The Battle of Norridgewock was a raid on the
Abenaki
The Abenaki (Abenaki: ''Wαpánahki'') are an Indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands of Canada and the United States. They are an Algonquian-speaking people and part of the Wabanaki Confederacy. The Eastern Abenaki language was predom ...
settlement of
Norridgewock
Norridgewock was the name of both an Indigenous village and a band of the Abenaki ("People of the Dawn") Native Americans/First Nations, an Eastern Algonquian tribe of the United States and Canada. The French of New France called the village Ke ...
by a group of colonial militiamen from the
New England Colonies
The New England Colonies of British America included Connecticut Colony, the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, Massachusetts Bay Colony, Plymouth Colony, and the Province of New Hampshire, as well as a few smaller short-lived colon ...
. Occurring in contested lands on the edge of the
American frontier
The American frontier, also known as the Old West or the Wild West, encompasses the geography, history, folklore, and culture associated with the forward wave of United States territorial acquisitions, American expansion in mainland North Amer ...
, the raid resulted in a
massacre
A massacre is the killing of a large number of people or animals, especially those who are not involved in any fighting or have no way of defending themselves. A massacre is generally considered to be morally unacceptable, especially when per ...
of the Abenaki inhabitants of Norridgewock by the militiamen.
The raid was undertaken to check Abenaki power in the region, limit Catholic proselytizing among the Abenaki (and thereby perceived French influence), and to allow the expansion of
New England
New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...
settlements into Abenaki territory and
Acadia
Acadia (french: link=no, Acadie) was a colony of New France in northeastern North America which included parts of what are now the Maritime provinces, the Gaspé Peninsula and Maine to the Kennebec River. During much of the 17th and early ...
. New France defined this area as starting at the
Kennebec River
The Kennebec River (Abenaki language, Abenaki: ''Kinəpékʷihtəkʷ'') is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed June 30, 2011 river within the U.S. state of Maine. It ri ...
in southern Maine.
Other motivations for the raid included the special £100 scalp bounty placed on Râle's head by the
Massachusetts provincial assembly and the bounty on Abenaki scalps offered by the colony during the conflict.
Captains
Johnson Harmon
Colonel Johnson Harmon (or Harman; c. 1675 – 1751) was an army officer in colonial America. He led the expedition during Father Rale's War that killed Father Sébastien Rale in the Battle of Norridgewock. Harmon was heralded as a hero upon his ...
,
Jeremiah Moulton
Jeremiah Moulton (b. York, Massachusetts (now in York, Maine
York is a town in York County, Maine, United States, near the southern tip of the state. The population in the 2020 census was 13,723. Situated beside the Atlantic Ocean on the Gulf ...
, and
Richard Bourne (Brown) led a force of two hundred colonial New Englanders, which attacked the
Abenaki
The Abenaki (Abenaki: ''Wαpánahki'') are an Indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands of Canada and the United States. They are an Algonquian-speaking people and part of the Wabanaki Confederacy. The Eastern Abenaki language was predom ...
village of Narantsouak, or Norridgewock, on the
Kennebec River
The Kennebec River (Abenaki language, Abenaki: ''Kinəpékʷihtəkʷ'') is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed June 30, 2011 river within the U.S. state of Maine. It ri ...
; the current town of
Norridgewock, Maine
Norridgewock is a town in Somerset County, Maine, United States. The population was 3,278 at the 2020 census.
History
Native Americans
Situated on the New England and Acadia border, which New France defined as the Kennebec River, the area ...
developed near there. The village was led by, among others, the sachems Bomazeen and
Welákwansit, known to the English as Mog. The village's Catholic mission was run by a French
Jesuit
, image = Ihs-logo.svg
, image_size = 175px
, caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits
, abbreviation = SJ
, nickname = Jesuits
, formation =
, founders ...
priest, Father
Sébastien Râle.
Casualties, depending on the sources consulted, vary, but most accounts record about eighty Abenaki being killed. But both English and French accounts agree that the raid was a surprise nighttime attack on a civilian target, and they both also report that many of the dead were unarmed when they were killed, and those massacred included many women and children. As a result of the raid, New Englanders flooded into the lower Kennebec region, establishing settlements there in the wake of the war.
Background
The
Treaty of Utrecht
The Peace of Utrecht was a series of peace treaties signed by the belligerents in the War of the Spanish Succession, in the Dutch city of Utrecht between April 1713 and February 1715. The war involved three contenders for the vacant throne o ...
(1713), which ended
Queen Anne's War
Queen Anne's War (1702–1713) was the second in a series of French and Indian Wars fought in North America involving the colonial empires of Great Britain, France, and Spain; it took place during the reign of Anne, Queen of Great Britain. In E ...
, had facilitated the expansion of New England settlement. The treaty, however, had been signed in Europe and had not involved any member of the
Wabanaki natives. Since they had not been consulted, they protested this incursion into their lands by conducting raids on British fishermen and settlements.
For the first and only time, Wabanaki fought New Englanders and the British on their own terms and for their own reasons and not principally to defend French imperial interests.
[ In response to Wabanaki hostilities toward the expansion, the Governor of ]Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland".
Most of the population are native Eng ...
Richard Phillips built a fort in traditional Mi'kmaq territory at Canso, Nova Scotia
Canso is a community in Guysborough County, on the north-eastern tip of mainland Nova Scotia, Canada, next to Chedabucto Bay. In January 2012, it ceased to be a separate town and as of July 2012 was amalgamated into the Municipality of the Di ...
in 1720, and Massachusetts Governor Samuel Shute
Samuel Shute (January 12, 1662 – April 15, 1742) was an English military officer and royal governor of the provinces of Massachusetts and New Hampshire. After serving in the Nine Years' War and the War of the Spanish Succession, he was appoin ...
built forts on traditional Abenaki territory at the mouth of the Kennebec River. The French claimed the same territory on the Kennebec River by building a church in the Abenaki villages of Norridgewock
Norridgewock was the name of both an Indigenous village and a band of the Abenaki ("People of the Dawn") Native Americans/First Nations, an Eastern Algonquian tribe of the United States and Canada. The French of New France called the village Ke ...
on the Kennebec River and a church in the Maliseet
The Wəlastəkwewiyik, or Maliseet (, also spelled Malecite), are an Algonquian-speaking First Nation of the Wabanaki Confederacy. They are the indigenous people of the Wolastoq ( Saint John River) valley and its tributaries. Their territory ...
village of Medoctec on the Saint John River. These fortifications and missions escalated the conflict. By 1720, Massachusetts had placed a bounty on Râle.
In the winter of 1722, New England rangers raided Norridgewock, trying to capture Râle. While he escaped, the rangers destroyed the church and mission house.[ As revenge for the first raid on Norridgewock, the Mi'kmaq laid siege to the Lt. Governor of Nova Scotia ]John Doucett
John Doucett (Doucette) (died November 19, 1726) was probably of French descent although he did not speak the language and was likely born in England. He was a career military man and, from 1702 on, received several promotions.
He was appointed ...
in May 1722 at Annapolis Royal
Annapolis Royal, formerly known as Port Royal, is a town located in the western part of Annapolis County, Nova Scotia, Canada.
Today's Annapolis Royal is the second French settlement known by the same name and should not be confused with the n ...
.[ On June 13, 1722, in present-day Maine, the tribe and allied groups burned Brunswick at the mouth of the Kennebec, taking hostages to exchange for those of their people held in Boston. Consequently, on July 25 Shute declared war on the eastern Indians. But on January 1, 1723, Shute abruptly departed for ]London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
. He had grown disgusted with the intransigent Assembly
Assembly may refer to:
Organisations and meetings
* Deliberative assembly, a gathering of members who use parliamentary procedure for making decisions
* General assembly, an official meeting of the members of an organization or of their representa ...
(which controlled funding) as it squabbled with the Governor's Council over which body should conduct the war. Lieutenant-governor William Dummer
William Dummer (bapt. September 29, 1677 (O.S.) October 10, 1677 (N.S.)/small> – October 10, 1761) was a politician in the Province of Massachusetts Bay. He served as its lieutenant governor for fourteen years (1716–1730), including an e ...
assumed management of the government. Further Abenaki incursions persuaded the Assembly to act in what would be called Father Rale's War
Dummer's War (1722–1725) is also known as Father Rale's War, Lovewell's War, Greylock's War, the Three Years War, the Wabanaki-New England War, or the Fourth Anglo-Abenaki War. It was a series of battles between the New England Colonies and the ...
.
Raid
In August 1724, a force of 208 soldiers (which split into 2 units under the commands of captains Johnson Harmon
Colonel Johnson Harmon (or Harman; c. 1675 – 1751) was an army officer in colonial America. He led the expedition during Father Rale's War that killed Father Sébastien Rale in the Battle of Norridgewock. Harmon was heralded as a hero upon his ...
and Jeremiah Moulton
Jeremiah Moulton (b. York, Massachusetts (now in York, Maine
York is a town in York County, Maine, United States, near the southern tip of the state. The population in the 2020 census was 13,723. Situated beside the Atlantic Ocean on the Gulf ...
) left Fort Richmond (now Richmond, Maine
Richmond is a town in Sagadahoc County, Maine, United States. The population was 3,522 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Portland– South Portland–Biddeford, Maine metropolitan statistical area, situated at the head of Merrymeetin ...
) in 17 whaleboat
A whaleboat is a type of open boat that was used for catching whales, or a boat of similar design that retained the name when used for a different purpose. Some whaleboats were used from whaling ships. Other whaleboats would operate from the sh ...
s to go up the Kennebec. At Taconic Falls (now Winslow, Maine
Winslow is a New England town, town and census-designated place in Kennebec County, Maine, Kennebec County, Maine, United States, along the Kennebec River across from Waterville, Maine, Waterville. The population was 7,948 at the 2020 United Stat ...
), 40 men were left to guard the boats as the troops continued on foot. On August 21, the Rangers killed Chief Bomoseen, fatally wounded his daughter, and took his wife captive.[
On August 22, 1724, Captains ]Jeremiah Moulton
Jeremiah Moulton (b. York, Massachusetts (now in York, Maine
York is a town in York County, Maine, United States, near the southern tip of the state. The population in the 2020 census was 13,723. Situated beside the Atlantic Ocean on the Gulf ...
and Johnson Harmon led 200 rangers to the main Abenaki village on the Kennebec River, Norridgewock, Maine
Norridgewock is a town in Somerset County, Maine, United States. The population was 3,278 at the 2020 census.
History
Native Americans
Situated on the New England and Acadia border, which New France defined as the Kennebec River, the area ...
, to kill Father Sébastien Râle and destroy the settlement. On the 23rd, there were 160 Abenaki, many of whom were killed as they tried to escape. The Rangers fired on the canoes filled with families. Harmon noted that at least 50 bodies went downstream before the rangers could retrieve them for their scalps.[ At least 31 Abenaki chose to fight, which allowed the others to escape. Most of the defenders were killed.] Lieut. Richard Jacques killed Râle in the opening moments of the battle; Chief Mog was killed, and the rangers massacred nearly two dozen women and children.[ The English had casualties of two militiamen and one ]Nauset
The Nauset people, sometimes referred to as the Cape Cod Indians, were a Native American tribe who lived in Cape Cod, Massachusetts. They lived east of Bass River and lands occupied by their closely-related neighbors, the Wampanoag.
Although the ...
. Harmon destroyed the Abenaki farms, and those who had escaped were forced to abandon their village and moved northward to the Abenaki village of St Francois (Odanak, Quebec
Odanak is an Abenaki First Nations reserve in the Central Quebec region, Quebec, Canada. The mostly First Nations population as of the Canada 2021 Census was 481. The territory is located near the mouth of the Saint-François River at its conflue ...
).[ Many of the Indians were routed, leaving 26 warriors dead and 14 wounded. Harmon's son-in-law Lieutenant ]Richard Jacques
Richard Adrian Jacques (; born 1973) is a British composer of film, television and video game music. Best known for his critically acclaimed orchestral scores for blockbuster franchises such as '' James Bond 007: Blood Stone'', ''Sonic R'', '' ...
scalped Fr. Râle. Chief Wissememet was also killed.
The soldiers mutilated Râle's body; his scalp
The scalp is the anatomical area bordered by the human face at the front, and by the neck at the sides and back.
Structure
The scalp is usually described as having five layers, which can conveniently be remembered as a mnemonic:
* S: The ski ...
was later redeemed in Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
with those of the other dead. The Boston authorities gave a reward for the scalps, and Harmon was promoted. Thereafter, the French and Indians claimed that the missionary died "a martyr
A martyr (, ''mártys'', "witness", or , ''marturia'', stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an externa ...
" at the foot of a large cross
A cross is a geometrical figure consisting of two intersecting lines or bars, usually perpendicular to each other. The lines usually run vertically and horizontally. A cross of oblique lines, in the shape of the Latin letter X, is termed a sa ...
set in the central square, drawing the soldiers' attention to himself to save his parishioners. The English militia claimed that he was "a bloody incendiary" shot in a cabin while reloading his flintlock
Flintlock is a general term for any firearm that uses a flint-striking lock (firearm), ignition mechanism, the first of which appeared in Western Europe in the early 16th century. The term may also apply to a particular form of the mechanism its ...
. A Mohawk Mohawk may refer to:
Related to Native Americans
* Mohawk people, an indigenous people of North America (Canada and New York)
*Mohawk language, the language spoken by the Mohawk people
* Mohawk hairstyle, from a hairstyle once thought to have been ...
named Christian, who accompanied the troops, slipped back after they had departed and set the village and church ablaze.
Aftermath
The 150 Abenaki survivors returned to bury the fallen before abandoning Norridgewock for St. Francis and Becancour, Quebec. Some later returned to the area. Râle was interred beneath the altar at which he had ministered to his converts. In 1833, Bishop Benedict Joseph Fenwick
Benedict Joseph Fenwick (September 3, 1782 – August 11, 1846) was an American Catholic prelate, Jesuit, and educator who served as the Bishop of Boston from 1825 until his death in 1846. In 1843, he founded the College of the Holy Cross in ...
dedicated an 11-foot tall obelisk
An obelisk (; from grc, ὀβελίσκος ; diminutive of ''obelos'', " spit, nail, pointed pillar") is a tall, four-sided, narrow tapering monument which ends in a pyramid-like shape or pyramidion at the top. Originally constructed by Anc ...
monument, erected by subscription, over his grave at what is today St. Sebastian's Cemetery at Old Point in Madison, Maine
Madison (formerly Norridgewock) is a town in Somerset County, Maine, United States. The population was 4,726 at the 2020 census.
History
The area was once territory of the Norridgewock Indians, a band of the Abenaki nation. Early visitors d ...
.
Notes
Citations
References
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
* {{cite book, last=Sylvester, first=Herbert Milton, title=Indian Wars of New England, url=https://archive.org/details/indianwarsnewen01sylvgoog, volume=III, year=1910, publisher=W.B. Clarke Company, location=Boston, isbn=978-0-7884-1079-6
External links
Norridgewock Indian Village & Monument
Father Râle, the Indians and the English
Maine Memory
Battle of Norridgewock - Video
Norridgewock
Norridgewock was the name of both an Indigenous village and a band of the Abenaki ("People of the Dawn") Native Americans/First Nations, an Eastern Algonquian tribe of the United States and Canada. The French of New France called the village Ke ...
Norridgewock
Norridgewock was the name of both an Indigenous village and a band of the Abenaki ("People of the Dawn") Native Americans/First Nations, an Eastern Algonquian tribe of the United States and Canada. The French of New France called the village Ke ...
Norridgewock
Norridgewock was the name of both an Indigenous village and a band of the Abenaki ("People of the Dawn") Native Americans/First Nations, an Eastern Algonquian tribe of the United States and Canada. The French of New France called the village Ke ...
Norridgewock
Norridgewock was the name of both an Indigenous village and a band of the Abenaki ("People of the Dawn") Native Americans/First Nations, an Eastern Algonquian tribe of the United States and Canada. The French of New France called the village Ke ...
Norridgewock
Norridgewock was the name of both an Indigenous village and a band of the Abenaki ("People of the Dawn") Native Americans/First Nations, an Eastern Algonquian tribe of the United States and Canada. The French of New France called the village Ke ...
Norridgewock
Norridgewock was the name of both an Indigenous village and a band of the Abenaki ("People of the Dawn") Native Americans/First Nations, an Eastern Algonquian tribe of the United States and Canada. The French of New France called the village Ke ...
Norridgewock
Norridgewock was the name of both an Indigenous village and a band of the Abenaki ("People of the Dawn") Native Americans/First Nations, an Eastern Algonquian tribe of the United States and Canada. The French of New France called the village Ke ...
Norridgewock
Norridgewock was the name of both an Indigenous village and a band of the Abenaki ("People of the Dawn") Native Americans/First Nations, an Eastern Algonquian tribe of the United States and Canada. The French of New France called the village Ke ...
Somerset County, Maine
Norridgewock
Norridgewock was the name of both an Indigenous village and a band of the Abenaki ("People of the Dawn") Native Americans/First Nations, an Eastern Algonquian tribe of the United States and Canada. The French of New France called the village Ke ...
Battles involving the Abenaki