Groton Indian raid of 1964 and Lydia longley, The

Historical Journal of Massachusetts, Summer 2002 by Wolkovich-Valkavicius, William L

The colonists' triumph over the Indians in King Philip's War scattered the surviving foes to the outskirts of western Massachusetts, upstate New York, Pennsylvania, and into Canada, with some later relocating even further west. The remaining natives of New England were left impotent, but not entirely so. The English still had to reckon with the determined Abenaki tribes in the north, and the yet unvanquished, perennial French enemy in Canada. In an effort to protect themselves, the colonists erected a string of forts along the Maine coast to guard the frontier towns of Falmouth, Kittery, Scarborough, York, and Wells - all of which were settled by 1665. A successful attack on Fort Pemaquid was to embolden the Abenaki warriors. Meanwhile, the French had survived the naval incursions of Sir William Phips from Massachusetts in the early 1690s. In the face of Abenaki bravado and French stubborn resistance, the renowned divinity figure Cotton Mather was to utter his uncompromising cry: "Canada delenta est." (translated as "Canada must be destroyed.")7

Here a word about the Abenakis is in order. These aborigines had been long-suffering. Imported diseases annihilated thousands of them in plagues of 1617 and 1633-1634. Such a memory haunted the natives for decades to come. In the eyes of the Protestant Francis Parkman, this "nimble enemy," "swift and intangible" sought revenge in many a "petty, secret, and transient attack" by "dodging scouting parties, pouncing on victims, and escaping." The Catholic John Gilmary Shea saw these natives in another light. He admitted that the Abenakis were "distinguished as warriors," but glowingly asserted that "they never were charged with cruelty, while a certain purity of morals and amenity of manners raised them above most of the surrounding tribes."8

Their priest mentors were on hand to bless the warriors, and prayerfully accompany their rallies. The missionaries did seek to inculcate "mercy in war as well as every other Christian virtue," according to John Gilmary Shea. All the same, when it came to territorial quarrels between the French and English, "...the Abenakis, attached to the former by a common faith, and former acts of kindness and good-will, were embittered against the latter wrongs and oppression sustained at their hands." Similarly, alongside clergy pastoral fervor for souls, the missionaries zealously adhered to their French allegiance. For the natives, loyalty to the black-robed missionaries was an Abenaki characteristic. Ever loyal and faithful to their beloved blackrobe, Fr. Gabriel Druilette, they proclaimed: "Know that he is now of our nation.. we respect him as the ambassador of Jesus. Whoever attacks him, attacks all the Abnaki tribe." 9

On May 31, 1695, Hezekiah Miles, also known as the friendly Indian named Hector, would give a deposition in Boston in the presence of the Lieutenant-Governor and the Council. According to his testimony, the scheme for the Groton raid of July 1694 was hatched at the Indian Fort Amsaquonte, north of Norridgewock in the heart of Maine. By the 1640s, this locale had become the principal Abenaki village. Leaders such as Egeermet, Bomaseen, Warumbee and Ahasombamet joined in the deliberations for a strike on Oyster River (present-day Dover) in New Hampshire territory and then Groton. Days later the same witness was to view the victors' return, laden with plunder, some scalps and two hostages. Prior to the expedition, several days of merry-making took place, featuring a feast of boiled dogs.10