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Title
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The Battle of Moore's Brook
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Date
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29 June 1677
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Description
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The Massachusetts Council orders a force of 200 militiamen and allied Natick Indians to attack the Wabanaki village of Ossipee. Commanded by Captain Benjamin Swett and Lieutenant James Richardson, this force arrived by ship at Black Point on June 28th, 1677. However, Squando and his Wabanaki warriors ambushed this force just a few miles from the garrison, slaughtering dozens of English and (including Swett and Richardson) and Natick Indians. Squando’s decisive victory at Moore’s Brook compelled the English to seek peace with the Wabanaki Confederacy.
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Transcription
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The Battle of Moore’s Brook
[550] For the defence of Black-point, and the security of Winterharbor, the General Court ordered a company of 40 men to be recruited, 200 Christian Indians taken into service, and all such able-bodied men enlisted, or impressed, as could be found, who had migrated from the Province of Maine. The command of the forces, including the Indians, was given to Capt. Benjamin Swett and Lieut. Richardson. They arrived at Black-point on the 28th of June in high spirits.
It is a rule of policy in fighting the Indians to gain time. Aware [551] of the maxim, and informed of the fact, that the savages had been seen hovering around the place, Swett, at the head of one division, and Richardson the other, joined by some of the inhabitants, led out the whole, the next morning, upon the declivities of a neighboring hill. A large decoy, supposed to be the main body of the Indians, feigned a retreat, and were pursued by Swett and Richardson, till they found themselves between a thicket and a swamp, in a most exposed situation. Instantly, from an ambush on each side, great numbers rising with a war-whoop, fired at once upon the two divisions, in which there were many young or inexperienced soldiers, and the whole were thrown into confusion. But though the ranks were broken, the engagement was sharp and protracted. Richardson was presently slain, and many on both sides soon shared the same fate. Swett fought the enemy hand to hand; displaying upon the spot, and in a retreat of two miles, great presence of mind as well as personal courage, in repeated rallies of his men, in his exertions to bring off the dead and wounded, and in defence of his rear, upon which the savages hung with destructive fury. At last, wounded in twenty places, and exhausted by loss of blood and by fatigue, he was grappled, thrown to the ground, and barbarously cut in pieces at the gates of the garrison. With this intrepid officer, fell sixty of his men, forty English and twenty Indians, being two thirds of the whole number in the engagement. Seldom is the merit of a military officer more genuine—seldom is the death of one more deeply lamented.
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Century
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17th Century
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Decade material covers
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1670s
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Subject
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MA General Court
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Benjamin Swett (Captain)
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James Richardson (Lieutenant)
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Natick Indians
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Wabanaki Indians
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Black Point
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Winter Harbor
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Type
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Narrative
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War
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King Philip's War
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Point of Departure
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Boston, MA
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Point of Arrival
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Boston, MA
