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Raid on Dover (June 1689)

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Date: 27 Jun 1689 to 28 Jun 1689
Location: Dover, New Hampshiremap
Surnames/tags: Coffin Waldron Gerrish Heard Otis Wentworth Penacook King_William's_War New_Hampshire
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Historical Event. 27-28 June 1689 at Dover, New Hampshire.
Who was there: Category:Raid on Dover (June 1689)
When England and France went to war in 1689, Pennacooks attacked the English settlement at Dover, New Hampshire which was under the jurisdiction of Richard Walderne. Led by Chief Kancamagus, the Raid on Dover began King William's War, a series of viscious attacks carried out by 'Canadiens et Indiens' orchestrated by Jean Vincent Abbadie de Saint-Castin and Abbé Louis-Pierre Thury.
Prelude
From No Middle Ground
"After the outbreak of King Philips War in 1675, a peaceful policy became virtually impossible. The majority of the Pennacooks remained neutral yet suffered repeated insults and attacks by the colonists. Nashaways sided with "King Philip" and were destroyed by New England. After the war Pennacook survivors repudiated Wannalancet's peaceful policy and gravitated to the leadership of his nephew, Kancarnagus. Kancamagus cultivated relations with the French as a counter-weight to New Englanders, who had become increasing friendly with the Pennacooks' Mohawk enemies. When England and France went to war in 1689, Pennacooks attacked the English settlement at Dover, New Hampshire which was under the jurisdiction of Richard Walderne. This target was a logical choice because Walderne, a fur trader and militia commander, had been a longtime adversary. By attacking Dover the Pennacooks committed themselves to a permanent pro-French, anti-English orientation. The failure of Pennacook efforts to coexist with the English illustrate the impossibility of Indian attempts to preserve their independence and simultaneously accommodate the New England colonies."
[...]
"Although he was the military commander of the province, Walderne seemed to be oblivious to any danger, and Pennacooks continued to trade at his Dover truckhouse. Local traditions related that an old Indian woman was heard to recite:
"0 Major Walderne,
you great sagamore,
what will you do
Indians at your door?"
but none of the settlers deciphered her meaning. Indian women were integral to the plan. Two were to go to each of the town's five garrison houses and ask to spend the night there, a common occurrence in peace time. After each houses' occupants had retired, they would open the gates and signal the warriors hiding nearby to enter. The women were admitted to al1 garrison houses except one which belonged to Peter Coffin's son, and those that entered Walderne's house told him that more Indians would be arriving to trade the next day."
From A History of New Hampshire, Jeremy Belknap.
"In that part of the town of Dover which lies about the first falls in the river Cochecho, were five garrisoned houses; three on the North side, viz. Waldron's, Otis's and Heard's; and two on the south side, viz. Peter Coffin's and his son's. These houses were surrounded with timber-walls, the gates of which, as well the house doors, were secured with bolts and bars. The neighbouring families retired to these houses by night; but by an unaccountable negligence no watch was kept. The Indians who were daily passing through the town visiting and trading with the inhabitants, as usual in times of peace, viewed their situation with an attentive eye. Some hints of a mischievous design had been given out by their squaws; but in such dark and ambiguous terms that no one could comprehend their meaning."
The Waldron Garrison
From A History of New Hampshire, Jeremy Belknap.
Night Attack of Indians on Major Waldron's House, Dover, N.H.
"When all was quiet the gates were opened and the signal was given. The Indians entered, set a guard at the door, and rushed into the major's apartment, which was an inner room, Awakened by the noise, he jumped out of bed, and though now advanced in life to the age of eighty years, he retained so much vigour as to drive them with his sword, through two or three doors; but as he was returning for his other arms, they came behind him, stunned him with an hatchet, drew him into his hall, and seating him in an elbow chair on a long table, insultingly asked him,
"Who shall judge Indians now?"
Major Waldron's Terrible Fight
"They then obliged the people in the house to get them some victuals; and when they had done eating, they cut the major across the breast and belly with knives, each one with a stroke, saying,
"I cross out my account'".
"They then cut off his nose and ears, forcing them into his mouth; and when spent with the loss of blood he was falling down from the table, one of them held his own sword under him, which put an end to his misery. They also killed his son in law Abraham Lee; but took his daughter Lee with several others, and having pillaged the house, left it on fire."
The Otis Garrison
From A History of New Hampshire, Jeremy Belknap.
"Otis's garrison, which was next to the major's, met with the same fate; he was killed, with several others, and his wife and child were captivated. "
"From Notable Events in Dover"
"Mrs. Christina Baker was a daughter of Capt. Richard Otis, and with her mother and others was taken captive, in infancy, by the Indians, in their attack on Dover, ..."
The Coffin Garrison
From A History of New Hampshire, Jeremy Belknap.
"Coffin's house was surprized, but as the Indians had no particular enmity to him, they spared his life, and the lives of his family, and contented themselves with pillaging the house. Finding a bag of money, they made him throw it by handfuls on the floor, whilst they amused themselves in scrambling for it. They then went to the house of his son who would not admit the squaws in the evening, and summoned him to surrender, promising him quarter: He declined their offer and determined to defend his house, till they brought out his father and threatened to kill him before his eyes: Filial affection then overcame his resolution, and he surrendered. They put both families together into a deserted house, intending to reserve them for prisoners; but whilst the Indians were busy in plundering, they all escaped."
The Heard Garrison
From A History of New Hampshire, Jeremy Belknap.
"Heard's was saved by the barking of a dog just as the Indians were entering: Elder Wentworth, who was awakened by the noise pushed them out, and falling on his back, set his feet against the gate and held it till he had alarmed the people; two balls were fired through it, but both missed him."
Escape
From A History of New Hampshire, Jeremy Belknap.
"Twenty three people were killed in this surprisal, and twenty nine were captivated; five or six houses, with the mills, were burned; and so expeditious were the Indians in the execution of their plot, that before the people could be collected from the other parts of the town to oppose them, they fled with their prisoners and booty. As they passed by Heard's garrison in their retreat, they fired upon it; but the people being prepared and resolved to defend it, and the enemy being in haste, it was preserved. The preservation of its owner was more remarkable."
Elizabeth Heard
From A History of New Hampshire, Jeremy Belknap.
"Elizabeth Heard, with her three sons and a daughter, and some others, were returning in the night from Portsmouth. They passed up the river in their boat unperceived by the Indians, who were then in possession of the houses; but suspecting danger by the noise which they heard, after they had landed they betook themselves to Waldron's garrison, where they saw lights, which they imagined were set up for direction to those who might be seeking a refuge. They knocked and begged earnestly for admission; but no answer being given, a young man of the company climbed up the wall, and saw, to his inexpressible surprize, an Indian standing in the door of the house, with his gun. "
"The woman was so overcome with the fright that she was unable to fly; but begged her children to shift for themselves; and they with heavy hearts, left her. When she had a little recovered she crawled into some bushes, and lay there till day-light. She then perceived an Indian coming toward her with a pistol in his hand; he looked at her and went away; returning, he looked at her again; and she asked him what he would have; he made no answer; but ran yelling to the house, and she saw him no more. She kept her place till the house was burned, and the Indians were gone; and then returning home, found her own house safe. "
"Her preservation in these dangerous circumstances was the more remarkable, if (as it is supposed) it was an instance of justice and gratitude in the Indians. For at the time when the four hundred were seized in 1676, a young Indian escaped and took refuge in her house, where she concealed him; in return for which kindness he promised her that he would never kill her, nor any of her family in any future war, and that he would use his influence with the other Indians to the same purpose. This Indian was one of the party who surprised the place, and she was well known to the most of them."
Prisoners
From A History of New Hampshire, Jeremy Belknap.
"The prisoners taken at this time were mostly carried to Canada, and sold to the French; and these, as far as I can learn, were the first that ever were carried thither."
From No Middle Ground
"The New Englanders captured at Dover were taken north as well. A warrior captured in the Connecticut Valley during 1690 reported that some were being held at Cowass. John Gyles, taken captive in a separate raid, saw others as far north as the Maliseetsl "Medocktack fortw on the St, John River, where they were being tortured months later. Only one, a seven year old child named Sarah Gerrish, who was taken to the Intendant of Quebec and then ransomed by Phipps' expedition in 1691,* is known to have been returned."[1]
Aftermath
From Trouble to the eastward: the failure of Anglo-Indian relations in early Maine
"The outbreak of hostilities in 1689 between France and England turned Maine into a small theater of a vast imperial struggle. King William's War proved even more destructive to Maine than King Philip's War. English residents of northern New England again abandoned their towns in the face of fierce Indian raids. Dover, Newichawannock, Pemaquid, York, and Falmouth all fell to devastating Indian attacks that killed numerous settlers and captured others. All towns in Maine north of Wells were abandoned, quickly wiping out the fruits of ten years of English resettlement."
Historical Background:
  • WikiTree FreeSpace: Deceit of Captain Waldron — In September 1676, Captain Joseph Syll and Captain William Hathorne, marching under orders from the Massachusetts Bay Colony, to round up 'strange Indians' who had recently fled from the southern theatre of King Philip's War, arrived at Cocheco on 6 September 1676. They enlisted the aid of the Dover magistrate, Major Richard Waldron, who had only recently signed a peace treaty with Wonolancet and Squando, with explicit provision "That none of said Indians shall entertain at any time any of our enemies..." Waldron, in turn, enlisted the aid of his compatriot, Captain Charles Frost of Kittery, to trick the Indians and then, together with the captains and their companies, to surround and capture them. This event had the effect of prolonging King Philip's War, in the north-eastern theatre of New Hampshire and Maine, until 1678.
Sources
  • "The History of New Hampshire : Volume I. Comprehending the events of one complete century from the discovery of the River Pascataqua." / By Jeremy Belknap, A.M. Member of the American Philosophical Society Held at Philadelphia for Promoting Useful Knowledge. (Accessed 27 Oct 2022) http://name.umdl.umich.edu/N18558.0001.001
  • "Early History of Dover, Strafford County, New Hampshire. : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men" - Hurd, D. Hamilton, Philadelphia 1882. p.216 (Accessed 20 Oct 2022.) http://www.nh.searchroots.com/strafford.html#Dover
  • John Daly. "No Middle Ground: Pennacook-New England Relations in the Seventeenth Century" — A Thesis submitted to the School of Graduate Studies in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts. Deptartment of History, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St John's Newfoundland. July 1997. (Accessed 24 Nov 2022) https://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/obj/s4/f2/dsk2/ftp04/mq25835.pdf
  • Baker, Emerson W., "Trouble to the eastward: the failure of Anglo-Indian relations in early Maine" (1986). Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects. William & Mary. Paper 1539623765. https://dx.doi.org/doi:10.21220/s2-mh0r-hx28
  • Mary Beth Norton. "In the Devil's Snare". Chapter 3, entitled "Pannick at the Eastward". Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, Dec 18, 2007. pp. 89, 91. (Available at library or Amazon.) (Accessed 22 Oct 2022) Internet Archive
  • Our Beloved Kin. "William Waldron’s Defense: The Capture and Return of Wabanaki Noncombatants". Contributed by Allyson LaForge with Lisa Brooks. (Accessed 22 Oct 2022)
  • Margaret Ellen Newell. "The Changing Nature of Indian Slavery in New England, 1670–1720". Colonial Society of Massachusetts, Volume 71 "Reinterpreting New England Indians and the Colonial Experience". (Accessed 22 Oct 2022) https://www.colonialsociety.org/node/1397
See also:




Images: 2
Night Attack of Indians on Major Waldron's House, Dover, N. H
Night Attack of Indians on Major Waldron's House, Dover, N. H
Major Waldron's Terrible Fight
Major Waldron's Terrible Fight
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Joe Wentworth
Proper name for this event is The Cocheco Massacre. "Raid" is an under statement.
posted by Joe Wentworth

Categories: King William's War | Raid on Dover (June 1689) | Maloney-2332