1637
May 25
The English destroy the Pequot’s village
at Mystic.
In a vicious campaign against the Pequot, whom
the English regard as their greatest Indian enemies
(see entry for AUGUST 25, 1636), about 250 well-
armed militiamen set ablaze the tribe’s principal
village at present-day Mystic, Connecticut. The
soldiers slaughter everyone who flees the flames. In
the massacre, between 400 and one thousand Indi-
ans, mostly women and children, are brutally killed.
The English are aided by Mohegan and Narragan-
sett warriors, who later express their horror at the
ferocity of the white militia.
After the attack, the English hunt down the
Pequot who have escaped. Many are slaughtered;
others are taken captive. About 50 captives are
made slaves to serve the colonists, but those deemed
the most hostile are sold into slavery in the West In-
dies in exchange for Africans, who become the first
black slaves in New England.
An engraving of English colonists attacking a fortified Pequot village during their 1636–37 war against the
tribe (Library of Congress, Neg. no. USZ62-32055)