71
but they remain loyal to the British and, more
alarming to Metacom, fight alongside the colo-
nists. With the help of the Mohawk, the English are
victorious in a number of decisive battles, during
one of which they capture and later execute Nar-
ragansett chief Canonchet, one of the Indians’ most
important leaders. The English also destroy much
of the rebels’ food stores, leading to mass starvation.
By the summer, Metacom’s followers are forced to
surrender en masse.
Spring
Virginia colonists attack Indians in
Bacon’s Rebellion.
Hoping to calm tension between colonists and In-
dians, William Berkeley, the governor of Virginia,
forbids colonists from launching unauthorized
attacks on Indian villages. Berkeley’s policy infuri-
ates many of Virginia’s poor and landless, who are
already angry at officials for hoarding the colony’s
wealth. Organized by Nathaniel Bacon, a wealthy
planter, these Virginians rebel against the colonial
government and begin attacking Indian settle-
ments without regard to whether their residents
are the colonists’ allies or enemies. The movement
loses much of its momentum after Bacon dies of
dysentery in October, but colonists will continue
to terrorize Virginia’s Indians until the rebels are
finally defeated by Berkeley’s troops the following
January.
Summer
Pamunkey leader Cockacoeske confronts
the Virginia General Assembly.
Dubbed the “queen of the Pamunkey” by the Eng-
lish, Cockacoeske is summoned by the General
Assembly, the governing body of Virginia. The as-
semblymen ask for the help of the 150 warriors at
her command in putting down the colonists fight-
ing the assembly’s authority in Bacon’s Rebellion.
Cockacoeske answers their request first with an
angry silence, then with a tirade against the Eng-
lish. Speaking through an interpreter, she demands
to know why she should help them when in the
past the English had never compensated her for
warriors killed while fighting on their behalf, in-
cluding her own husband Totopotomoy (see entry
for 1656). The meeting ends with a disgusted
Cockacoeske agreeing to supply the English with
only 12 fighting men, far fewer than had been
expected.August 12King Philip’s War ends with Metacom’s
death.
An Indian informer tells colonial militiamen the
location of Metacom’s camp on the Mount Hope
Peninsula. They surround the Wampanoag rebel-
lion leader and his small band of followers, and
in the ensuring battle Metacom is shot and killed
by an Indian fighting on the side of the English.
The soldiers mutilate his corpse and take his sev-
ered head to Plymouth, where it will be displayed
for the next 25 years. According to Wampanoag
legend, Metacom kinsmen will one day steal the
head and bury it at his home village of Mount
Hope.
Metacom’s death effectively ends King Phil-
ip’s War (see entries for LATE JUNE 1675 and for
SPRING 1676). The conflict proves devastating to
the Indians of southern New England. In addition
to spelling the end of their political independence,
the fighting has decimated their populations. Ap-
proximately 3,000 people—about 40 percent of
the total Indian population of the region—have
been killed in battle or have died from starva-
tion. Five hundred more Wampanoag have been
captured by the militia and sold into slavery to
help offset English war debts. Among them are
Metacom’s widow and children.
The war has also been costly to the English.
Approximately 600 colonists have been killed dur-
ing the conflict. Fifty-two of their 90 settlements
have been attacked, and at least 12 completely
destroyed. With some 1,800 houses burned to
the ground, most of these town sites will be aban-
doned for decades.