the Flintlock. Each soldier also carried a Snapsack, six feet of match or fuse (for the Matchlock muskets), a bandoleer, powder horn, and a bag of bullets. The bandoleer was a leather belt that went over the right soldier and under the left arm containing a dozen or more round boxes each holding a charge of powder. The powder in the powder horn was used to prime the Flintlock, while a fuse was used to fire off a Matchlock. The Snapsack contained the militiaman’s daily rations, all personal belongings, and extra clothing. It was slung over the shoulder and hung at the hip.
Philip was killed and beheaded on August 12, 1676, effectively bringing the war to an end, although some hostilities continued for another year. One third of the entire Indian population died, many from diseases, and their villages were destroyed. Many of the Indians were executed, and thirty alone were shot in Boston in a single day. Hundreds of Indians, many of whom simply had surrendered, were shipped into slavery in Barbados, Bermuda, Jamaica, the Azores, Spain and Tangier in North Africa. Some Indians were kept as slaves in New England. Many women and children were shipped to Deer Island, a small island in Boston Harbor. Lacking food and shelter most died of exposure and starvation. The Narragansett, Wampanoag, Nipmuck and Podunk tribes were extinguished.
Half the towns in New England were attacked, one- third were damaged, and twelve towns were completely destroyed. Ten percent of the men available for military service were killed. The economy was ruined.
Soldiers in King Philip’s War, containing Lists of the Soldiers of Massachusetts Colony, who served in the Indian War of 1675-1677, with Sketches of the Principal Officers, and Copies of Ancient Documents and Records Relating to the War, George M. Bodge, privately printed at Boston, 1891, p. 3
History of Worcester, Massachusetts, From its Earliest Settlement., William Lincoln, Philips & Co., Worcester, Mass., 1837, p.4.