Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, In addition to this new and detailed account of the attack, other interesting and informative sources include: "The Destruction at Deerfield, February 29, Published in Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society , vol. Also published in George Sheldon. A History of Deerfield , Deerfield: Privately published, , vol. The website for Historic Deerfield, Inc.
John Demos. The enemy gave back, they strove to fire the house, [but] our men killed 3 or 4 Indians in their attempt. The enemy being numerous about the house, poured much shot upon the house; [but] the walls being filled up with brick, the force of the shot was repelled.
Yet they killed said Stebbins, and wounded one man and one woman, of which the survivors made no discovery of the assailants, but with more than ordinary courage kept firing, having powder and ball sufficient in said house.
The enemy betook themselves to the next house and the meeting house, both of which but 8 rods [i. Many of the villagers managed to hide from the raiders in the basement of their houses but later died when the raiders set the houses on fire, according to Samuel Adams Drake in his book The Border Wars of New England:. Death, in its most terrible form, thus overtook many who, to escape the tomahawk, had hid themselves in their cellars, only to be stifled beneath the ruins of their burning dwellings.
When all was over, forty-seven of the unresisting inhabitants lay dead in or around their own homes. Around 9 or 10 am, some of the raiders began to leave the stockade with their captives and head north. Around the same time, a group of about 30 to 40 militiamen from Hatfield and Hadley arrived, after spotting the smoke and flames on the horizon, and began pursuing the raiders.
The militiamen and raiders skirmished in a meadow just north of Deerfield and nine militiamen were killed and several were wounded when they later ran into an ambush set by the raiders. The surviving militiamen then retreated back to Deerfield. The villagers who were captured were forced to march the mile-long journey to Canada in the deep snow in the dead of winter. Those who could not keep up were killed.
In the first few days of the journey, several of the captives escaped but after De Rouville instructed Reverend Williams to inform the other captives that recaptured escapees would be tortured, there were no other escape attempts. After reaching Canada, the Indians sold many of the captives to the French, who ransomed about 60 of them back to the English over a three-year period. Many of the younger captives assimilated and were adopted into the Indian tribes or French Canadian society.
In fact, 36 Deerfield captives, mostly children and teenagers at the time of the raid, remained in Canada permanently, many of them marrying into French or Indian families.
Sarah Allen, age 12, captured, remained in Canada where, in , she married and went by Marie Madeleine. Martha French, age 9, captured and remained in Canada where she married a French man and went by Marguerite. Elizabeth Price Stevens, age 21, captured and remained in Canada where she later married and went by Marie Elizabeth. According to local legend, the survivors of the raid buried the 48 victims in a mass grave in the corner of the town cemetery.
The lower part of their route follows the Connecticut River valley till it reaches a point near what would later become Brattleboro, Vermont. Here they will strike off into the woods to the south, leaving dogs and sleds for their return. The rest they will cover as quickly and quietly as possible. Surprise is their most potent weapon. The people of Deerfield, though generally apprehensive, know nothing of this specific threat. On the evening of February 28, the town goes to sleep in the usual way.
Across the river to the west the attackers are making their final preparations: loading weapons, putting on war paint, reviewing plans. The layout of Deerfield is apparently known to them from visits made in previous years by Indian hunters and traders. Another check, a short while later, brings a different result. Over the river, on the ice. Across a mile of meadowland, ghostly and white. Past the darkened houses at the north end of the street. Right up to the stockade.
The snow has piled hugely here; the drifts make walkways to the top of the fence. A vanguard of some forty men climbs quickly over and drops down on the inside. A gate is opened to admit the rest. The townspeople come to life with a rush. Some find opportunities to escape by jumping from windows or roof lines. Several manage to flee the stockade altogether and make their way to neighboring villages.
In half a dozen households the men leave families behind in order to rally outside as a counterforce. In others there is a frantic attempt to hide. They also permit Mrs. And prisoners are being herded together—in the meetinghouse and in a home nearby—from all over town. However, one household—that of the militia leader, Sgt. Benoni Stebbins—has mounted a remarkable resistance.
The battle as described in a subsequent report by local militia officers continues here for more than two hours. In the meantime, some of the attackers with their captives begin to leave the stockade. Heading north, they retrace their steps toward the river. The Englishmen warm, literally, to the fight, stripping off garments as they run.
Later the same soldiers will claim reimbursement for their losses—and record details of the battle. Abenaki were the most likely to sell their captives, but for the Mohawks and Hurons captives were the essential reason for these "mourning wars.
Diplomatic negotiations began soon after the raid and within three years 52 of the captives had returned, 46 by negotiation, 1 by sale and 5 had escaped. About 34 remained in Canada, 2 with the Huron, 3 with the Mohawk and at Kahnawake.
Among the latter was Williams' daughter Eunice who chose to live the rest of her life among the Mohawk. Her descendants still live in Kahnawake. How is this violent episode in our early history remembered? Today, a re-enactment takes place each year in the museum-village of Deerfield. The word "massacre" used so freely by historians in the past is seldom used now.
There is a greater understanding of the complexity and context of the raid, particularly the role of the First Nations, who were caught in a foreign war and who were in the process of being dispossessed. Search The Canadian Encyclopedia.
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