The History of the Americans

Maps of New England during King Philip’s War [https://thehistoryoftheamericans.com/maps-of-king-philips-war/] In May 1676 the tide of King Philip’s War had turned against the Algonquians of southern New England, but the New English settlers didn’t know it yet. They would soon. Suddenly, in a matter of a few weeks, the Algonquian resistance collapsed. This episode looks at that collapse through the eyes of Benjamin Church, whose men would finally catch and kill Metacom on August 12, 1676. Along the way, Church would persuade the Sakonnets, a Wampanoag group, to switch sides. They would teach him a new way of war, and Church would eventually be considered the “first American ranger,” at least by people who haven’t thought to give that credit to Nompash, the Sakonnet commander who taught Church. X – @TheHistoryOfTh2 – https://x.com/TheHistoryOfTh2 [https://x.com/TheHistoryOfTh2] Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/HistoryOfTheAmericans [https://www.facebook.com/HistoryOfTheAmericans] Regicides on the Run! [https://thehistoryoftheamericans.com/regicides-on-the-run/] Selected references for this episode (Commission earned for Amazon purchases through the episode notes on our website) Thomas Church, The History of Philip’s War: Commonly Called the Great Indian War, of 1675 and 1676 [https://amzn.to/4l1TCFz] Nathaniel Philbrick, Mayflower: Voyage, Community, War [https://amzn.to/3FQFr6G] Matthew J. Tuininga, The Wars of the Lord: The Puritan Conquest of America’s First People [https://amzn.to/4bz2cYK] Eric B. Schultz and Michael J. Tougias, King Philip’s War [https://amzn.to/4kdcIHX] Lisa Brooks, Our Beloved Kin: A New History of King Philip’s War [https://amzn.to/40Qpq8o]

Maps of New England during King Philip’s War [https://thehistoryoftheamericans.com/maps-of-king-philips-war/] March 1676 had been catastrophic for the settlers of New England. Algonquians allied with Metacom (King Philip) attacked all across the frontier, forcing the evacuation of far-flung towns in both Massachusetts and Plymouth, and destroying Providence, Rhode Island. The tide, however, was about to turn. The New English captured Canonchet, the leading military commander of the Narragansetts on April 3, 1676. Less than three weeks later, the Algonquians would win a decisive tactical victory at Sudbury, Massachusetts, but shortly thereafter their alliance would begin to fracture because of a shortage of food, a vicious epidemic, the dawning realization that the English had many more fighting men, and – perhaps most importantly – attacks by the Mohawks from the west. The coastal Algonquians, who had lived mostly at peace with the English for more than 50 years, were now between the ultimate rock and hard place. Along the way, both sides, but especially the English, would miss many opportunities for peace, and the war would continue in spite of catastrophic losses by both sides. X/Twitter – @TheHistoryOfTh2 – https://x.com/TheHistoryOfTh2 [https://x.com/TheHistoryOfTh2] Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/HistoryOfTheAmericans [https://www.facebook.com/HistoryOfTheAmericans] Selected references for this episode (Commission earned for Amazon purchases through the episode notes on our website) Matthew J. Tuininga, The Wars of the Lord: The Puritan Conquest of America’s First People [https://amzn.to/4bz2cYK]  Eric B. Schultz and Michael J. Tougias, King Philip’s War [https://amzn.to/4kdcIHX]. William Hubbard, Sermon of May 3, 1676, before the General Court of Massacchusetts [https://quod.lib.umich.edu/e/evans/N00155.0001.001/?view=toc].

Maps of New England during King Philip’s War [https://thehistoryoftheamericans.com/maps-of-king-philips-war/] After the Great Swamp Fight, Josiah Winslow turned away overtures from the Narragansetts for a ceasefire, incorrectly believing he had the upper hand. Instead, he pursued the Narrangansetts, stumbling into the “hungry march,” in which Winslow and his starving militia were lured to the north by the Narragansetts, who were moving to join the Nipmucs and the Wampanoags in attacks on Massachusetts border towns. February and March would see a string of catastrophic losses, from the English point of view, and thrilling triumphs, from the Indian point of view. Famously, the destruction of Lancaster would result in the capture of Mary Rowlandson, who would go on to write an account of her captivity that would be New England’s first bestseller. By the end of March, even Providence had burned, notwithstanding a last appeal from Roger Williams, his last meaningful appearance in history. The situation in New England was desperate. As often happens, however, for the English it was darkest just before the dawn. X/Twitter – @TheHistoryOfTh2 – https://x.com/TheHistoryOfTh2 [https://x.com/TheHistoryOfTh2] Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/HistoryOfTheAmericans [https://www.facebook.com/HistoryOfTheAmericans] Selected references for this episode (Commission earned for Amazon purchases through the episode notes on our website) Matthew J. Tuininga, The Wars of the Lord: The Puritan Conquest of America’s First People [https://amzn.to/4bz2cYK] James D. Drake, King Philip’s War: Civil War in New England, 1675-1676 [https://amzn.to/4l0UOJc] George Ellis and John Morris, King Philip’s War [https://amzn.to/3SVZuEa] Mary Rowlandson, The Sovereignty and Goodness of God [https://amzn.to/4kTPuaE]

Maps of New England during King Philip’s War [https://thehistoryoftheamericans.com/maps-of-king-philips-war/] It is the fall of 1675, and “King Philip’s War” rages on. The English colonies of Massachusetts Bay, Plymouth, and Connecticut have been at war with the Wampanoag nation and its powerful allies, the Nipmucs, since late June. The Indians are beating the English everywhere, in part because the English cannot easily distinguish friendly and neutral Indians from enemies. The still neutral Narragansetts were the most powerful nation in the region. Massachusetts Bay and Plymouth did not, however, believe that the Narragansetts were in fact neutral, in part because some of their young fighters had gone rogue and joined with Nipmucs and also because the Narragansetts would not turn over Wampanoag refugees who had taken shelter in their lands. Paranoic fear of the Narragansetts would lead the New English to the most catastrophic diplomatic and military blunder in the history of European settlement up to that time. This is that story. And don’t miss the “trees of death”! Errata: In this episode I describe a possible friendly fire incident late in the Great Swamp Fight in which a group of Indians emerged outside the fort and colonial militia fired upon them. A sergeant had yelled out that they were friendlies, but after hesitating Benjamin Church concluded that they weren’t and had his men shoot at them, during which exchange Church himself was wounded.  I speculated that Church might have been correct, insofar as I had not read that there were Indian allies along with the thousand or so English involved in that campaign against the Narragansetts.  Within a day of posting the episode, however, I read in James Drake’s excellent book from 1999, King Philip’s War: Civil War in New England, 1675-1676 [https://amzn.to/4mUF5wS], that in there were, in fact, 150 Mohegans and Pequots there with the Connecticut Regiment. It still isn’t certain that Church was wrong and the sergeant was correct, but the presence of those friendlies with Connecticut’s soldiers obviously tips the balance against Church’s judgment. X/Twitter – @TheHistoryOfTh2 – https://x.com/TheHistoryOfTh2 [https://x.com/TheHistoryOfTh2] Facebook – The History of the Americans Podcast – https://www.facebook.com/HistoryOfTheAmericans [https://www.facebook.com/HistoryOfTheAmericans] Selected references for this episode (Commission earned for Amazon purchases through the episode notes on our website) Matthew J. Tuininga, The Wars of the Lord: The Puritan Conquest of America’s First People [https://amzn.to/4bz2cYK] Nathaniel Philbrick, Mayflower: Voyage, Community, War [https://amzn.to/3FQFr6G] Thomas Church, The History of Philip’s War: Commonly Called the Great Indian War, of 1675 and 1676 [https://amzn.to/4l1TCFz] The Great Swamp Fight (Wikipedia) [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Swamp_Fight]

This is an encore presentation of a Sidebar episode we originally posted on Memorial Day 2023. It seems even more relevant today, strange as that may seem, consumed as we are now about questions of war and peace, and the role of elite universities, such as Harvard, in our own national project. On May 30 – Memorial Day — 1895, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., a Harvard man and then a justice on the Supreme Court of Massachusetts, delivered an address to the graduating class of 1895 in Cambridge.  The speech, known as “The Soldier’s Faith,” is in and of itself fascinating substantively and also for its indirect effects. Regarding those, Theodore Roosevelt, another Harvard man, read the speech some seven years later and determined to appoint Holmes to the Supreme Court on account of it.  Beyond that, the speech is incredibly prescient, in certain respects, and eloquent, even poetic, on the question of personal courage and purpose to a degree that will seem alien to most Americans today, perhaps especially those of us who have never served. In this special episode for Memorial Day, we read (almost all of) “The Soldier’s Faith” with annotations and digressions, which we hope you find worthy to reflect upon. We conclude with a look at the historical context, the United States on the brink of its own imperial moment, and the national imperative to unite North and South at the dawn of a new century. X/Twitter: @TheHistoryOfTh2 [https://twitter.com/TheHistoryOfTh2] Facebook: The History of the Americans Podcast [https://www.facebook.com/HistoryOfTheAmericans] Selected references for this episode Stephen Budiansky, Oliver Wendell Holmes: A Life in War, Law, and Ideas [https://www.amazon.com/Oliver-Wendell-Holmes-Life-Ideas/dp/0393634728?&_encoding=UTF8&tag=historyamer08-20&linkCode=ur2&linkId=251473ea81561790e8fc99fb3388b6ce&camp=1789&creative=9325] “The Soldier’s Faith” [https://www.laphamsquarterly.org/states-war/soldiers-faith] John Pettegrew, “‘The Soldier’s Faith’: Turn-of-the-Century Memory of the Civil War and the Emergence of Modern American Nationalism,” [https://www.jstor.org/stable/261095] Journal of Contemporary History, January 1996. George Root, “Just Before the Battle Mother” [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LaD2lA9eNUU] (YouTube)