Abenaki Wars
The Abenaki Wars were a series of conflicts driven by Native American resistance to the encroachment of English settlers on traditional Abenaki lands, particularly following the English expansion into the interior of New England. Initially, many Abenaki tribes tolerated English colonization for trade opportunities, but increasing agricultural settlement posed a significant threat. The wars began in earnest with King Philip's War (1675–1676), where Abenaki and allied tribes fought against English colonial forces, leading to significant violence and loss on both sides. Subsequent conflicts, such as King William's War and Queen Anne's War, involved the Abenaki aligning with French forces against the English, demonstrating their strategic resistance to colonial pressures.
Despite early successes in these conflicts, the Abenaki faced mounting challenges, particularly after key defeats and the loss of French support. Over time, the Abenaki were pushed further into northern New England and Canada, losing much of their military influence and territory. The wars not only highlight the struggle for autonomy and survival faced by the Abenaki but also reflect broader themes of colonial expansion and indigenous resistance during that period in North American history.
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Abenaki Wars
At issue: Abenaki tribal resistance to English colonization of their land
Date: 1675–1760’s
Location: New England
Combatants: British vs. Native Americans and French
Principal commanders:British, Captain William Turner, Major Robert Rogers (1731–1795), James Wolfe (1727–1759); French, Governor Hertel de Rouville, Governor Louis de Buade, comte de Frontenac (1620–1696), Louis-Joseph de Montcalm (1712–1759); Abenaki, Wampanoag sachem King Philip, also known as Metacomet (d. 1676), Woronoke sachem Grey Lock
Principal battles: Turners Falls, Schenectady, Salmon Falls, Casco Bay, Deerfield, St. Francis
Result: English victory; dispersion of Abenaki tribes
Background
The Abenaki Wars were the result of Native American resistance to growing English power and English settlement of traditional Abenaki lands. Most Abenaki tribes had been content to allow English colonists to inhabit coastal areas for fishing and fur trade, but the intrusion of English farmers into the interior of New England caused the Abenaki to view the English as an increasing threat. Since the early seventeenth century, the Abenaki had battled with the Iroquois, who had begun to wage war on their neighbors in their demand for a secure fur trade. The Abenaki began to regard the English as a more serious threat after a number of Native American defeats in southern New England by English militias, such as the destruction of the main Pequot village on the Mystic River in 1637. The brutality of this action, in which several hundred men, women, and children were killed, was the beginning of a growing Native American resistance to English intrusion.
Action
The Abenaki fought a series of wars against the English, starting with King Philip’s War (1675–1676), in which the Wampanoag sachem Metacomet (known to the English as King Philip) raised an army composed of several different tribes. Throughout the conduct of the war, King Philip proved to have little control over his warriors, and the war degenerated into a series of bloody raids on frontier settlements. The Abenaki were initially successful in terrorizing the colonial population, but their war effort was quickly undermined when the English, led by Captain William Turner, used Native American scouts to find and destroy the Abenaki’s winter stores at Turners Falls (1676). Threatened with starvation, many tribes were unable to continue fighting and were forced to disperse northward. The war ended shortly after English troops, assisted by Native American allies, hunted down and killed King Philip (August, 1676).
Fighting would resume with King William’s War (1689–1697), which was a North American extension of the War of the League of Augsburg. During the war, Louis de Buade, comte de Frontenac, commanding French, Algonquin, and Abenaki warriors, organized a three-pronged attack against English settlements in New England, sacking the towns of Schenectady, Salmon Falls, and Casco Bay (1690). French and Abenaki forces failed to take Boston, and the war ended with the Treaty of Rijswijk between the English and the French.
The War of the Spanish Succession (1701–1714) would produce the next Abenaki war, Queen Anne’s War (1702–1713). During the winter of 1703–1704, Governor Hertel de Rouville led a French and Abenaki expedition over 250 miles to surprise the town of Deerfield (1704), killing 40 to 50 people and taking more than 100 captives, many of whom died on the long trek back to Montreal. The war would progress in favor of the English after the capture of the French fortress of Port Royal (1710), and the Treaty of Utrecht (1713) would hand traditional Abenaki lands over to the English, leaving many Abenaki tribes feeling betrayed by the French.
Grey Lock’s War (1723–1727) occurred at a time of relative peace between the French and English, and western Abenaki forces acted independently of French control, dispelling the notion that they were merely instruments of European interests. Grey Lock led Abenaki warriors in raiding parties against settlements in New Hampshire and Massachusetts with relative impunity, and Grey Lock’s reputation earned him an increasing following. The fighting eventually died down as the Abenaki grew weary of fighting, though Grey Lock was never defeated.
King George’s War (1744–1748) was yet another extension of Anglo-French hostilities in Europe, the War of the Austrian Succession (1740–1748). Using the villages of Missisquoi, St. Francis, and Becancour as bases of operations, Abenaki warriors fought ill-prepared English militia, destroying their forts and driving them completely out of Vermont.
The Seven Years’ War (1756–1763), known in North America as the French and Indian War (1754–1763), was to be the final major colonial conflict involving the Abenaki. The French, who had been the primary allies of the Abenaki, were defeated on the Plains of Abraham (1759) in the Siege of Quebec, when English forces led by Major General James Wolfe defeated those of General Louis-Joseph de Montcalm. The same year, Abenaki forces were defeated by the so-called Rangers under Major Robert Rogers, who with Indian allies sacked and burned the Abenaki village of St. Francis (1759), reportedly killing two hundred.
Aftermath
Having lost their military influence on the English colonies and without French aid, the Abenaki were dispersed into northern New England and Canada.
Bibliography
Calloway, Colin G. The Abenaki. New York: Chelsea House, 1989.
‗‗‗‗‗‗‗. The Western Abenakis of Vermont, 1600–1800: War, Migration, and the Survival of an Indian People. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1990.
Day, Gordon M. In Search of New England’s Native Past. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 1953.