Revision as of 00:47, 8 May 2023 edit Coachscott3 (talk \| contribs) 21 edits Changed the lead paragraph to better reflect the known circumstances associated with the conflict. Tags: Reverted Visual edit ← Previous edit		Revision as of 12:14, 3 July 2023 edit undo Newportluce (talk \| contribs) 84 edits mNo edit summary Next edit →
Line 6: \| image = Great Swamp Fight painting.jpg \| image_size = 300px \| caption = ''A painting of the Great Swamp ~~Fight~~Massacre'' \| date = December 19, 1675 \| place = [[South Kingstown]], Rhode Island Line 45: On December 15, 1675, after peace negotiations failed between [[Stonewall John]] and the militia, Narragansett warriors attacked the [[Jireh Bull Blockhouse]] and killed at least 15 people.<ref>George Ellis and John Morris, ''King Philip's War'' (Grafton Press, New York, 1906) https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/Places/America/United_States/_Topics/history/_Texts/EAMKPW/9*.html {{Webarchive\|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221219025210/https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/Places/America/United_States/_Topics/history/_Texts/EAMKPW/9%2A.html \|date=2022-12-19 }}</ref> 15-year-old James Eldred escaped from the blockhouse and was pursued a considerable distance; he survived having a tomahawk thrown at him at close range and a hand-to-hand encounter with a Narraganset warrior. This occurred along Indian Run Brook in [[Wakefield-Peacedale, Rhode Island]].<ref>{{cite web \|url=http://rebelpuritan.blogspot.com/2012/01/great-swamp-fight-of-1675.html \|title=The Great Swamp Fight \|publisher=The Rebel Puritan \|author=Jo Anne Butler \|date=2 January 2012 \|access-date=15 Oct 2017}}</ref> The Narragansetts saw swamps as ideal defensive locations in wartime, leading them to take up residence in the Great Swamp during the conflict.<ref name="Delucia">{{cite book \|last1=Delucia \|first1=Christine M. \|title=Memory lands: King Philip's War and the place of violence in the northeast \|title-link=Memory Lands \|date=2018 \|isbn=978-0-300-20117-8 \|location=New Haven \|chapter=Habitations by Narragansett Bay Coastal Homelands, Encounters with Roger Williams, and Routes to Great Swamp}}</ref> Four days later, the Great Swamp Battle took place on the bitterly cold and stormy day of December 19, 1675. The colonial militia from [[Plymouth Colony]], [[Connecticut Colony]], and [[Massachusetts Bay Colony]] were led to the main Narragansett settlement in South Kingstown, Rhode Island, by an Indian guide named Indian Peter.<ref>{{cite web \|url=http://bigelowsociety.com/rod/battles.htm \|title=Letter of John Dudley, Narragansett Campaign and the Great Swamp ~~Fight~~Massacre \|date=15 Dec 1675 \|access-date=15 Oct 2017}}</ref> The low temperatures froze the natural moat that surrounded the Narragansett encampment, allowing the colonial troops to pass easily.{{r\|Delucia}} The massive fort occupied about {{convert\|5\|acre\|m2}} of land and was initially occupied by over a thousand people, but it was eventually overrun after a fierce fight. The settlement was burned, its inhabitants (including women and children) killed or evicted, and most of the tribe's winter stores destroyed. It is believed that at least 97 Narragansett warriors and 300 to 1,000 non-combatants were killed, though exact figures are unknown.<ref name="Drake" /> The forces destroyed the blacksmith forge of [[Stonewall John]], although he escaped and was killed several months later.<ref>LaFantasie, Glenn W., ed. ''The Correspondence of Roger Williams,'' University Press of New England, 1988, Vol. 2, pp. 723, 725.</ref> [[File:Capture of the Indian Fortress.png\|thumb\|200px\|right\|Engraving depicting the colonial assault on the [[Narragansett people\|Narragansetts']] fort in the Great Swamp ~~Fight~~Massacre in December 1675]] Many of the warriors and their families escaped into the frozen swamp; hundreds more died there from wounds combined with the harsh conditions. The colonists lost many of their officers in this assault, and about 70 of their men were killed and nearly 150 more wounded. The dead and wounded militiamen were evacuated to the settlements on [[Aquidneck Island]] in [[Narragansett Bay]] where they were buried or cared for by many of the [[Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations\|Rhode Island]] colonists.<ref>Axelrod, p. 104</ref> [[File:Colonel Benjamin Church.jpg\|thumb\|left\|200px\|''Benjamin Church'', the first [[United States Army Ranger\|American ranger]]'']] == Aftermath == The Great Swamp ~~Fight~~Massacre was a critical blow to the Narragansett tribe from which they never fully recovered.<ref>"Flintlock and Tomahawk: New England in King Philip's War" by Douglas Edward Leach, New York: MacMillan, 1958, pp. 130–132</ref> The spring of 1676 brought a counter-offensive by Canonchet after he organized a confederation of 2000 braves. Providence was burned, including Roger William's house.<ref name=":0" /> The Narragansetts were nearly completely defeated when [[Canonchet]] was captured and executed in April 1676. Female sachem Queen Quaiapen was ambushed on July 2 attempting to cross a river at the [[Second Battle of Nipsachuck Battlefield]] and [[Stonewall John]], a notable Indian mason, was also killed. Finally, Philip was shot and killed on August 12 by [[John Alderman]], an Indian soldier in the company of [[Benjamin Church (ranger)\|Benjamin Church]]. Many of the Narragansett survivors were sold into slavery, sentenced to death, or fled to join other nearby tribes, like the Niantics.{{r\|Delucia}} == Legacy and monument ==

Great Swamp Fight: Difference between revisions