A history of Connecticut
ov ^ o1 •■ •fife--. V,** •' ♦ n . . -^ fc ^ ^ .aft*. ^ ^ <w^ % ^ .♦. \s A HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT BY EL1AS B. SAN FORD Qui Transtulit Sustinet REVISED EDITION HARTFORD: THE S. S. SCRANTON COMPANY 1922 .S?j Copyright, 1922 By E. B. SANFORD THE CASE. LOCKWOOD » BRAINARD CO. ^_. ©C1A69293 RTFORD. CONN. Tl gS\ A r* 1 "A f> <» I PREFACE TO THE EDITION OF 1887. IT lias been my endeavor, in writing this book, to tell the story of Connecticut in a way that would be in- teresting, both to young and old. I trust it will meet the approval of the teachers in our public schools, who have felt the need of a history of the State suitable for use in the classroom, and for general reference; and I also in- dulge the hope that it may be helpful in making this history better known in the homes of our Commonwealth. My work has been that of selection rather than discovery. The materials at hand have been so abundant, that I could give but little space to many interesting episodes. By placing notes at the end of the chapters, which I have made short, I have sought to throw light on the text, that would explain matters that might otherwise have been obscure. To those who may think I have given undue attention to the period of the French wars, I would commend the words of Dr. Bushnell, in his " Historical Estimate of Connecticut," where he says, " We are accustomed to speak of the wars of the Revolution; but these earlier wars, so little remembered, were far more adventurous, and required stouter endurance." The facts contained in this volume have been gathered from many sources. Besides a large number of town and county narratives, I have constantly consulted the his- tories of Trumbull, Hollister, Barber, Atwater, Palfrey, Bancroft and Lodge. I desire, however, in this connec- tion, to make special mention of the published volumes of the Colonial Records of the State, which have made available the most valuable and exact sources of historical information. Connecticut has been fortunate in the ser- vices rendered by J. Hammond Trumbull, LL.D., and Mr. Charles J. Hoadly, in editing these records. It remains for me to express my thanks to those who have so kindly given me personal assistance. I am under great obligation to Mr. VanName, the efficient librarian of Yale University; and Mr. Hoadly, our State librarian, who has called my attention to facts of striking interest. vi PREFACE Henry Holt & Co. of New York, Brown & Gross of Hart- ford, the Rev. Edward E. Atwater of New Haven, and others, have extended favors in the matter of maps and illustrations that are gratefully acknowledged. In conclusion, I make mention, with peculiar feeling, of the kindness of my friend, Mr. Joseph R. French, principal of the Skinner School, New Haven, at whose suggestion this work was undertaken, and who has aided me in many ways during its progress. E. B. SANFORD. Westbrook, May 27, 1887. PREFACE TO THE EDITION CONTAINING THE SECOND PART OF THE HISTORY. It is not often that an author is permitted, after a lapse of thirty-six years, to revise a book written at that period, and add further pages bringing the narrative up to the present time. As Dr. Bushnell, has said, it is indeed " a beautiful story," and it has been a delightful task, in old age, to take up anew my study of the his- tory of Connecticut. , Recalling with tender memories the noble group of men and women who aided me in my labors, almost four decades ago, and gratefully appreciating the recognition that has been given to this history of my native State, I send out this latest edition with its additional pages. It remains to me to make special mention of the kind- ness of Mr. George S. Godard, the Librarian of the Connecticut State Library, and Mr. Forrest Morgan of the Watkinson Library, Hartford, who have laid me under great obligation in reading the proofs of the second part of this history. E. B. Sanford. MlDDLEFIELD, CONN., Oct. 1, 1922. CONTENTS. CHAPTER PAGE I. The Indians of Connecticut 11 II. The First Settlement of Connecticut . . .15 III. The Pequot War 21 IV. First Settlement of New Haven. — Adoption of Constitutions by the New Haven and Con- necticut Colonies 29 V. The Founding of New Towns. — Trouble with Indians . . .36 VI. The Civil and Domestic Life of the Early Settlers 40 VII. The New-England Confederacy. — Death of Miantonomo 44 VIII. Troubles with the Dutch and the Indians. — The Purchase of Saybrook. — Farmington in- corporated 49 IX. Discovery of an Indian Plot. — Law regarding Tobacco. —New London founded . . . 55 X. Uncas and the Narragansetts. — Governor Stuyvesant at Hartford. — Norwalk and mlddletown settled 59 XI. Stamford and Fairfield threatened by the Dutch. — Norwich settled. — John Wintiieop elected Governor 63 XII. The Story of the Regicides 68 XIII. The Union of the New-Haven Colony with Connecticut To XIV. Edmund Andros, Governor of New York. — Andros at Saybrook. — King Philip's War . 80 vii Vlll CONTENTS. CHAPTER PAGB XV. Report to the English Board of Trade. — Boundary Troubles. — Demands of Edward Randolph 87 XVI. Andros assumes Authority. — Hiding of the Charter 93 XVII. Government resumed under the Charter. — Governor Fletcher at Hartford . . 07 XVIII. Colonial Prosperity. — Ashurst defends the Charter Rights of the Colony. — Mohegan Controversy 102 XIX. Public Education. — Yale College founded. — Population and Trade 108 XX. Life of the People 115 XXI. Social Distinctions. — Marriage Customs.— Funeral Services. — Negro Slavery . . 122 XXII. The Religious Life of the People. — Sab- bath Observance. —Social Pleasures. . 127 XXIII. The Evolution of the Towns . . . .133 XXIV. Period of the Last French Wars, 1714-1748 . 130 XXV. Period of the Last French Wars, 1748-1755 . 148 XXVI. Period of the Last French Wars, 1756-1757 . 156 XXVII. Period of the Last French Wars, 1758 . . 161 XXVIII. Period of the Last French Wars, 1750-1763 . 167 XXIX. Revolt of the People against the Stamp Act 173 XXX. Determination of the People to resist Tax- ation. —Boston Port Bill. — Battle of Lex- ington.—The Capture of Ticonderoga . 181 XXXI. The Battle of Bunker Hill . . . .188 XXXII. Connecticut Troops at Cambridge. — Invasion of Canada. — Declaration of Independence, 196 XXXIII. Battle of Long Island. — Nathan Hale. —  XL. XLI. XLII. XLIII. PAGE Burning of D anbury. —The Fight at Ridge- field. — Surrender of Fort Montgomery. — The Encampment at Redding . . .211 Massacre at Wyoming. — British attack New Haven. — Burning of Fairfield and NORWALK 219 Washington at Hartford and Wethers- field. — Arnold burns New London. — Massacre at Fort Griswold . . . 225 Connecticut at the Close of the Re voli- tion. — Jonathan Trumbull. — The Adop- tion of the United-States Constitution. — Sale of Western Lands. —Death of Washington 232 Connecticut at the Dawn of the Nine- teenth- Century. — The War of 1812. — Destruction of Property at Essex. — Bombardment of Stonington. — The Hart- ford Convention 240 Adoption of the Present Constitution of Connecticut. — The Growth of Philan- thropic Enterprises. — Temperance. — The Anti-slavery Agitation .... 247 Connecticut in the Civil War, 1860 . . 254 Spirit of the People. — Enlistment of Troops. — Capture of Roanoke Island, 1862 261 Battle of Cedar Mountain. — Call for Troops. — Antietam and Fredericksburg, 1862 264 Battle of Chancellorsville. — Gettysburg. — Port Hudson. — Anderson ville. — Re- enlistment of Troops, 1863 .... 269 CONTEXTS. CHAPTER XLIV. XLV XLVI. XLVII. XLVIII. XLIX. L. LI. LIL LIII. Battle of Dbuby's Bluff. — Spottsylva.ma. — Death of Sedgwick. — Battle of Cold Harbor. — Petersburg, 1804. Battles of Winchester and Cedar Creek. — Capture of Fort Fisher. — Assault on thi Forts near Richmond. — Surrender of Lee — Close of the War, 1864-05 Era of Industrial Progress. Connecticut in Literature The Public Schools of Connecticut Yale University ..... Wesley an University .... Trinity College ..... Connecticut in the Life of the Nation. Boundary-Lines and Physical Geography of Connecticut ...... 278 284 296 302 309 310 319 322 329 SECOND PART COXXECTICUT IX RECENT YEARS 1872 — 1922 CHAPTER PAGE I. Religious Life and Church Growth . . . 337 II. Educational Progress in the Public Schools of Connecticut ....... 352 III. Higher Institutions of Learning . 357 IV. Political  390 MIL Connecticut  I. 1614. THE INDIANS OF CONNECTICUT. OJOON after Henry Hudson explored the beautiful river O that bears his name, Adrian Block, another Dutch navi- gator, followed him on a trading- voyage. He had loaded his ship with bear-skins, and was about to sail homeward, when the vessel caught fire, and he was com- pelled to land on the island where the city of New York now stands. During the following winter his men built a small yacht ; and in the spring he sailed through -=^ Hellgate, and, skirting the shore, discovered the Housatonic, which he called the river of Red Hills. From thence he sailed east, and entered the Connec- ticut River, which he explored for some distance. He saw parties of Pequots, and found an Indian tribe near the site of Wethersfield, and another just above Hartford. The Dutch traders, for a number of years after this, made fre- 11 A BAUK OF THE SEVENTH K NTH CHNTUKY. 12 HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 1614. quent trips along the shore of the Sound, and carried on a brisk trade with the Indians in furs. They also visited the charming valley through which flowed the river whose Indian name, Connecticut (Long River), was to designate the commonwealth, the foundations of which were soon to be laid in this wilderness. The territory included in the present boundaries of the State was, at this time, occupied b}* small bodies of Indians who were connected with independent tribes that were gen- erally hostile to every other.1 River Indians2 was the name given to the Red men who dwelt on the banks of the Con- necticut. Very little is known of those who lived in the forests west of the river ; 3 but the eastern part of the State was the home of two powerful tribes, the Pequots and the Mohegans. With the exception of the meadows which here and there bordered the larger streams and the shores of the Sound, the hills and valleys were covered with a dense forest growth. The Indians cleared a few places for their hunting-grounds ; and the grass that grew in these spots wras burned, with the underbrush of the forests, by fires that were kindled for this purpose, in the autumn. Many of the Indians, living in small collections of wig- wams, were accustomed to remove twice a year ; in winter seeking sunny and sheltered spots, and at other seasons visiting the shores of the Sound and the banks of the larger streams and lakes. Wild animals were numerous in the forests, and birds and water-fowl were abundant. The Indian men were tall, athletic, and graceful in their movements, but lacked endurance. The skins of wild ani- mals furnished their dress ; and the chiefs wore costly and. beautiful holts of curiously wrought shells, of varied colors. ARUOW-HEAD. 1614.] THE INDIANS OF CONNECTICUT. 13 Proud and haughty iu bearing, they cherished a cruel and implacable spirit towards their enemies ; and, never asking mercy when captured by their foes, they suffered the most excruciating torments with stoi- cal composure. When they were not upon the warpath, they spent their time in hunting, fish- ing, and lazy enjoyment. The women did all the heav\ manual labor, turning the sod, planting the corn, and crush- ing it, when harvested, with a stone pestle in a hollowed rock. The furniture of the wigwams, besides blankets of skins, consisted of a few cooking-vessels of wood and stone, knives fashioned — r^^— a of shells, and axes /im%i and chisels made fa£p= ffi - ^__- -- ^Sfl °f stone. The hatchet and club. weapons used iii hunting and war- fare were wrought with much skill and care. Sassafras was the favorite wood for making bows, that were strung with the sinews of the deer or with hempen strings. Reeds from the swamps largely furnished the arrows, that were loaded with pieces of flint, stone, or bone sharpened to a point. Their most cruel weapon, the tomahawk, was a short club of hard wood terminat- ing in a heavy knob. Besides fish and game, the natives ate the nuts, roots, and berries which grew wild. canoe. Indian corn was a favorite article of food ; and they also raised the squash, the pump- kin, and the bean. A hoe made of a clam-shell or a moose's shoulder-blade was the only implement they employed in their work in the field. In fishing they used hooks made 14 HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. [1614. of the sharpened bones of fishes or birds. Their lines and rude nets were fashioned of the twisted fibres of the dog- bane or the sinews of the deer. They cooked their meat by roasting it beiore a tire on the point of a stick, and also by broiling it on hot coals or stones. Sometimes they boiled it in their vessels of stone. Corn was prepared in several ways ; and, when boiled alone, was called hominy, and when mixed with beans, succotash. Morally and intellectually, the Indian was degraded and stupid. The ties of family and parental affection were feeble and easily broken. The men were lazy and improvi- dent, and the women were the miserable slaves of these brute lords of creation. Altogether, the Indians, whom our fathers found in the wilds of Connecticut, were a low and savage race. 1 Indians were numerous at Sims- bury, New Hartford, and Farmington. Along the shore of the Sound, there were small tribes; at Guilford, Bran- ford, and New Haven. Near the mouth of the Housatonic River, they built a strong fort as a defence against the Mo- hawks. There were two clans in Derby : the one at Paugusset, about four miles below the mouth of the Naugatuck River, erected a strong fort. At Milford and Stratford the Indians were numerous. There were several tribes in Stamford, and two small clans in Norwalk. The neighborhood about Woodbury was a favorite resort of several tribes. The number of Indians in Connecticut at the time of its settlement, was probably about sixteen thousand. 2 River Indians. They were small bands scattered at different points along the river. They suffered from the at- tacks of the Mohawks from the West, and the requots from the East. For this reason they were anxious to have the English come into the valley. They sent some of their number all of the way to Boston to ask for help against the Pequots, and promised to give the English land if they would come and live among them. This visit called the attention of the colonists for the first time to Con- necticut. 3 The Indians in the western part of the State were tributary to the Mo- hawks. If they neglected to pay their tribute, the Mohawks would plunder, destroy, and carry them away captive. The cry "A Mohawk! a Mohawk!" was sufficient to arouse the greatest alarm and fear. After the English came, the In- dians in this neighborhood, if they could not take refuge in their forts, would flee into the homes of the settlers: but the Mohawks would pursue, and sometimes kill them in the presence of the family. If the doors were shut, they would not attempt to open them by force ; and they never did the leas1 injury to the Eng- lish. 1631.J FIRST SETTLEMENT OF CONNECTICUT. 15 CHAPTER II. 1631-1636. THE FIRST SETTLEMENT OF CONNECTICUT. DURING the year 1631, eleven years after the landing of the Pilgrims, an Indian sachem visited the governors of the Plymouth and Massachusetts colonies, and urged them to send Englishmen to commence settlements in the valley of the Connecticut. Without making any promises, Governor Winslow of Plymouth was so much interested in the description which the sachem gave of the country, watered by this beautiful river, that he soon afterwards visited it. In the following year, other parties from Massachusetts made a more extended exploration of the valley. Previous to this, the Dutch had been satisfied to carry on their trade with the Indians without taking formal possession of any land. When they saw that the English were proposing to do this, they sent a company of men to build a fort, named 4 ' Good Hope," at Suckiag (Hartford), and also arranged for the purchase of the land along the river. By this time the Pilgrim pioneers were ready to begin their settlement in the valley. Having prepared the frame of a house, they put it on board a little bark, and sent it around to the river, from Plymouth, in command of William Holmes. When they came to the fort, the Dutch hailed them, and asked them where they were going. Holmes replied, " We are going up the river to trade." The Dutch threatened to fire into them 16 HISTORY OF CONNECT [CUT. [1633. if they did not stop ; but the brave Pilgrims told them to fire away, and sailed on. The}* set up the trading-house near the mouth of the Tunxis (Farmington) River, and were soon bus}' trading in furs with the Indians. When the Dutch governor at Fort Amsterdam (New York) heard how the Pilgrims had sailed by the fort at Suckiag, he was very angry, and sent a com- pany of seventy soldier* to destroy their trading-house. They found, however, that it was defended by a band of men determined to fight for their rights ; and they retired, leaving • he Englishmen in peaceable possession. The reports brought back to their friends and neighbors in Massachusetts, by those who visited the valley of the Con- necticut, led to the agitation of further plans for its settle- ment. In many ways the time seemed favorable. The strength of the Indian tribes had been weakened by a dread- ful pestilence, by which they had died by hundreds. The crafty and cruel Pequots, finding that the Dutch were ready lo mete out to them a stern punishment for the murder of some of their traders, while their hereditary enemies, the powerful Narragansetts, were eager to fight them, concluded that it was best for them to be on good terms with the Eng- lish. They promised to submit to their control, and ex- pressed a wish that Englishmen should come to Connecticut. At this time the English population of New England, n ".imbering about two thousand, was confined to the vicinity of Boston and Plymouth. Now that the Indians seemed peaceable, and ready to welcome them, some of the people, jiving near Boston, thought it would be to their advantage to emigrate to the river whose fertile meadows would afford better pasture for their cattle and richer soil to till. There were many who opposed this plan, thinking it would weaken the colony ; and, before the consent of the General Court was obtained, there was much excitement and earnest discussion. The most influential advocate for emigration 1634.] FIRST SETTLEMENT OF CONNECTICUT. IT was a minister of great eloquence and ability, the Rev. Thomas Hooker.1 While the matter was still under debate, a few restive men banded together, in the fall of 1634, and set out for the Connecticut valley, and settled at Pequag ( Wethersfield) , where they spent the winter in rude log huts. In May, of the following year, Hooker and his friends renewed their request ; and leave to remove was reluctantly granted them by the General Court. During the summer quite a number of people from Watertown joined their friends, who had already settled what is now Wethersfield. Several persons connected with the congregation of the Rev. John Wareham2 of Dorchester selected, for their home, a point on the river, not far from the Plymouth 3 trading-house, and here laid the foundations of the town of Windsor. In October a com pan}7 of about sixty men, women, and children, from the neighborhood of Boston, came through the wilderness to the Connecticut River. The march was tedious, as they brought not only their household goods, but their cattle, horses, and swine. They were detained some time, in building rafts for crossing the river; and before they could get their log huts erected, they were overtaken by an early winter. Most of those who came in this company settled at Suckiag (Hartford). During the autumn of this same }'ear, an important settle- ment was made at the mouth of the Connecticut, that was entirely distinct from those in the upper part of the valley. John Winthrop, jun.. the son of the famous governor of the Massachusetts Colony, followed his father to New England in 1631. He soon returned to England, and was given a commission by Lords Say and Brook, and other distinguished men, to begin a settlement for them at the mouth of the Connecticut River. Men and money were placed at his dis- posal ; and Lion Gardiner,4 an able engineer, was engaged to assist in the enterprise. 18 HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. [1634-5. Winthrop arrived at Boston in October. Learning that the Dutch were preparing to take possession of the mouth of the river, he sent a company of twenty men in a small vessel, who reached there the last of November. Early in Decem- ber a sloop, which the Dutch governor had sent from Man- hattan, arrived at the river; but the English had already got two pieces of caunon on shore, and would not let the Dutch- men land. Governor Winthrop arrived, soon after, bringing Lion Gardiner, who was expected to direct the work of building a fort, and laying out the site of a future city. In compliment to its two noble patrons, the settlement was called Saybrook.5 The winter opened early, and proved a terrible and severe one to the settlers in the upper valley. The river was frozen over by the middle of November ; and the vessels laden with beds, clothing, and provisions, for the Hartford settlers and others, were lost off the Atlantic coast. Benumbed with cold, famine soon stared them in the face. Delicate women and children suffered for the necessities of life, and strong men were dismayed. Some crossed the river, and waded through the pathless suow to Massachusetts ; and a band of seventy persons went down the river to Saybrook, hoping to find the vessels with provisions from Boston. About twenty miles above the fort, they met a small vessel caught in the ice. They were able to cut her loose, and after a dan- gerous voyage arrived at Boston. The winter, as it passed, brought increasing suffering and loneliness to those who still remained in the settlements. When their supply of food was exhausted, they were unable often to secure any game, and had to subsist, in part, upon the ground-nuts which the}T dug from the banks of the river, and acorns found beneath the snow. They endured with brave hearts the privations of the winter, and eagerly wel- comed the first approach of spring with its promise of seed- time and harvest. Before the end of May quite a number of those who had left the settlements returned. 1635.] FIRST SETTLEMENT OF CONNECTICUT. 19 " About the beginning of June, Mr. Hooker, Mr. Stone. and nearly one hundred men, women, and children, took their departure from Cambridge, and travelled more than one hundred miles through a hideous and trackless wilderness to Hartford. They had no guide but their compass, and made their way over mountains, through swamps, thickets, and rivers which were not passable but with great difficulty. They had no cover but the heavens, nor any lodgings but those that simple nature afforded them. They drove with them a hundred and sixty head of cattle, and by the way subsisted on the milk of their cows. Mrs. Hooker was borne through the wilderness upon a litter. The people carried their packs, arms, and some utensils. They were nearly a fortnight on their journey." 6 It is pleasant to recall that they formed their first impressions of their wilderness-home in the month of song and flowers ; and we can imagine how cordial was the welcome they received from those who had come before them, old friends and neighbors not only in Massachusetts, but in England. There was still further emigration from Massachusetts in the following year. William P}uichon led a party from Rox- bury to the great meadows, some miles above Windsor, called by the Indians, Agawam. They gave the name of Spring- field, to the settlement, in honor of Mr. Pynchon's old home in England. 1 Thomas Hooker was born at Mar- tion, and in no wise turbulent or fac- field, England, July 7, 1586. He was tious." After a brief retirement, in which educated at Emanuel College, Cambridge, he was kindly provided for by his friend where for some time he was a Fellow. the Earl of Warwick, he determined to After leaving Cambridge, be preached leave his native land, and seek a home in for a while in London and its vicinity ; Holland. Mr. Hooker remained in Ilot- and in 1626 he became assistant minister land three years. The emigration of the at Chelmsford. Faithful to the dictates Puritans from England to Xew England of conscience, he was silenced in 1630 for was increasing, and among those who nonconformity, against the protest of planned to go were many of Mr. forty-seven ministers in which they certi- Hooker's old friends. They desired tied" that they knew Mr. Hooker to be or- him to accompany them as their spirit- thodox in doctrine, honest in his life and ual guide; and after spending a short conversation, peaceable in his disposi- time in England, he sailed for Bostou 20 HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. about the middle of July, 1633. " Mr. Hooker's company," as it was called, which afterwards consti- tuted his church at Cambridge, had preceded him. During the two years and a half that he remained with the Massachusetts colony, his influence was marked. He be- came deeply interested in the plan of emigration to the beautiful valley of the Connecticut. It has been said that the special reason of his going was, because of the in- crease of the population about the Bay, and the necessity of the people finding more fruitful fields for their flocks, and better land to till. But this was not the main reason in the mind of Hooker. There were many things in connection with the civil regulation of affairs in Massachusetts that did not meet his approval. He believed in a government " by the people for the people;" and it was to be his high service and destiny to inspire, if his hand did not pen, the first constitution ever adopted by a peo- ple. From the time Mr. Hooker came to Hartford until his death he was a leader in public affairs. Of majestic person and noble mien, his words were both eloquent and powerful. Gentle and affectionate in spirit, his life was a beautiful illustration of the faith and doc- trine he professed. Mr. Hooker fell a victim to epidemic disease at the age of sixty-one, dying at his home in Hartford, July 7, 1647. - John Wareham was an emi- nent minister in Exeter, England. After emigrating with his church to New England, and remaining at Dorchester for some time, he fol- lowed his people to Windsor the year after they made a settlement there. He is said to have been the first minister in New England who preached with notes. Cotton Mather gave testimony that " the whole colony of Connecticut con- sidered him as a principal pillar and father of the colony." 3 Both the Dutch and the Pil- grims at Plymouth were annoyed at the coming of the Massachusetts people into the Connecticut valley, but the tide of emigration was too strong for them to resist. 4 Lion Gardiner had been a master workman and engineer in the employ of the Prince of Orange. He became owner of the island at the east end of Long Island which bears his name. 5 Saybrook Patent. In 1606 two great companies were formed in England — one in London, and the other in Plymouth — for the settlement of North America. To the Plymouth Company, King James gave the coast extending from about the mouth of the Hud- son River to the eastern point of Maine. There was no western boundary to this grant, which ex- tended across the continent to the Pacific Ocean. In 1620 the original company was broken up, and a new one formed, called " The Council of Plymouth for the gov- erning of New England." The patent from this Council under which the Saybrook colony was organized, is now generally con- ceded to have had a very doubtful origin. There are good reasons, which have been well given by Mr. Forrest Morgan, after careful investigation, that this so called, Warwick patent, was secured under circumstances that make it more than doubtful if it was a legal and royally sanctioned document. Evidently the Connecticut Colony founders gave little attention to it both while they were purchas- ing lands from the Indians and when they absorbed the Saybrook Colony. (See Encyclopedia Brit- tan ica. Vol. 6, page 954.) 6 Trumbull. 1637.] THE PEQUOT WAR. 21 CHAPTER III. 1637. THE PEQUOT WAR. TT^HILE the Connecticut settlers were busy in clearing ' ' fields for tillage, building rude but substantial houses of logs and stones, and opening roads, trouble with the Indians commenced. A band of roving Narrao- an setts had killed a trader named Oldham, at Block Island. Oldham belonged to Watertown. Mass., and that colony took steps to punish the murderers. Some of them wTere killed ; and others fled . to the Pequot country, as their own friends, the Narragansetts, would have nothing to do with them. Governor Vane and his council decided to send a party of soldiers to Block Island, with orders to put to death all the men, but to spare the women and children. In command of one hundred men, Captain Endicott sailed for the island in August, 1636. When the English attempted to land, the Indians did all they could to drive them back. They did not succeed in this, and finally took to flight after fourteen of their number were killed. Having set fire to the cornfields and wigwams, the expedition sailed to Pequot River.1 Meeting a party of Pequots, Endicott talked with them; but, finding them defiant and hostile, he told them t<> prepare to fight. In a skirmish that followed, two Indians were killed. Having burned a few wigwams, Endicott sailed for Boston. This action only enraged the Pequots. " You 22 HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. [1637. raise these wasps around us, and then flee away," said the Connecticut men to their friends in Massachusetts. Within a few days, parties of Pequot warriors began to harass and murder the settlers. The arrow from some ambush struck down the farmer toiling in his fields, and helpless women and innocent children were killed with fiend- ish cruelty. While a party of men were working outside the Saybrook fort, they were surprised by the Pequots, and four of their number killed. Lieutenant Gardiner was slightly wounded at the same time. The Indians, encouraged by their success, gathered in large numbers, and challenged those within the fort to fight, mocking them by imitat- ing the dying groans and prayers of the poor prisoners whom they had tortured. A few charges of grape-shot scat- tered them. The work of pillage and death still continued, until the settlers scarcely dared to stir outside their homes. The Pequots tried to get their old enemies, the Narragansetts, to unite with them in a league against the English. This plan was broken up by the influence of Roger Williams2 and the strength of the old enmity. The Mohegans were on bad terms with the Pequots, and formed an alliance with the English. The Niantics, although friendly to the Pequots, were unwilling to fight. The colonists saw that it was a matter of life and death, and determined to make a desperate effort to break the power of the Pequots. A General Court was held in Hart- ford. May 1, 1637; and this resolution was unanimously adopted. "It is ordered that there shall be an offensive war against the Pequots, and there shall be ninety men levied out of the three plantations of Hartford. Wethersfield, and Windsor." This number represented nearly one-third of the freemen of this little republic. Within ten days from the opening of the court, this com- pany of men sailed from Hartford under the command of 1637.] THE PEQUOT WAR. 23 Captain John Mason.8 With them was a band of seventy friendly Mohegan 4 Indians, and Uncas 5 their chief. When they reached the fort at Saybrook, Captain John Underhill, a brave and capable soldier, with the consent of Lieutenant Gardiner, commanding the fort, offered his services to Mason with nineteen men. For some days the wind was contrary, and the little fleet was detained at the month of the river. Pequot spies, swift of foot, were watching its movements from the opposite shore, and apprised Sassacus of his danger. Mason's orders were to sail directly to Peqnot (New London) Harbor, and attack the enemy in their stronghold. Now that the wily Indians were informed of this purpose, he saw that it would be dangerous and perhaps futile to undertake it. He suggested that it would be best to sail as far as Narragansett Bay, and, if possible, secure the aid of Miantonomo, the chief sachem of the Narragansetts, in surprising and destroying their mutual enemy. A council of war was held ; and, while they all recognized the force of their leader's arguments, they hesitated to assume the responsibility of changing the plan of the cam- paign. They were under orders, and it was their habit to obey without thought of personal consequences. It was finally suggested that they seek divine guidance ; and the matter was referred to their chaplain, Mr. Stone, the be- loved and revered assistant pastor of the church in Hartford. Having spent the night in prayer, Mr. Stone the next morn- ing said to Captain Mason, that "he was fully satisfied to sail for Narragansett." This was accepted as a final decision, and on Friday morning they set sail. They arrived in Narragansett Bay Saturday evening, but the wind blew so strongly off shore that they were unable to land before Tuesday afternoon. Mason at once informed Miantonomo of his plans, which met the cordial approval of the sachem. He thought, how- 24 HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. [1637. ever, that the little band of English soldiers were insufficient for such an undertaking. During the night an Indian runner brought a letter from Captain Patrick, who had been sent from Massachusetts with a few men to assist in the war against the Pequots. He wrote that he had reached Providence, and urged Mason to wait until he could join him. The Connecticut company had already met with vexatious delays, and they were im- IMEVV HAVEN I MlLI:ORD + -lJZ.j$OU^D MAP OF PEQUOT CAMPAIGN. patient to return home ; and they decided to push on to the Pequot country at once. On Wednesday morning, Ma}* 24, the little army began their march, and before night reached the borders of the Pequot territory. Here was the seat of a Narragansett sachem ; but he refused to treat with the English captain, and would not allow his men to encamp within the palisades of his fortress. In the morning another band of warriors, sent by Miantonomo, having appeared, the Narragansetts within the fort plucked up courage, and with much boasting desired to join the expedition. When Captain Mason began 1637.] THE PEQUOT WAR. 25 the march again on Thursday, he had about five hundred Indians with him. Most of them proved a cowardly lot, and those who had bragged the loudest were the first to desert. Uncas, with his band of Mohegans, showed the most courage ; and Wequash, a pett}' chief who had revolted from Sassacus, proved a trustworthy guide. Suffering from the lack of food and the oppressive heat, they finally reached the neighborhood of the Pequot fort about an hour after sunset. Here they encamped between two high rocks, still known as Porter's Rocks. It was a beautiful moonlight night ; and the sentinels could hear the distant cries of the enemy, who were having a carousal of savage joy over the flight, as they supposed, of Mason and his men, as the}' had seen the vessels sailing past their territory. An hour or two before daybreak the men were awakened from sleep ; and, after a fervent prayer by the chaplain, they started for the fort, following a path pointed out by the Indians. The distance proved greater than they expected ; and they began to fear lest they were on the wrong trail, when they came to a cornfield at the foot of "a great hill." Their terror-stricken allies had fallen back ; and it was only in response to a messenger that Uncas and Wequash came up, and informed them that the fort was on the top of the hill. Sending the Indians word not to fly, but to keep at as safe a distance as they pleased, and see whether Englishmen would fight or not, they marched on, and soon came in sight of the Pequot's stronghold. The men were divided, for the purpose of storming the two entrances at the same time. Captain Mason was within a step of the north-east entrance, when the bark of a dog gave the first alarm to the sleeping enemy. The cry of an Indian. " Owanux! Owanux!" ("The English! the English!") startled the Pequots from the heavy slumber that had fol- lowed the debauch of the previous night. 26 HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. [1637. Completely surprised, and paralyzed with fear, most of them huddled in their wigwams, even after the English had entered the palisades. A few tried to escape ; and after some hand-to-hand fighting, Captain Mason gave the order to burn the fort, and, seizing a firebrand, lighted the conflagra- tion himself. The rest of the sad story is best told quickly. The flames spread rapidly, and in an hour six or seven hun- dred poor creatures perished within the belt of fire. Only a handful escaped to tell the proud chief, in the fort not far away, of the terrible calamity that had overtaken the tribe. Only two of the English were killed, and twenty wounded. From the outlook of the hill they saw their vessels in the distance entering Pequot Harbor, and they at once took up their march in that direction. By this time the Indians from the neighboring6 fort swarmed along the forest path, and in every possible way harassed the soldiers. Before the harbor was reached, however, the Pequots returned to their fort, and upbraided the proud Sassacus as the author of all their misfortunes. From that hour his power, and that of his tribe, was broken. Only the intercession of some of his chief counsellors saved his life. Panic-stricken, they burned their wigwams, destroyed their fort, and then fled. Sassacus, with seventy or eighty of his faithful warriors, sought refuge in the wilderness bordering the Hudson River. When the little army of Englishmen returned to tell the story of their victory, the colonists breathed more freely.7 But they were still in fear lest the spirit of revenge kindled in the hearts of the survivors of the hated tribe might break out in fierce and treacherous attacks, and arrangements were made to continue the war. Without passing judgment as to the right or wrong of this action, it is evident that the colonists felt that their lives were in constant jeopardy while a Pequot remained in the vicinity of their settlements. Cap- tain Mason was put in command of forty men, and in June united his force with that of Captain Stoughton, who had 1637.] THE PEQUOT WAR. 27 I teen sent to Peqnot Harbor (New London) from Massachu- setts. While the vessels sailed along the Sound, the troops hunted for the enemy along the shore.8 It was on this march that the beauty of the location and surroundings of Quinnipiac (New Haven) was first discov- ered by English eyes. As they approached the place, they saw the smoke of what they supposed was a Pequot encamp- ment ; but the}7 found that the fire had been kindled by a party of friendly Indians. The vessels having entered the harbor, they went on board, and waited for several days, until the return of a Pequot spy, who reported that Sassacus and his party were concealed in a swamp a few miles to the westward. This hiding-place proved to be in a bog-thicket a short distance from the present village of Fairfield. It was not an easy matter to dislodge the Pequots from this natural fortress. The soldiers found it very difficult to penetrate the tangled underbrush without sinking in the treacherous mire ; and in the attempt to advance, many of them were wounded by the sharp arrows, that flew in showers about them. The Fairfield Indians, who were in the swamp, sent one of their number to beg for quarter, which was granted ; and they came out with their women and children. The plan was then adopted of surrounding the band of desperate Pequots, who still clung to their hiding-place. During the night, which proved dark and heavy with mist, they attempted to break through this line ; but the watchful soldiers were prepared for a hand-to-hand fight, which ended in the death and capture of a large proportion of the Pequot warriors. The one hundred and eighty prisoners, with a large amount of booty consisting of wampum, bows, arrows, and other implements, were divided between Massachusetts and Connecticut. Sassacus probably was not present at this fight. Fleeing in the direction of the Hudson, he sought refuge among his old enemies, the Mohawks ; but the old feeling of hate con- 28 HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 1637. tinned, and, having beheaded him, the}' sent his scalp as a trophy to Connecticut. On the 21st of September, Uncas and Miantonomo, with the surviving Peqnots numbering about two hundred, met the magistrates of Connecticut at Hartford. A treaty was arranged between the colony and the Mohegaus and Narra- gansetts, by the terms of which the tribes entered into a compact of peace, and agreed, that, in any case of wrong, justice should be meted out by the English. With consider- able ceremony the remnant of the Pequots was divided among the chiefs who had given their aid in the war against the tribe now humbled and powerless. 1 Pequot River. Thames River. 2 Roger Williams. The founder of Rhode Island. His influence over the Narragansetts was remarkable, and his efforts in behalf of peace were unremit- ting. 3 John Mason had won reputation as a brave soldier in the Low Countries. He was a member of the compauy that removed from Dorchester to Windsor. Oliver Cromwell offered him the posi- tion of major-general if he would return to England. For many years he held the highest position of military authority in the colony. * The Mohegans appear to have been tributary to the Pequots, but at this time they were on bad terms with each other. They dwelt on the west side of the Thames River. 5 Uncas was a Pequot by birth; and his wife was a daughter of Sassacus, a Pequot sachem. At one time he was a petty chief under Sassacus, the great prince of the nation. They had quar- relled; and at the time the English tirst came to Connecticut, his influence among the Indians was small. He had nothing to lose, and every thing to gain, through the frieudship of the English. 