King Philip's War

King Philip's War (1675–77).The first large‐scale military action in the American colonies, King Philip's War pitted bands from various tribes against the New England colonists and their Indian allies. The causes of the war were rooted in the frictions between an expanding, assertive culture and a threatened, increasingly dependent one. Native Americans, whose currency (wampum) was losing value, had to sell land to acquire trade goods. Tribal leaders also resented the imposition of European authority and the decline of their own power. Indians had other grievances as well.

The war began in Plymouth Colony in 1675, then spread throughout New England. Although colonists blamed “King Philip,” principal sachem of the Wampanoags, for starting hostilities, his warriors probably acted independently, not as part of an intertribal conspiracy. The colonists' clumsy reaction to a local uprising soon produced a major rebellion. Nipmucks, Pocumtucks, Abena kis, and other resisting groups either cooperated with Philip's few hundred Wampanoags or conducted their own operations. A preemptive campaign by Josiah Winslow's 1,000‐man army against the menacing but officially neutral Narragansetts resulted in the fiery destruction of the tribe's fort and the killing of hundreds of men, women, and children. But colonists' victories were rare in the first half of a war that saw more than a dozen towns burned and entire companies ambushed by Indian marksmen firing flintlock muskets. Had warriors not been reluctant to assault garrison houses, colonial losses would have been even higher.

Distrust of Indian auxiliaries handicapped militia units for crucial months. Europeans who trained to fire volleys on open battlefields were unprepared for fights with warriors who aimed at individuals from behind trees and used stealth, surprise, and mobility. Eventually, resourceful officers put Native Americans to work as scouts, fighters, and informants. Adopting Indian raid and ambush techniques, companies hunted down their starving enemies. Philip fell in 1676, shot by an Indian in Benjamin Church's mixed force. The Mohawks in New York also contributed to the defeat of the insurgents by preventing outside assistance or escape.

Resistance finally ended in 1677. Thousands had perished, including approximately 500 colonial soldiers. It took years to rebuild frontier towns. The war caused higher taxes and damaged the economy, particularly the fur trade. All the southern New England tribes lost cultural autonomy and political and military influence. Nevertheless, the tactical lessons learned from Indians in this costly war had a lasting impact on American military doctrine.
[See also Native Americans: U.S. Military Relations with; Native American Wars: Wars Between Native Americans and Europeans and Euro‐Americans.]

Bibliography

Douglas E. Leach , Flintock and Tomahawk, 1958.
Russell Bourne , The Red King's Rebellion, 1990.
Patrick M. Malone , The Skulking War of War, 1991.
Jill Lepore , The Name of War: King Philip's War and the Origins of American Identity, 1998.

Patrick M. Malone