Mayflower: A Story of Courage, Community, and War

Philip and his supporters relocated to the Hudson River Valley. The new land was ideal for Philip, in that he could make use of the French and Dutch traders. An earlier encounter with a French official resulted in the Frenchman promising Philip three hundred Native Americans from Canada to aid in his fight. Philip just needed to ensure that the nicest houses and mills were kept safe for the French so that they could take the property after the English were defeated. Philbrick notes that the governor of New York mentioned in January of that year that Philip now had hundreds of Native Americans from the north on his side. The governor was trying to establish peace with the Mohawks, whom Philip wanted to win over to his side. Philip reverted to scheming to try and get his way. He killed a few Mohawks and then blamed the deaths on the English. One of the Mohawks who had been attacked managed to escape, however, and informed on Philip. The Mohawks subsequently attacked Philip, who was forced to flee.

To turn the tide of war, two Praying Indians volunteered as spies for the English. They had been forced to live on Deer Island and knew the devastation caused by the war firsthand. One of the Praying Indians returned with news that the Native Americans planned to attack Lancaster. They would first burn the bridge and then attack the town. The English paid no attention to the information, but when the second Praying Indian returned with the same news, and added that the attack would take place the following day (February 10), the English sent out emissaries to warn the colonists. By the time soldiers arrived in Lancaster, however, the bridge had already been burned and hostages taken. The Native Americans continued north to join with Philip near the Connecticut River.

Prospects continued to look grim for the English when, in March of 1676, Native Americans from various regions all over New England banded together and attacked towns. Plymouth was attacked on March 26. The English were later ambushed by around one thousand Native Americans. Many Englishmen died while others were taken hostage and tortured to death. The English were again attacked two days later at Rehoboth. In addition to these losses, many English settlers contracted a deadly strain of influenza.

Connecticut had managed to forge an alliance with Native Americans sympathetic to their cause. These warriors captured Canonchet, an important leader of the Narragansetts, whose subsequent execution helped to change the tide of war. Other skirmishes took place, with Native Americans attacking another town where seventy English were killed. The destruction was still not enough to force the English to surrender. On June 9, however, the Nipmucks made peace with the English. Philip was in Nipmuck territory and, fearing for his safety, he returned to the area around Plymouth that he once called home. His return engendered another return: Benjamin Church’s.

In June, Plymouth officials agreed to make use of the Praying Indians to capture Philip. The group would be led by Major Bradford. Church, however, did not want to serve under Bradford. Instead, he sought the help of Awashonks, a female sachem, who eventually agreed to fight with Church. While the English were making preparations for his capture, Philip traveled south with a thousand of his own warriors, including the Pokanokets and the Narragansetts, attacking settlements along the way. Church requested Plymouth’s permission to allow Awashonks to help the English, and when he received it, he set out and pursued Philip. Church was different than other Englishmen in that he pursued Philip even into the swamps, where other Englishmen feared to go.

King Philip’s War took its toll on both sides. Philbrick notes that Plymouth lost nearly eight percent of its adult male population. To put this into perspective, the United States lost about one percent of its adult male population during WWII, while four to five percent was lost during the Civil War. The toll was even higher for Native Americans, as starvation, illness and slavery, as well as casualties from the war, decimated Native populations by sixty to eighty percent. By August, Church and his followers were among the only soldiers still pursuing Philip. They surprised him one day and, when he tried to run, shot him in the heart. His body was quartered, and the rest of his men were hunted down.

Philbrick ends the narrative with the devastating reality of King Philip’s War. In 1675, slave ships began sailing from New England. The first recorded ship held one-hundred and seventy-eight Native Americans. By 1676, Plymouth was banishing all male Native Americans over the age of fourteen from the colony. It is estimated that at least a thousand Native Americans were sold into slavery during King Philip’s War, with over half of that number coming from Plymouth alone. Fifty-six years after the Pilgrims arrived on the shores of the New World; their descendants were systematically destroying the Native American population in the region.

King Philip’s War also led to an increase in violence in other areas. Those on the frontier faced increased attacks, and did not have the aid of the colonies. Also, there were no friendly Native Americans to try and protect them, as the Native population had been decimated. Furthermore, King Philip’s War irreparably damaged relations between Native Americans and colonists. Although the war ended with Philip’s death, English soldiers, including Church, fought on in Maine against the French and Native American forces. As time passed, people looked to the first Thanksgiving and the Mayflower’s journey as the basis for a story of national identity, and celebrated this. Americans now see the arrival of European settlers as a period of cooperation and steadfastness, with the violence and friction of King Philip’s War often left out of this nostalgic account of the nation’s beginning.