The Second Battle of Nipsachuck Battlefield is a historic military site in

North Smithfield, Rhode Island North Smithfield is a town in Providence County, Rhode Island, United States, settled as a farming community in 1666 and incorporated into its present form in 1871. North Smithfield includes the historic villages of Forestdale, Primrose, Waterfo ...

. A largely swampy terrain, it is the site of one of the last battles of

King Philip's War King Philip's War (sometimes called the First Indian War, Metacom's War, Metacomet's War, Pometacomet's Rebellion, or Metacom's Rebellion) was an armed conflict in 1675–1676 between indigenous inhabitants of New England and New England coloni ...

to be fought in southern New England, on July 2, 1676. The battle is of interest to military historians because it included a rare use in the war of a cavalry charge by the English colonists. The site was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 2016.

Setting

The battle took place in a swampy area of what is now known as Mattity Swamp in North Smithfield, with a hill to its west and a few small rises of solid land within the swamp. The swamp was, at the time of the battle, described by chroniclers as "a great

spruce A spruce is a tree of the genus ''Picea'' (), a genus of about 35 species of coniferous evergreen trees in the family Pinaceae, found in the northern temperate and boreal (taiga) regions of the Earth. ''Picea'' is the sole genus in the subfami ...

swamp".

History

By the summer of 1676, English colonists had gained the upper hand in King Philip's War, and the opposing American Indian tribes were generally in retreat. Many

Narragansetts The Narragansett people are an Algonquian American Indian tribe from Rhode Island. Today, Narragansett people are enrolled in the federally recognized Narragansett Indian Tribe. They gained federal recognition in 1983. The tribe was nearly lan ...

, based in southern

Rhode Island Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the List of U.S. states by area, smallest U.S. state by area and the List of states and territories of the United States ...

, had fled to the

Connecticut River The Connecticut River is the longest river in the New England region of the United States, flowing roughly southward for through four states. It rises 300 yards (270 m) south of the U.S. border with Quebec, Canada, and discharges at Long Island ...

valley after the

Great Swamp Fight The Great Swamp Fight or the Great Swamp Massacre was a crucial battle fought during King Philip's War between the colonial militia of New England and the Narragansett people in December 1675. It was fought near the villages of Kingston and W ...

, a devastating assault on their central village by a combined English and Indian force in December 1675. In the summer of 1676, a band of approximately 100 Narragansetts led by female

sachem Sachems and sagamores are paramount chiefs among the Algonquians or other Native American tribes of northeastern North America, including the Iroquois. The two words are anglicizations of cognate terms (c. 1622) from different Eastern Al ...

Quaiapen Quaiapen (born July 2, 1676, and also known as Magnus, Matantuck, Old Queen, or Watowswokotaus) was a Narragansett-Niantic female sachem (saunkskwa) who was the last sachem captured or killed during King Philip’s War. Early leadership and fam ...

returned to northern Rhode Island, apparently seeking to recover cached seed corn for planting. The Narragansetts were attacked by a force of 400 led by

John Talcott John Talcott (December 18, 1630 – July 23, 1688) was a politician and military leader in early colonial Connecticut. Early life and Career John Talcott was born Braintree, Essex, England in 1630 to John Talcott and Dorothy Mott. In 1632 the fami ...

, composed of 300

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

colonial militia and about 100

Mohegan The Mohegan are an Algonquian Native American tribe historically based in present-day Connecticut. Today the majority of the people are associated with the Mohegan Indian Tribe, a federally recognized tribe living on a reservation in the east ...

and

Pequot The Pequot () are a Native American people of Connecticut. The modern Pequot are members of the federally recognized Mashantucket Pequot Tribe, four other state-recognized groups in Connecticut including the Eastern Pequot Tribal Nation, or th ...

warriors. The attacking forces had scouted the Narragansett position at the western edge of the swamp, and organized an attack over and around the hill to the west. A portion of the Connecticut militia were mounted

dragoon Dragoons were originally a class of mounted infantry, who used horses for mobility, but dismounted to fight on foot. From the early 17th century onward, dragoons were increasingly also employed as conventional cavalry and trained for combat w ...

s, and the battle is believed to be one of the few in the war in which such forces actually saw mounted combat. The Narragansetts were driven into the swamp where many were killed, including Queen Magnus (

) and

Pessicus Pessicus (also known as Canonicus II and Mosomp and Maussup and Quissucquansh and Sucquans and Wemosit) (c. 1623–1676) was a Narragansett Indian leader who was killed during King Philip's War. Pessicus was born around 1623 to Mascus and had an ol ...

' messenger, Watawaikeson (Tiawakesson)"Letter from Major Talcott: July 4, 1676, at Mr. Stanton's Farm house at Monacontauge," The public records of the colony of Connecticut from 1636-1776, Volume II (1850), pg. 459 accessible at https://archive.org/details/publicrecords02conn/page/458/mode/2up and Stonewall John, the builder of

Queen's Fort Queen's Fort is a historic site in Exeter, Rhode Island. Little more than a round, rocky hillock, the site has long been described as the site of a Native American fortification constructed in 1676 by Queen Quaiapen and members of the Narraganset ...

. Quaiapen's death spelled the end of organized Narragansett opposition in the conflict. According to Major Talcott, at "Nipsachooke" his forces "within 3 hours slew and tooke prisoners 171, of which 45 being women and children that ye Indians saved alive, and the others slayne; in which engagement were slayne 34 men, took 15 armes." Many of the survivors were captured and tried, and then publicly executed or sold.Jill Lepore, ''The Name of War, King Philip's War and Origins of American Identity,'' p. 256 footnote 36 citing Saltonstall, New and Further Narrative, 96; Samuel Gardner Drake, Book of the Indians oston, 1841 3:77-78

Archaeology

Due to the poor swampy quality of the terrain, the battlefield area has escaped significant development, with only modest agricultural uses around its edges, and some residential development in the same areas. Archaeological investigation by the National Park Service of the site has yielded Narragansett domestic objects as well as lead shot, musket balls, a horseshoe, a bridle rosette, and other military artifacts.

References

{{National Register of Historic Places Archaeological sites on the National Register of Historic Places in Rhode Island North Smithfield, Rhode Island National Register of Historic Places in Providence County, Rhode Island Cavalry charges Cavalry raids King Philip's War

Setting

History

Archaeology

See also

References