Grey Lock's War

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Grey Lock's War
Part of Dummer's War
Chief Grey Lock Sculpture Monument in Burlington, Vermont.jpg
Monument of Chief Grey Lock in Battery Park (Burlington, Vermont)
DateAugust 13, 1723, October 9, 1723, June 24, 1724, October 11, 1724, September 1725
Location
Northern New England
Belligerents
New England combo flag.svg New England Colonies Abenaki
Commanders and leaders
Massachusetts Governor William Dummer Gray Lock

The western theatre of Dummer's War in the 1720s in northern New England was referred to as "Grey Lock's War". [1] Grey Lock distinguished himself by conducting guerrilla raids into Vermont and western Massachusetts. He consistently eluded his pursuers, and acquired the name Wawanolet (also Wawanolewat, Wawanotewat), meaning "he who fools the others, or puts someone off the track."

Dummers War war

The Dummer's War was a series of battles between New England and the Wabanaki Confederacy who were allied with New France. The eastern theater of the war was fought primarily along the border between New England and Acadia in Maine, as well as in Nova Scotia; the western theater was fought in northern Massachusetts and Vermont at the border between Canada and New England. During this time, Maine and Vermont were part of Massachusetts.

New England Region in the northeastern United States

New England is a region composed of six states in the northeastern United States: Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick to the northeast and Quebec to the north. The Atlantic Ocean is to the east and southeast, and Long Island Sound is to the south. Boston is New England's largest city, as well as the capital of Massachusetts. Greater Boston is the largest metropolitan area, with nearly a third of New England's population; this area includes Worcester, Massachusetts, Manchester, New Hampshire, and Providence, Rhode Island.

Gray Lock Native American chief

Gray Lock, was a Western Abenaki warrior chieftain of Woronoco/Pocumtuck ancestry who came to lead the Missisquoi Abenaki band, and whose direct descendants have led the Missisquoi Abenaki until the current day. Born around 1670 near what is now Westfield, Massachusetts, he eventually became the most illustrious and prominent leader to arise among the dwindling Waranoak, once the predominant original inhabitants of the central Connecticut River Valley in today's New England region.

Contents

Grey Lock's War was not part of the conflicts between France and England. Unlike the continuing wars between France and England that involved local natives, often to their detriment, Grey Lock's War was fought by Native Americans for their own reasons.

France Republic in Europe with several non-European regions

France, officially the French Republic, is a country whose territory consists of metropolitan France in Western Europe and several overseas regions and territories. The metropolitan area of France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean. It is bordered by Belgium, Luxembourg and Germany to the northeast, Switzerland and Italy to the east, and Andorra and Spain to the south. The overseas territories include French Guiana in South America and several islands in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans. The country's 18 integral regions span a combined area of 643,801 square kilometres (248,573 sq mi) and a total population of 67.02 million. France is a unitary semi-presidential republic with its capital in Paris, the country's largest city and main cultural and commercial centre. Other major urban areas include Lyon, Marseille, Toulouse, Bordeaux, Lille and Nice.

England Country in north-west Europe, part of the United Kingdom

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to the west and Scotland to the north. The Irish Sea lies west of England and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. England is separated from continental Europe by the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south. The country covers five-eighths of the island of Great Britain, which lies in the North Atlantic, and includes over 100 smaller islands, such as the Isles of Scilly and the Isle of Wight.

Indigenous peoples of the Americas Pre-Columbian inhabitants of North, Central and South America and their descendants

The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the Pre-Columbian peoples of North, Central and South America and their descendants.

Grey Lock, like the majority of his people, did eventually ally himself with the French. Ancient Jesuit records from Fort Saint-Frédéric, demonstrates that this great war chief, was known to the French as la "Tête Blanche" (White Head). He converted to Catholicism and was baptized under the French name of Pierre-Jean, while his wife was known as Hélène. They had a son and a daughter, Jean-Baptiste and Marie-Charlotte. Gray Lock's descendants today carry the family name Wawanolet. [2]

Fort Saint-Frédéric United States historic place

Fort Saint-Frédéric was a French fort built on Lake Champlain to secure the region against British colonization and control the lake. It was located in modern New York State across the lake from modern Vermont at the town of Crown Point, New York. The fort, whose construction began in 1734, was never attacked, and was destroyed in 1759 before the advance of a large British army under General Jeffery Amherst.

Conflicts

Massachusetts Governor Samuel Shute officially declared war on the Abenaki on July 25, 1722. [3] Shute, who had ongoing political disputes with the Massachusetts assembly, abruptly sailed for England on January 1, 1723, leaving Lieutenant Governor William Dummer to manage Massachusetts involvement in the war.

Samuel Shute 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 appointed by King George I as governor of Massachusetts and New Hampshire in 1716. His tenure was marked by virulent disagreements with the Massachusetts assembly on a variety of issues, and by poorly conducted diplomacy with respect to the Native American Wabanaki Confederacy of northern New England that led to Dummer's War (1722–1725).

The Abenaki are a Native American tribe and First Nation. They are one of the Algonquian-speaking peoples of northeastern North America. The Abenaki originate in Quebec and the Maritimes of Canada and in the New England region of the United States, a region called Wabanahkik in the Eastern Algonquian languages. The Abenaki are one of the five members of the Wabanaki Confederacy.

William Dummer Lieutenant Governor of colonial Massachusetts, acting governor during Dummers War, benefactor of The Governors Academy

William Dummer was a politician in the Province of Massachusetts Bay. He served as its lieutenant governor for fourteen years (1716–1730), including an extended period from 1723 to 1728 when he acted as governor. He is remembered for his role in leading the colony during what is sometimes called Dummer's War, which was fought between the British colonies of northeastern North America and a loose coalition of native tribes in what is now New Hampshire, Maine, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia.

On August 13, 1723, Gray Lock first entered the war by raiding Northfield, Massachusetts, and four warriors killed two citizens near Northfield. The next day they attacked Joseph Stevens and his four sons in Rutland. Stevens escaped, two boys were killed, and the other two sons were captured. [4]

Northfield, Massachusetts Town in Massachusetts, United States

Northfield is a town in Franklin County, Massachusetts, United States. Northfield was first settled in 1673. The population was 3,032 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. The Connecticut River runs through the town, dividing West Northfield from East Northfield and the village of Northfield, where the town hall is located.

Rutland, Massachusetts Town in Massachusetts, United States

Rutland is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 7,973 at the 2010 census. Rutland is the geographic center of Massachusetts; a tree, the Central Tree, located on Central Tree Road, marks the general spot.

On October 9, 1723, Gray Lock struck two small forts near Northfield, inflicting casualties and carrying off one captive. [5] In response, Governor Dummer ordered the construction of Fort Dummer where Brattleboro, Vermont is now. The fort became a major base of operations for scouting and punitive expeditions into Abenaki country. [5] Fort Dummer was present-day Vermont's first permanent European settlement, made under the command of Lieutenant Timothy Dwight. [6]

Fort Dummer

Fort Dummer was a British fort built in 1724 during Dummer's War by the colonial militia of the Province of Massachusetts Bay under the command of Lieutenant Timothy Dwight in what is now the Town of Brattleboro in southeastern Vermont. The fort was the first permanent European settlement in Vermont. It consisted of a 180-square foot wooden stockade near 42.8309°N 72.5504°W, with 12 guns manned by 55 men. Near the former site of the fort is a granite monument one mile (2 km) south of the Brattleboro railway station.

Brattleboro, Vermont Town in Vermont, United States

Brattleboro, originally Brattleborough, is a town in Windham County, Vermont, United States. The most populous municipality abutting Vermont's eastern border with New Hampshire, which is the Connecticut River, Brattleboro is located about 10 miles (16 km) north of the Massachusetts state line, at the confluence of Vermont's West River and the Connecticut. In 2014, Brattleboro's population was estimated by the U.S. Census Bureau to be 11,765.

On June 18, 1724, Grey Lock attacked a group of men working in a meadow near Hatfield, Massachusetts. Grey Lock retired from the area and killed men at Deerfield, and Northfield over the summer. In response to the raids, Dummer ordered more soldiers for Northfield, Brookfield, Deerfield and Sunderland. [7] Grey Lock's home village of Woronoke (now Westfield and part of Russell) has no written record of attacks and appears to have gone untouched. [8]

On October 11, 1724, seventy Abenakis attacked Fort Dummer and killed 3 or 4 soldiers. [9]

In September 1725, a scouting party of six men was sent out from Fort Dummer. Grey Lock and 14 others ambushed them just west of the Connecticut River, killing two and wounding and capturing three others. One man escaped, while two Indians were killed. [10]

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Not to be confused with the Battle of Falmouth (1690)

References

  1. ↑ See Colin G. Calloway, 1990
  2. ↑ Gordon M. Day, "In Search of New England's Native Past – Selected Essays by Gordon M. Day" Edited by Michael K. Foster and William Cowen, University of Massachusetts Press, Amherst, 1998) pp. 144, 147
  3. ↑ Carr, James Revell (2008-10-14). Seeds of discontent: the deep roots of the American Revolution, 1650–1750. Bloomsbury Publishing USA. p. 134. ISBN   978-0-8027-1512-8 . Retrieved 24 July 2011.
  4. ↑ The Western Abenakis of Vermont, 1600–1800: War, Migration, and the Survival... p. 117
  5. 1 2 The Western Abenakis of Vermont, 1600–1800: War, Migration, and the Survival... p. 119
  6. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-05-13. Retrieved 2012-07-25.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  7. ↑ William Williamson, p. 121? Which book?
  8. ↑ "Westfield, Mass. 250th Anniversary -- Chronology of Westfield". www.hampdencountyhistory.com. Retrieved 2015-09-22.
  9. ↑ Brattleboro History – WordPress & Atahualpa 2012
  10. ↑ William Williamson, p. 126
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