King Philip’s war was the most devastating war between the colonists and the Indians in New England. The war is named for King Philip, the son of Massasoit and chief of the Wampanoag. His Wampanoag name was Metacom, Metacomet, or Pometacom. Upon the death of his brother, Alexander (Wamsutta), whom the Indians suspected the English of murdering, Philip became sachem and maintained peace with the colonists for a number of years. Hostility developed over the steady succession of land sales forced on the Indians by their growing dependence on English goods.
The Wampanoag were joined by the Nipmuck and by the Narragansett, and soon all the New England colonies were involved in the war. Philip’s cause began to decline after he made a long journey west in an unsuccessful attempt to secure aid from the Mohawk. In 1676 the Narragansett were completely defeated and their chief, Canonchet, was killed in April of that year; the Wampanoag and Nipmuck were gradually subdued. Philip’s wife and son were captured, and he was killed (Aug., 1676) by an Indian in the service of Capt. Benjamin Church after his hiding place at Mt. Hope (Bristol, R.I.) was betrayed.
1675-1676
- History of King Philip’s War
- Treaty signed at Casco Bay 1726 (starts on page 4)
- King Philip’s Views Of The English (hosted at Mayflower Families)
- King Philip’s Ancestry
- Quaboag Plantation (hosted at Dianne Elizabeth’s Family History)
- King Philip’s War (hosted at Wikipedia)
- King Philip’s War (hosted at Pilgrim Hall)
- Images of King Philip’s War
- Timeline King Philip’s War
People
- The Rutledge Family Association (hosted at The Rutledge Family Association)
- Mary Rowlandson, Captive (hosted at The Connecticut River Homepage)
- Turners Falls Massacre (hosted at The Connecticut River Homepage)
- Sabin, Elizabeth, William Sabin was the jury foreman (hosted at Our Family Past and Present)
- Benjamin Bucklin Rhode Island Nine Men’s Misery (hosted at Joseph Bucklin Society Home Page)
Biographies
- Captain Nathaniel Peck (hosted at Footsteps Through Time)
Men and Officers
- Men and Officers who served In King Philip’s War (hosted at Bigelow Society)
- Soldiers in King Philip’s War (hosted at AHGP)
Battles
- Narragansett Campaign and the Great Swamp Fight
- Battle of Bloody Brook (hosted at The Connecticut River Homepage)
- Captain Beers and the Battle of Beers Plain (hosted at The Connecticut River Homepage)
Native Americans
- Wampanoag Tribe (‘eastern people’). One of the principal tribes of New England. Their proper territory appears to have been the peninsula on the east shore of Narragansett Bay now included in Bristol county, R. I., and the adjacent parts in Bristol county, Mass.
- Nipmuck Tribe (from Nipamaug, ‘fresh-water fishing place’). The inland tribes of central Massachusetts living chiefly in the south part of Worcester county, extending into Connecticut and Rhode Island.
- Narragansett Tribe (‘people of the small point,’ from naiagans, diminutive of naiag, ‘small point of land,’ with locative ending -et).
- Mohegan Tribe (from maïngan, ‘wolf.’ Trumbull). An Algonquian tribe whose chief seat appears originally to have been on Thames river, Conn., in the north part of New London county. They claimed as their proper country all the territory watered by the Thames and its branches north to within 8 or 10 miles of the Massachusetts line.
- Pequot Tribe (contr. of Paquatauog, ‘destroyers.’- Trumbull). An Algonquian tribe of Connecticut. Before their conquest by the English in 1637 they were the most dreaded of the southern New England tribes.
Suggested Reading
- A Brief History of King Philip’s War
- The History of King Phillip, Sovereign Chief of the Wampanoags
- Yamoyden, a tale of the wars of King Philip