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King William's War

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King William's War
Part of theNine Years' War

Count Frontenac,governor of New France, refused English demands to surrender prior to theBattle of Quebec.
DateApril 1688 – 20 September 1697
Location
North America
Result Peace of Ryswick
Status quo ante bellum
Belligerents

France

Wabanaki Confederacy
Algonquin
Kahnawake

England

Iroquois
Mohicans
Commanders and leaders
Part ofa serieson the
Wars ofRestorationEngland
Flag of England
Other wars
Anglo-Dutch Wars
American Indian Wars
Second Hundred Years' War

King William's War(also known as theSecond Indian War,[a]Father Baudoin's War,[3]Castin's War,[4]or theFirst Intercolonial WarinFrench[5]) was the North American theater of theNine Years' War(1688–1697), also known as the War of the Grand Alliance or the War of the League of Augsburg. It was the first of six colonial wars (see the fourFrench and Indian Wars,Father Rale's WarandFather Le Loutre's War) fought betweenNew FranceandNew Englandalong with their respectiveNative alliesbefore France ceded its remaining mainland territories in North America east of theMississippi Riverin 1763.

For King William's War, neither England nor France thought of weakening their position in Europe to support the war effort in North America.[6]New France and theWabanaki Confederacywere able to thwart New England expansion intoAcadia,whose border New France defined as theKennebec Riverin southern Maine.[7]: 27 [8][9]According to the terms of the 1697Peace of Ryswickthat ended the Nine Years' War, the boundaries and outposts of New France, New England, and New York remained substantially unchanged.

The war was largely caused by the fact that thetreaties and agreementsthat were reached at the end ofKing Philip's War(1675–1678) were not adhered to.[10]In addition, the English were alarmed that the Indians were receiving French or maybe Dutch aid. The Indians preyed on the English and their fears, by making it look as though they were with the French. The French were fooled as well, as they thought the Indians were working with the English. These occurrences, in addition to the fact that the English perceived the Indians as their subjects, despite the Indians' unwillingness to submit, eventually led to two conflicts, one of which was King William's War.[10]

North America at the end of the 17th century[edit]

At the end of the 17th century, English settlers outnumbered the French, although the English were divided into multiple colonies along the Atlantic.

The English settlers were more than 154,000 at the beginning of the war, outnumbering the French 12 to 1.[11]However, they were divided in multiple colonies along the Atlantic coast, which were unable to cooperate efficiently, and they were engulfed in theGlorious Revolution,creating tension among the colonists.[12]In addition, the English lacked military leadership and had a difficult relationship with their nativeIroquoisallies.[12][13]

New Francewas divided into three entities:Acadiaon the Atlantic coast;Canadaalong theSaint Lawrence Riverand up to theGreat Lakes;andLouisianafrom the Great Lakes to theGulf of Mexico,along theMississippi River.[14]The French population amounted to 14,000 in 1689.[14]Although the French were vastly outnumbered, they were more politically unified and contained a disproportionate number of adult males with military backgrounds.[12]Realizing their numerical inferiority, they developedgood relationshipswith the indigenous peoples in order to multiply their forces and made effective use ofhit-and-run tactics.[12]

Causes of the war[edit]

For further details on the war's European causes, seeNine Years' WarandGlorious Revolution.

England's CatholicKing James IIwas deposed at the end of 1688 in the Glorious Revolution, after which ProtestantsWilliam IIIandMary IItook the throne. William joined theLeague of Augsburginits waragainst France (begun earlier in 1688), where James had fled.

In North America, there was significant tension between New France and the northern English colonies, which had in 1686 been united in theDominion of New England.New England and theIroquois Confederacyfought New France and theWabanaki Confederacy.The Iroquois dominated the economically importantGreat Lakesfur trade and had been in conflict with New France since 1680.[15]: 43 At the urging of New England, the Iroquois interrupted the trade between New France and the western tribes. In retaliation, New France raidedSeneca landsof western New York. In turn, New England supported the Iroquois in attacking New France, which they did byraiding Lachine.[15]: 44 

There were similar tensions on the border between New England and Acadia, whose boundary New France defined as theKennebec Riverin southern Maine.[7]: 27 English settlers from Massachusetts (whose charter included the Maine area) had expanded their settlements into Acadia. To secure New France's claim to present-day Maine, New France establishedCatholicmissions among the three largest Indigenous villages in the region: one on the Kennebec River (Norridgewock); one further north on thePenobscot River(Penobscot) and one on theSaint John River(Medoctec).[16][17]For their part, in response toKing Philip's War,the five Indigenous tribes in the region of Acadia created the Wabanaki Confederacy to form a political and military alliance with New France to stop the New England expansion.[18]

Course of war[edit]

Map of the campaigns during the war

New England, Acadia and Newfoundland Theatre[edit]

The New England, Acadia and Newfoundland Theatre of the war is also known asCastin's War[4]and FatherJean Baudoin's War.[3]

In April 1688,Governor Androsplundered Castine's home and village onPenobscot Bay(Castine, Maine).[7]: 607 Later in August, the English raided the French village ofChedabouctou.In response, Castin and theWabanaki Confederacyengaged in the Northeast Coast Campaign of 1688 along the New England/Acadia border. They began August 13, 1688, at New Dartmouth (Newcastle), killing a few settlers. A few days later they killed two people atYarmouthin the first battle. AtKennebunk,in the autumn of 1688, members of the Confederacy killed two families.

The following spring, in June 1689, several hundred Abenaki andPennacookIndians under the command ofKancamagusand Mesandowitraided Dover, New Hampshire,killing more than 20 and taking 29 captives, who were sold into captivity in New France. In June, they killed four men atSaco.In response to these raids, a company of 24 men was raised to search for the bodies and pursue the natives. They were forced to return after they lost a quarter of their men in conflicts with the natives.[19]

MajorRichard Waldronshortly before his death during theAbenakiraid on Dover

In August 1689,Jean-Vincent d'Abbadie de Saint-Castinand Father Louis-Pierre Thury[1]led an Abenaki war party thatcaptured and destroyed the fortatPemaquid(in present-dayBristol, Maine). The fall of Pemaquid was a significant setback to the English. It pushed the frontier back to Casco (Falmouth), Maine.[20]: 81 

New England retaliated for these raids by sending MajorBenjamin Churchto raid Acadia. During King William's War, Church led four New England raiding parties intoAcadia(which included most ofMaine) against theAcadiansand members of theWabanaki Confederacy.On the first expedition into Acadia, on September 21, 1689, Church and 250 troops defended a group of English settlers trying to establish themselves atFalmouth(near present-dayPortland, Maine). The tribes of the Wabanaki Confederacy killed 21 of his men, but Church's defense was successful and the natives retreated.[21]: 33 Church then returned toBoston,leaving the small group of English settlers unprotected. The following spring over 400 French and native troops, under the leadership of Castin,destroyed Salmon Falls(present-dayBerwick, Maine), then returned to Falmouth and massacred all the English settlers in theBattle of Fort Loyal.When Church returned to the village later that summer he buried the dead.[22]: 175–76 The fall of Fort Loyal (Casco) led to the near depopulation of Maine. Native forces were then able to attack New Hampshire frontier without reprisal.[20]: 82 

Battle of Port Royal (1690)[edit]

Main article:Battle of Port Royal (1690)
William Phips,theGovernor of the Province of Massachusetts Bay,led an assault onPort Royal.

The New Englanders, led by SirWilliam Phips,retaliated by attackingPort Royal,the capital of Acadia. TheBattle of Port Royalbegan on May 9, 1690.[23]: 82 Phips arrived with 736 New England men in seven English ships. Governor de Meneval fought for two days and then capitulated. The garrison was imprisoned in the church, and Governor de Meneval was confined to his house. The New Englanders levelled what was begun of the new fort.[24]: 38 The residents of Port Royal were imprisoned in the church and administered an oath of allegiance to the King.[24]: 39 

Phips left, but warships fromNew York Cityarrived in June, which resulted in more destruction.[23]: 82 The seamen burned and looted the settlement, including the parish church.[24]: 40 The New Englanders left again, andVillebon,the governor of Acadia, moved the capital to safer territory inland atFort Nashwaak(present-dayFredericton,New Brunswick). Fort Nashwaak remained the capital until after the war, when Port Royal was restored as the capital in 1699.[24]: 45 

In Church's second expedition to Acadia, he arrived with 300 men atCasco Bayon 11 September 1690. His mission was to relieve the English Fort Pejpescot (present-dayBrunswick, Maine), which had been taken by theWabanaki Confederacy.[22]: 179–180 He went up theAndroscoggin Riverto Fort Pejepscot.[21]: 66 From there he went 40 miles (64 km) upriver toLivermore Fallsand attacked a native village. Church's men shot three or four native men when they were retreating. Church discovered five English captives in the wigwams. Church butchered six or seven natives and took nine prisoners.[21]: 67 A few days later, in retaliation, the members of the Wabanaki Confederacy attacked Church atCape Elizabethon Purpooduc Point, killing seven of his men and wounding 24 others.[21]: 69 On September 26, Church returned toPortsmouth, New Hampshire.

During King William's War, when the town ofWellscontained about 80 houses and log cabins strung along thePost Road,it was attacked on June 9, 1691, by about 200 Native Americans commanded by thesachemMoxus. But CaptainJames Converseand hismilitiasuccessfully defended Lieutenant Joseph Storer's garrison, which was surrounded by a gatedpalisade.Another sachem,Madockawando,threatened to return the next year "and have the dog Converse out of his den".[25]

As the natives withdrew, they went toYorkoffCape Neddickand boarded a vessel, killing most of the crew. They also burned a hamlet.[19]

In early 1692, an estimated 150 Abenakis commanded by officers of New France returned to York, killing about 100 of the English settlers and burning down buildings in what would become known as theCandlemas Massacre.

Church's third expedition to Acadia during the war was in 1692 when he raided Penobscot (present-dayIndian Island, Maine) with 450 men.[22]: 212 Church and his men then went on to raid Taconock (Winslow, Maine).[22]: 214 

In 1693, New England frigates attacked Port Royal again, burning almost a dozen houses and three barns full of grain.[24]: 43 

On July 18, 1694, French soldierClaude-Sébastien de Villieuwith about 250 Abenakis fromNorridgewockunder command of theirsagamore(paramount chief) Bomazeen (or Bomoseen) raided the English settlement ofDurham, New Hampshire,in theOyster River Massacre.In all, the French and native force killed 104 inhabitants and took 27 captive, burning half the dwellings, including fivegarrisons.They also destroyed crops and killedlivestock,causingfamineand destitution for the survivors.

Siege of Pemaquid (1696)[edit]

In 1696, amilitary campaignsaw the sacking of English settlements on theAvalon Peninsula.

In 1696, New France and the tribes of theWabanaki Confederacy,led by St. Castine andPierre Le Moyne d'Iberville,returned and fought anaval battle in the Bay of Fundybefore moving on toraid Pemaquid.After the Siege of Pemaquid, d'Iberville led a force of 124 Canadians, Acadians, Mi'kmaq and Abenakis in theAvalon Peninsula Campaign.They destroyed almost every English settlement inNewfoundland,over 100 English were killed, many times that number captured, and almost 500 deported to England or France.[23]: 84 

In retaliation, Church went on his fourth expedition toAcadiaand carried outa retaliatory raidagainst Acadian communities on theIsthmus of ChignectoandFort Nashwack(present-dayFredericton,New Brunswick), which was then the capital of Acadia.[22]: 215 He led his troops personally in killing inhabitants of Chignecto, looting their household goods, burning their houses and slaughtering the livestock.

Quebec and New York Theatre[edit]

Also in August 1689, 1,500Iroquois,seeking revenge for Governor General Denonville's actions, attacked the French settlement atLachine.Count Frontenac,who replaced Denonville as governor general, later attacked the Iroquois village ofOnondaga.New France and its Indian allies then attacked English frontier settlements in early 1690, most notably atSchenectadyin New York.

French batteries bombard the English fleet during theBattle of Quebec.

This was followed by two expeditions. One, on land underConnecticutprovincial militia generalFitz-John Winthrop,targetedMontreal;the other, led by SirWilliam Phips,targetedQuebec.Winthrop's expedition failed due to disease and supply issues, and Phips was defeated in theBattle of Quebec.The Quebec and Port Royal expeditions were the only major New England offensives of King William's War; for the remainder of the war the English colonists were primarily engaged in defensive operations, skirmishes and retaliatory raids.

The Iroquois Five Nations suffered from the weakness of their English allies.[26]: 290 In 1693 and 1696, the French and their Indian allies ravaged Iroquois towns and destroyed crops whileNew Yorkcolonists remained passive. After the English and French made peace in 1697, the Iroquois, now abandoned by the English colonists, remained at war with New France until 1701,[26]: 291 whena peace was agreedat Montreal between New France and a large number of Iroquois and other tribes.

Hudson Bay Theatre[edit]

Sinking of thePélicanafter theBattle of Hudson's Bay.Although victorious in battle,Pélicansustained damage and subsequently sunk.

The war also served as a backdrop for an ongoing economic war between French and English interests in Arctic North America. TheHudson's Bay Companyhad established trading outposts onJames Bayand the southern reaches ofHudson Bayby the early 1680s. In a series of raids, beginning with the so-calledHudson Bay expedition,organized by Governor Denonville and continuing through the time of theNine Years' War(1688–1697), most of these outposts, includingMoose Factory,York FactoryandFort Albany,were taken by French raiders, primarily led by Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville.

But the French forces were small, and their hold on the captured posts quite weak—York Factory was recaptured by the English in 1695. In 1697, in theBattle of Hudson's Bay,one of the war's major naval battles, d'Iberville, with a single ship, defeated three English ships and went on to again capture York Factory.

Aftermath[edit]

TheTreaty of Ryswicksigned in September 1697 ended the war between the two colonial powers, reverting the colonial borders to thestatus quo ante bellum.The peace did not last long;[27]and within five years, the colonies were embroiled in the next phase of the colonial wars,Queen Anne's War.After their settlement with France in 1701, the Iroquois remained neutral in that conflict, never taking part in active hostilities against either side. Tensions remained high between the English and the tribes of theWabanaki Confederacy,who again fought with the French in Queen Anne's War, with conflict characterized by frequent raids in Massachusetts, including one on Groton in 1694, in which children were kidnapped, and theDeerfield Massacrein 1704, in which more than 100 captives were taken north to Montreal for ransom or adoption by Mohawk and French. By the end of the war, natives were successful in killing more than 700 English and capturing over 250 along the Acadia/ New England border.[28]

The Ryswick treaty was unsatisfactory to representatives of the Hudson's Bay Company. Since most of its trading posts in Hudson Bay had been lost to the French before the war began, the rule ofstatus quo ante bellummeant that they remained under French control. The company recovered its territories at the negotiating table when theTreaty of Utrechtended Queen Anne's War.

Scholars debate whether the war was a contributing factor to theSalem witch trials.King William's War as well asKing Philip's War(1675–78) led to the displacement of many refugees inEssex County.The refugees carried with them fears of the Indians, which is debated to have led to fears ofwitchcraft,especially since the devil was arguably closely associated with Indians and magic. Of course,Cotton Matheralso wrote that it was going to lead to an age of sorrow and is arguably a proponent in leadingSaleminto the witchcraft crisis of 1692. Scholars debate this theory and one scholar, Jenny Hale Pulsipher, maintains that King William's War was more of a cause.[10]Other scholars that have written on the theory of the wars being a leading cause of the Salem Witchcraft Trials include Mary Beth Norton, James Kences, and Emerson Baker.

See also[edit]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^The first Indian War is better known asKing Philip's War,the Third Indian War wasQueen Anne's War,the Fourth Indian War wasFather Rale's War,the fifth wasKing George's War,and the sixth was theFrench and Indian War.[2]

Citations[edit]

  1. ^abBaudry, René (1979) [1966]."Thury, Louis-Pierre".In Brown, George Williams (ed.).Dictionary of Canadian Biography.Vol. I (1000–1700) (online ed.).University of Toronto Press.
  2. ^Taylor, Alan(2005).Writing Early American History.University of Pennsylvania Press. p. 74.ISBN978-0-8122-1910-4– via Google books.
  3. ^abWilliams, Alan F. (1987).Father Baudoin's War: D'Iberville's Campaigns in Acadia and Newfoundland, 1696, 1697.Department of Geography, Memorial University of Newfoundland.ISBN978-0-88901-144-1– via Google books.
  4. ^abSylvester, Herbert Milton (1910).Indian Wars of New England: The Land of the Abenake. The French Occupation. King Philip's War. St. Castin's War.Vol. I. Boston: W.B. Clarke Company. p. 54.
  5. ^Lacoursière, Jacques; Provencher, Jean; Vaugeois, Denis (2001).Canada-Québec 1534–2000.Les éditions du Septentrion. p. 92.ISBN978-2-89448-186-8.
  6. ^Bromley, J. S., ed. (1971).The New Cambridge Modern History.Vol. 6, The Rise of Great Britain and Russia, 1688–1715/25. Cambridge University Press. p. 488.ISBN978-0-521-07524-4.
  7. ^abcWilliamson, William D.(1832).The History of the State of Maine: From Its First Discovery, A. D. 1602, to the Separation, A. D. 1820, Inclusive.Vol. II. Glazier, Masters & Smith.
  8. ^Griffiths, N.E.S. (2005).From Migrant to Acadian: A North American Border People, 1604–1755.McGill-Queen's University Press. p. 61.ISBN978-0-7735-2699-0.
  9. ^Campbell, William Edgar (2005).The Road to Canada: The Grand Communications Route from Saint John to Quebec.Goose Lane Editions. p. 21.ISBN978-0-86492-426-1.
  10. ^abcPulsipher, Jenny Hale (December 2007)."Dark Cloud Rising from the East".The New England Quarterly.80(4): 588–613.doi:10.1162/tneq.2007.80.4.588.JSTOR20474581.S2CID57560166.
  11. ^McIlwraith, Thomas F.; Muller, Edward K. (2001).North America: The Historical Geography of a Changing Continent.Rowman & Littlefield. p. 98.ISBN978-0-7425-0019-8– via Google books.
  12. ^abcdTucker, Spencer (2013).Almanac of American Military History.Vol. I: 1000–1830. ABC-CLIO. pp. 10–11.ISBN978-1-59884-530-3– via Google books.
  13. ^Havard, Gilles (2001).The Great Peace of Montreal of 1701: French-native Diplomacy in the Seventeenth Century.McGill-Queen's University Press. p. 66.ISBN978-0-7735-2219-0– via Google books.
  14. ^abChartrand, René (2013).French Fortresses in North America 1535–1763: Québec, Montréal, Louisbourg and New Orleans.Bloomsbury. p. 4.ISBN978-1-4728-0317-7– via Google books.
  15. ^abAquila, Richard (1997) [1983].The Iroquois Restoration: Iroquois Diplomacy on the Colonial Frontier, 1701–1754.University of Nebraska Press.ISBN978-0-8032-5932-4– via Gooble books.
  16. ^Meductic Indian Village / Fort Meductic National Historic Site of Canada.Canadian Register of Historic Places.Retrieved December 20, 2011.
  17. ^Grenier, John (2008).The Far Reaches of Empire: War in Nova Scotia, 1710-1760.University of Oklahoma Press. pp. 51, 54.ISBN978-0-8061-3876-3– via Google books.
  18. ^Prins, Harald E.L. (March 1999).Storm Clouds over Wabanakiak: Confederacy Diplomacy until Dummer's Treaty (1727).The Atlantic Policy Congress of First Nations Chiefs. Amherst,NS:Wabanaki. Archived fromthe originalon 2011-07-19.Retrieved2013-09-16.
  19. ^abClayton, W. Woodford (1880).History of York County, Maine: With Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of Its Prominent Men and Pioneers.Philadelphia: Everts & Peck. p. 51.ISBN978-0-83280037-5– via Google books.
  20. ^abChet, Guy (2003).Conquering the American Wilderness: The Triumph of European Warfare in the Colonial Northeast.University of Massachusetts Press.ISBN978-1-55849-382-7.
  21. ^abcdDrake, Samuel Adams(1897).The Border Wars of New England: Commonly Called King William's and Queen Anne's Wars.New York: Charles Scribner's Sons.
  22. ^abcdeChurch, Benjamin;Church, Thomas; Drake, Samuel G. (1845).The History of the Great Indian War of 1675 and 1676: Commonly Called Philip's War: Also the Old French and Indian Wars, from 1689 to 1704.New York: H. Dayton.ISBN978-0-65911482-2– via Google books.
  23. ^abcReid, John G.(1994)."1686–1720: Imperial Intrusions".In Phillip Buckner; John G. Reid (eds.).The Atlantic Region to Confederation: A History.University of Toronto Press. p. 82.ISBN978-1-4875-1676-5.JSTORj.ctt15jjfrm.
  24. ^abcdeDunn, Brenda (2004).A History of Port-Royal-Annapolis Royal, 1605–1800.Nimbus.ISBN978-1-55109-740-4.
  25. ^Roach, Marilynne K. (2002).The Salem Witch Trials: A Day-by-day Chronicle of a Community Under Siege.Taylor Trade Publications. p. 163.ISBN978-1-58979-132-9– via Google books.
  26. ^abTaylor, Alan (2002).American Colonies.Penguin Books.ISBN978-0-14-200210-0.
  27. ^Trafzer, Clifford E. (2000).As Long as the Grass Shall Grow and Rivers Flow: A History of Native Americans.Harcourt College.ISBN978-0-15-503857-8.
  28. ^Exercises of the Eliot Historical Society on Monday the fifth of July, 1897: In commemoration of Major Charles Frost on the two hundredth anniversary of his massacre by the Indians, Sunday, July fourth, 1697.Eliot, ME: The Society. 1897. p. 16 – via The Internet Archive.

References[edit]

External links[edit]

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