As the combined colonial forces attempt to root out the Indian army of King Philip from central Massachusetts to the Connecticut River Valley, Marlborough becomes an important colonial army outpost on the frontier. It also becomes a target for attack, culminating in its destruction and abandonment in the spring of 1676.
2. Where Do You Get This Stuff?
• Daniel Gookin: Superintendent of Indians
• George Madison Bodge: 19th Century
Historian
• Charles Hudson: 19th C, History of
Marlborough
• Charles Martyn, Short Biography of
William Ward
• Daniel R. Mandell, King Philip’s War
• Olivia Crowell, History of Stow
3. Arguments from the last chapter
• Marlborough was on the first frontier and on the
first main road.
• Marlborough was the first experiment of colonists
and Indians living as next door neighbors.
• An incident occurred in Marlborough which
helped set the tone for King Philip’s War and
created a precedent for European/Indian
relations across the country.
• Marlborough was the center of colonial army
activity during the first of the great wars in
America.
The History of Marlborough is the Story of America!
4. Dunce Cap Bonus Question
Q. Was there anywhere in the Americas
at any time a situation where an Indian
Village sat side by side with a European
Village???
A. Marlborough, Massachusetts Bay
Colony, 1660-1675
Q. Anywhere else?
5. King Philip’s War in Marlborough
Part Two
The Colonial Army, Indian Spies & the
Indian Invasions and Destructions
and the Abandonment of
Marlborough
in the Spring of 1676
6. An Outgrowth of Sudbury
• Of the 38 original land grantees in
Marlborough, 12 were first generation
men, 18 were their sons, and most of the
rest were close friends. With only a few
exceptions, they were all from Sudbury.
7. Dunce Cap Bonus Question
Q. Was there anywhere in the Americas at
any time, where a town developed that was
as close knit, with so many interfamily
marriages as colonial Marlborough?
A. ???
8. King Philip’s War in Marlborough
1676
• The town prepares
• Indian spies
• The Colonial Army in Marlborough
• The invasion, destruction & abandonment
of Marlborough, March, 1676
• The second invasion and the Sudbury
Fight, April 1676: psychological turning
point of the war
9. After the murder of Sassamon by Philip’s men and their subsequent execution, the
Wampanaugs attack Seekonk. The English respond by chasing Philip and his tribe ‘til
he escapes to Central Massachusetts near present day New Braintree.
10. The Indians of Central and Western Mass, joined by the Wampanaugs, attack the
river towns of the Connecticut River Valley in the fall of 1676. Marlborough becomes
an important colonial army outpost on the frontier.
12. The Town Prepares
• Years of internal strife has caused a certain
paralysis in preparing for war.
• Instead of the Selectmen, it is Rev. Brinsmead
who gathers the town on October 1, 1675.
• Lieutenant John Ruddock, head of the town
Militia and in charge of the soldier garrison, is
not in attendance.
• Eight garrison houses are chosen for residents
to gather in case of attack.
• Soldiers are assigned for protection.
13. This is the general layout of the initial garrison arrangement according to Charles
Hudson. Some of the locations are certain. Others (marked with ?) are not.
15. From Bodge’s List from the
Massachusetts Archives
Bodge’s exact transcription reveals some doubt as to
Hudson’s listing. Presumably he used the same source.
16. Lieutenant Ruddock’s Dilemnas
October 1, 4, 1675
• Lt. Ruddock is in charge of the Soldier
Garrison, but has lost the confidence of
the townspeople. Members of the
garrison are misbehaving, the town is
refusing to feed the soldiers in their
homes, the town wants authority to place
the soldiers and the soldiers want to
choose which houses to guard.
17. The Soldier Garrison at
Marlborough
• George Madison Bodge in
Soldiers in King Philip’s War
“At this time, being a frontier town, it was
exposed to attacks from all directions, and
being situated upon the road to
Connecticut, it had been regarded by the
General Court as a point of military
advantage, and a fort had been built, and a
small garrison was kept there.”
18. On the Matter of the Location of
the Marlborough Soldier
Garrison in King Philip’s War
Rev. R.A. Griffin and E.L. Bigelow in Samuel Drake’s History of
Middlesex County 1880:
• “…till this day traces remain of the fear and insecurity of
those times. On the hill Sligo are the remains of an old
stone fort connected with a well of a subterranean passage
of about one hundred and fifty feet, which it is conjectured
was constructed in view of those early invasions.”
• This location would be near the old water tower on French
Hill.
19. The Indian Spies
and
Events From
January to Beginning of
March, 1676
20. The Indian Spies
• On December 19, 1675, Combined Colonial
Forces attack and destroy the Narragansett
Fort at what is now South Kingston, RI. Many
of the Narragansett warriors escape, led by
Canonchet.
• The Massachusetts Council sought to find out
what the Indians inland were up to.
• Daniel Gookin goes to Deer Island on Dec 28
and enlists two Indians to act as spies.
• Job Kattenanit and James Rumneymarsh
accept the assignment and make their way to
the Nipmuc winter encampment.
21. The Indian Spies
• On January 24th, James Rumneymarsh
returns and tells that Philip is near Ft.
Albany in NY, the Nipmucs are at
Menemeset, the Narragansetts are about
to join them, and that the plan is to
combine forces and make a major
offensive on the colonial frontier towns.
• He also told them that the first attack
would be in three weeks, at Lancaster.
22. The Chase of the Narragansetts
and the ‘Hungry March’
• While all this was taking place, the Colonial forces had
been chasing Canonchet and the Narragansetts to the
south.
• On January 26th, the Narragansetts head northwest
toward Nipmuc territory and reach Menemeset about
the 28th.
• The Colonial forces, about 1200 strong, run out of
supplies and pass through Marlborough, about the
same time, on the way to Boston.
• It becomes known as ‘The Hungry March’.
• Capt. Wadsworth is left behind at Marlborough with
about 40 men.
23. The Indian Spies
• Job Kattenanit remained with the
Nipmucs. He was interested in arranging
the escape of his children and some of
the Christian Indians who had been
taken at Hassanamesit in November.
• Job escapes on February 9 and tells
Gookin that a force of 400 was on the
march to Lancaster and would arrive
there on the 10th.
24. Lancaster
• Gookin dispatches troops to the area,
with Captain Wadsworth and 40 men
reaching Marlborough by break of day
on the 10th. They got to Lancaster in time
to save one of the garrisons, but, arriving
late and being badly outnumbered, the
Minister’s garrison was destroyed and
the Minister’s wife, Mary Rowlandson
was taken captive.
25. Lancaster
• Mary Rowlandson’s sister Elizabeth Kerley and
her children are killed in the attack.
• Both her husband and Henry Kerley had gone to
Boston to seek aid before the attack.
• Henry Kerley was brother to William Kerley of
Marlborough.
• This may help to explain the later terrible
treatment of friendly Indians by Marlborough
women.
• Mary Rowlandson wrote a ‘Captivity Narrative’
which is a classic in early American literature.
26. The Indian Spies
• Job Kattenanit also spoke of the Nipmucs
combining forces with the Narragansetts
and the plan to attack Marlborough,
Medfield and Groton.
• It was the total failure of the Colonial
leaders to heed the ‘Indian spies’ that led
to the catastrophic destruction of the
frontier towns.
• When the spies returned, they were sent
back to Deer Island.
27. The Attack on the Family of
Thomas Eames in what is now
Framingham
• On February 1, 1676, 11 Indians, including six
from the Praying Indian Village of Megunko,
returned to Megunko to recover their corn.
• Not finding it, they were encouraged (or
threatened) by Netus to go to the nearest
English farm where their corn was presumably
taken.
• They were confronted by Mrs. Eames who had
resolved never to be taken alive and had
defended the household with hot soap and
weapons from the kitchen.
28. The Attack on the Family of
Thomas Eames in what is now
Framingham
• She and five children were killed and five or six
children were abducted.
• In addition, the whole of the farm, its animals
and buildings were destroyed.
• Of those taken, three boys escaped and
returned home, one girl was redeemed, and
two girls and possibly a boy never returned.
• It is believed that one or more of the children
were brought up as Indians in Canada.
29. The Attack on the Family of
Thomas Eames in what is now
Framingham
• This event was a major distraction to the
Colonial leaders and probably
contributed to their poor response in
Lancaster nine days later.
• The Eames family was one of the few
families in that area and Thomas Eames
had gone to Boston seeking aid.
• Netus would later be implicated in the
raid on Marlborough.
30. Megunko Hill, at the bottom , is located between the Ashland train station to the
north and Rt 135 to the south. The farm of Thomas Eames, at the top, is located near
Mt. Wayte Ave, at Farm Pond.
31. The Colony Prepares for An
Offensive
• In February of 1676, the General Court
commissions an army of 600 to be led by Major
Thomas Savage.
• Savage insists on using Praying Indians as
scouts and advisors.
• Six men are chosen from Deer Island: Job
Katenanit, James Rumneymarsh, James Speen,
Andrew Pitimee, John Magus and William
Nahatan.
• Four of these names appear on documents
relating to the sale of the Indian lands at
Marlborough in 1684.
32. The Colony Prepares for An
Offensive
• The army is sent to Marlborough and prepared
to depart on March 1. Major- General Denison
is there to oversee operations.
• Job Kattenanit appeals to the Major to seek out
his family which, while on his spy mission, he
had arranged to meet with some of the other
Christian Indians with the intention of escaping
the enemy.
• Gookin: Captain Moseley “made a great stir at
the headquarters at William Ward’s”. Fearing
mutiny, Major-General Denison sends some
men, including Capt Wadsworth, after Job.
33. The Second Incident at
Marlborough
• Job cannot find his family, but sees
evidence that they had been at the
appointed location. He returns to the
army.
• The small group of escapees are found
instead by Capt Benjamin Gibbs who was
on a scouting mission near Quabage, the
Indian village near Brookfield.
• They come to Marlborough on the way to
Boston, planning on staying a day or two.
34. The Second Incident at
Marlborough
• The escapees include Tuckapawillin, the
minister of Hassanamesit, his father, Naoas,
the minister’s wife and their 12 year old
son; a widow, caretaker of Job’s three
children, the widow’s daughter; another
woman and two other children.
• During the night a number of townspeople,
especially women, came to the Indians’
quarters.
35. The Second Incident at
Marlborough
• Gookin: “…some of whom did so abuse, threaten,
and taunt at these poor Christians, that they being
put into great fears, that in the night the minister’s
wife, and his eldest son, …(the)widow…with her
daughter, being four of them in all, escaped away
into the woods.”
• The 12 year old boy died of malnutrition, the
others were recovered after some time. The
survivors were sent to Deer Island with the other
escapees.
• Job Kattenanit later married the widow who cared
for his children.
37. The Army Moves Away From
Marlborough
• After the second attack of Lancaster in early
February and the abduction of numerous
residents, the larger force of the army under
Major Thomas Savage set out after the Indian
force at Menemeset.
• Around the 3rd of March they reach Brookfield,
but the Indians, aware of their approach, leave
Menemeset and head for the Connecticut River
Valley. They reach Northfield around March 7th
and meet with Philip and his troops on March
9.
38. The Army Moves Away From
Marlborough
• The Indian spies, having certain knowledge
of the plans to attack the frontier towns,
plead with the following army to divert
themselves to Mt Wachusett where the
remaining Nipmucs are prepared to strike.
• Instead, the army continues to Hadley,
reaching there on March 8. They are able
to intervene in the attacks on the river
towns, but leave the central Massachusetts
towns exposed.
39. The Attack of Groton
• On March 13, the town of Groton is
attacked, destroyed and abandoned.
• Major Simon Willard is ordered to act to
ensure the protection of the frontier,
especially Chelmsford and Marlborough.
But he is tied up for the next two weeks
helping the people of Groton to move
toward the coast.
40. Coordinated attacks in March of 1676. The Indians of Menemeset and the River
tribes attacked in the west, the Narragansetts attack to the south, and the Nipmucs of
Wachusett attack the frontier towns along present day Rt 495.
41. The Soldier Garrison at
Marborough
• January 14: The Garrisons from all the
frontier towns are withdrawn by the
Council in Boston.
• February 5: The ‘Hungry March’ comes
through Marlborough, but Capt. Samuel
Wadsworth is left in Marlborough with
about 40 of his troops.
• February 10: Wadsworth responds to the
attack at Lancaster.
42. The Soldier Garrison at
Marborough
• Balance of February: Wadsworth is
charged with ‘scouting the frontier’, with
headquarters at Marlborough.
• February 10: Captain Samuel Brocklebank
of Rowley is sent to Marlborough with a
company of men in reaction to Lancaster.
He remains in Marlborough until April 21.
• Brocklebank is placed in command of the
garrisons and military operations.
43. The Soldier Garrison at
Marborough
• March 1: Colonial Army of 600 comes to
Marlborough to prepare to depart for military
offensive to the west. Major-General Dennison is
there to oversee the operation, Major Thomas
Savage leads the army, with headquarters at the
home of William Ward, near present day Artemas
Ward Park.
• Capt Wadsworth is sent on the mission to recover
Job Kattenanit. Half of his company is sent with
the army. When he returns, he is sent back to
Milton with the remainder of his company.
44. The Attack & Destruction of
Marlborough
Sunday Morning
March 26, 1676
45. The Angle Brook is marked in blue and would have been the west border of the Indian Planting
Field. The Meeting House is the present location of the Walker Bldg. The Soldier Fort was
believed to be on Sligo (French) Hill.
46. English homes were located in the circled areas. Most likely, the Indians approached
from the north over Prospect Hill. Lands above the ‘Indian Line’ belonged to the
Praying Indians, then at Deer Island. The Ward Garrison was to the southwest.
47. The Attack at Marlborough
Sunday Morning, March 26, 1676
• The residents were at Sunday Service at the
Meeting House.
• The Indians are probably seen coming over
the top of Prospect Hill. There is barely
enough time to escape to the Garrison at
the home of William Ward.
48. The Attack at Marlborough
Sunday Morning, March 26, 1676
• The account of Charles Hudson:
“A hymn of praise had been sung. Their
spiritual leader, Rev. Mr. Brimsmead,
commenced his sermon, and was
dispensing to them the word of life, when
he was interrupted by the appalling
cry---’The Indians are upon us’. The
confusion and dismay which ensued, can
better be imagined than described!
49. The Attack at Marlborough
Sunday Morning, March 26, 1676
• The assembly instantly broke up; and the
people made for the neighboring garrison,
where, with a single exception, they all
arrived in safety, just in season to elude the
savage foe.”
• Moses Newton, in helping an ‘aged and
infirm female’ is shot. “In so doing he
received a ball in his elbow, from the
effects of which he never fully recovered.”
50. The Attack at Marlborough
Sunday Morning, March 26, 1676
• Why the Garrison at William Ward and not
Johnathan Johnson, the blacksmith?
– Ward’s house was the headquarters of the
army on March 1.
– It was probably a larger garrison.
– It was in a more defensible position being on
higher ground on two sides, and allowing the
soldiers of the Garrison to hold a higher
position on Mt Pleasant.
– It was a little closer to the soldier garrison.
51. The Attack at Marlborough
The Role of the Soldiers
• On about March 25, Capt. Brocklebank had
written to Major General Denison requesting that
the garrison be allowed to return home.
• Denison’s reply of March 28 survives in the Mass
Archives. Brocklebank gives two reasons:
– “their necessities & wants having beene in the
countryes service ever since the first of January at
Narragansit”
– “he saith they doe little where they are”
52. The Attack at Marlborough
The Role of the Soldiers
• From Brocklebank’s report to the Council March 28:
“Much Honnored sirs.
After the duty I owe unto your Honnor this may let you
understand that the assault the enemy made upon the towne
of Marlborough upon sabbath day did much dammage as the
inhabitants say, to the burning of 16 dwelling houses besides
about 13 barnes (Hudson says 13 and 11) and seemingly did
indeaver to draw out the men out of the garisons but we not
knowing ther numbers and our charge of the Countries
ammunition and provision durst not goe out
53. The Attack at Marlborough
The Role of the Soldiers
• Brocklebank (cont)
“then on Sabbath day night there came about 20 men from
Sudbury and we out of the severall garrison drew out about
twenty more and in the night they went out to see if they
could discover the enemy and give theme some checke in
ther proceeding who found them laid by ther fires and fired
on them and they run away at present but the number being
few and not knowing the number of the enemie but
aprehending by ther noyse and fireing at them they
indeavored to compass them in the returne home without
any losse of any man or wound from the enemie”
54. The Attack at Marlborough
The Role of the Soldiers
• Result of the night assault on the Indians:
– Attack was led by Lt. Richard Jacob.
– Historian Hubbard says they wounded 30, 14 of whom died shortly
after.
– Netus, leader of the assault on the house of Thomas Eames, was one of
the fatalities.
• Effect on Marlborough
– Only one third of the homes were destroyed, but many cattle. The
meetinghouse and home of Rev Brimsmead are also destroyed
– Most of the townspeople leave to join relatives or friends toward the
coast.
– Four garrisons are maintained, including the home of William Ward.
The soldier garrison is maintained to the end of the war.
– Brocklebank, Jacob and the rest of the Garrisoned Soldiers never get
their relief. They become fully involved in the famous ‘Sudbury Fight’.
55. Dunce Cap Bonus Question
Q. How many municipalities in America
have been invaded, destroyed, and
abandoned with no loss of human life?
A. Marlborough MA. March 26, 1676
Q. Any others?
57. The Sudbury Fight:
Indian Preparations
• Mary Rowlandsand wife of the Rev
Rowlandson was captured by the Nipmucs
in the attack on Lancaster on February 10,
1676 and remained with them for 11
weeks. We learn from her ‘captivity story’
that the Indians conducted an involved
ritual before departing for Marlborough
and Sudbury from Mt Wachusett.
• The Spirits assured them of a great victory.
58. The Sudbury Fight:
Indian Preparations
• The Indians were badly in need of food,
provisions, weapons, and ammunition.
• They are led by Muttawmp, sachem of
Menemeset. King Philip (Metacom) may
have been there.
• There were estimated to be about 500
warriors, but Gookin says that women may
have also come to give the impression of
greater numbers.
59. The Sudbury Fight:
Indian Preparations
• In Crowell’s History of Stow:
“It was on Pompositticut Hill during King Philip’s
War in 1676, that the chiefs gathered in
consultation to decide whether to make Concord
or Sudbury their place of attack; but when one of
the chiefs said “we no prosper if we go to Concord;
the Great Spirit love that people, Great Man pray
there”. Concord was spared…. The “Great Man”
referred to was the Rev. Peter Bulkely”
• Fact or folk history?
60. The Sudbury Fight:
Beginnings in Marlborough
• On April 18 and 19, a large band of
Indians came to Marlborough and laid
waste to whatever remained. This
destruction was far greater than on
March 26. All but a few buildings in the
town, including one of the garrisons, were
destroyed. Any wandering cattle were
also killed.
• According to Gookin, there were 47
homesteads in Marlborough at the start
of the war.
61. The Sudbury Fight:
English Responders
• 1. The Sudbury Residents (about 80)
• 2. The Concord Party (12)
• 3. Capt Wadsworth approached from Marlborough (50-70)
• 4. Capt Brocklebank approached from Marlborough with
Wadsworth (no more than 10)
• 5. Capt Cowell came from Brookfield through Marlborough
with a ‘troop of horse’ (18)
• 6. The Watertown militia (about 40)
• 7. Capt Prentice came from Charlestown with a ‘ply of
horse’ troopers.
• 8. Capt Hunting came from Charlestown late. His Praying
Indian troop helped bury the dead.
62. The Sudbury Fight:
Timeline
• April 18-19: Marlborough Attacked and
burned.
• April 20: Wadsworth comes from Milton
with about 70 men to replace the small
Garrison remaining with Brocklebank. The
Indians gathered in Sudbury see the troop,
but let them pass unmolested.
• April 21 early morning: Indians to the east
of the Sudbury River attack buildings as far
as present day Weston. Garrisons in the
area do not respond for fear of ambush.
63. The Sudbury Fight:
Timeline
• April 21, about 6am: The Indians attack the
Garrison of Deacon Haynes on what is now
Water Row in Sudbury, just to the west of the
river.
• April 21 6am – 1pm: Indians sustain the
attack and try to burn the garrison with no
success.
• At Sudbury, the Indians of the west attack
from the east, the colonials of the east
respond from the west.
64.
65.
66.
67. The Sudbury Fight
Wadsworth and Brocklebank
• Capt Wadsworth arrives in Marlborough in the
late evening of April 20. On hearing of the
problems in Sudbury, he leaves with Capt
Brocklebank and his men and heads to
Sudbury. What time did they leave?
• It would only take a few hours to get to
Sudbury. The first evidence that they are
involved there is about 1 PM when the large
part of the assaulting Indians leave the river
areas to confront the oncoming Wadsworth.
My best guess is early to late morning, April 21.
68. The Sudbury Fight
Cowell and Wadsworth
• Capt Cowell is returning from a scouting
mission to Brookfield with 18 men on
horseback, passing through Marlborough.
• On hearing of the Sudbury attacks he
heads for Sudbury.
• About 3 miles from Sudbury, his troop is
ambushed. Wadsworth not must be far
off, since he goes back to give aid.
69. The Sudbury Fight
Cowell and Wadsworth
• Wadsworth draws off the Indians from Cowell, but
is drawn further into Sudbury, chasing a small
band. Between Goodman’s Hill and Green Hill he is
ambushed by hundreds of Indians and is quickly
surrounded. It must be about 1 PM, since this
group must have come from the large forces at the
Haynes Garrison and the river area.
• When the Indians are drawn off from Cowell, he
returns to his fallen men and buries them. Then
he heads to Sudbury ‘by a different path’.
70. The ambush of Capt Cowell is believed to have occurred on Mt. Ward in Marlborough.
The road to Sudbury would have followed present day Wayside Inn Rd. Wadsworth
was probably not far ahead of Cowell as he responded to the ambush.
71. The engagement with the Indians probably began near the intersection of Green Hill
Rd. and Goodman’s Hill Rd. The soldiers repaired to the top of Green Hill on
Pockonocket St. The hill is narrow on the top, very steep on the sides.
72. From a Brief History of King Philip’s War, Sudbury
Senior Center Website
• The Colonial soldiers fought their way to a more defensible
position at the top of Green Hill, but they remained
completely surrounded by large numbers of Native
American warriors.
• The Native American commanders dislodged the Colonial
soldiers from their defensive position at the top of Green
Hill by setting fire to a line of dry brush and trees upwind
of them on the side of the hill.
• The wind-driven flames and smoke from this forest fire
forced the Colonial soldiers into a hasty and
uncoordinated retreat down the hill toward a mill building
in what is now the Mill Village shopping center south-west
of the top of Green Hill.
– Captains Wadsworth and Brocklebank and most of their
soldiers who had survived the earlier phase of the battle
were killed during this hasty retreat; some of their bodies
were later recovered on the western side of Green Hill.
– A few soldiers were captured, tortured, and then killed by
Native American warriors.
73. Pockonocket St at the intersection with Hillside Pl. Behind the houses on either side
the hill runs steeply to the bottom.
74. The Sudbury Fight
The Watertown Militia
• Watertown is probably aware early on of the
Indian activity as some of the empty buildings
in their town had been torched.
• Somewhat earlier in the morning after dawn,
about 40 men of the Watertown militia come
men to support the 80 or so town militia of
Sudbury.
• The Indians maintain a position with their rear
to the only ‘escape’ bridge over the Sudbury
River. They number probably 150-200 on the
east side.
75. The Sudbury Fight
The Watertown Militia
• Possibly about 1 PM, the militia claim that
they have pushed the 150-200 Indians
over the bridge. More probably, the
Indians have fully committed to attack
Wadsworth and leave both the river area
and the Haynes Garrison
• The Watertown men follow the Indians
over the bridge and to the site of the
Green Hill engagement. But they
themselves are overwhelmed and they
retreat to the Goodnow Garrison.
76. The Concord Party
• Sometime in the afternoon, a small group
of 12 men from Concord come up the
Sudbury River.
• Near the Haynes Garrison, they are
quickly overwhelmed. According to
Sudbury history, 10 are killed, 2 escape.
77. The Aftermath
• The end of fighting, shortly after dark,
finds two groups, one at the Goodnow
Garrison, one at the Noyes Mill Garrison.
They are joined by Cowell’s troop,
another troop of horsemen under Capt
Prentice, and a force of Praying Indians
under Captain Hunting.
• Inexplicably, though having a huge
numerical advantage, the Indians depart.
78. Why did the Indians leave?
• They were possibly low on ammunition,
having fought for over twelve hours.
• They probably knew that the Praying
Indian force had arrived, whom they
greatly feared.
79. The Mystery of Eleazer Ward
• Mt Ward, near the Easterly Wastewater
Treatment Plant in Marlborough, is named
after Eleazar Ward, youngest son of William
Ward.
• In Charles Martyn’s short biography of William
Ward he states: “Eleazer…was shot down as he
rode over a hill between Marlborough and
Sudbury.”
• There is no record of his death or involvement
in any official document. Or is there?
80. The Mystery of Eleazer Ward
• Capt. Cowell’s report is contained in Bodge’s
Soldiers of King Philip’s War
• In the report he lists the four men who were
killed in the ambush of his horse troop.
• For three of these he lists the full name and
home town.
• The fourth name is listed only as Goodman
..a…… son. The document is badly torn in this
area. The second letter is ‘a’.
• Bodge believes it to be a Roxbury soldier, but
gives no good reason why.
81. The Mystery of Eleazer Ward
• Might it be that when Cowell comes to
Marlborough and finds the soldier
garrison emptied, he goes to the Ward
Garrison, and picks up Eleazer as a guide?
• The young Ward might have lead him to
the top of Mt. Ward to survey the events in
Sudbury, where, as one of the lead
horsemen, he bears the first volley of the
ambush.
82. The Mystery of Eleazer Ward
• If this theory is correct, there are four
soldiers from King Philip’s War buried on
or near Mt. Ward.
• It would also mean that one of the most
important battles in the history of America
was partly fought in Marlborough.
• Is there any reason why there shouldn’t be
a King Philip’s War Museum in the
Sudbury/Marlborough area??
83. This is Google’s view from the top of Mt. Ward into Sudbury. It would have given a
clear and unobstructed view of any battle activity. Only Marlborough and Sudbury
people would have known this.
84. The Importance of the
‘Sudbury Fight’
• The Sudbury Fight is often spoken of as a
‘turning point’ in the War, but in what way?
• Simultaneous to the battle, Canonchet was
captured and executed, and the Praying
Indians became a fighting force. These
were very important events as well.
85. The Importance of the
‘Sudbury Fight’
• Mary Rowlandson:
“Yet they came home without that rejoicing and
triumphing over their victory which they were wont to
show at other times; but rather like dogs (as they say)
which have lost their ears. Yet I could not perceive that it
was for their own loss of men. They said they had not lost
above five or six; and I missed none, except in one
wigwam. When they went, they acted as if the devil had
told them that they should gain the victory; and now they
acted as if the devil had told them they should have a fall.
Whither it were so or no, I cannot tell, but so it proved, for
quickly they began to fall, and so held on that summer, till
they came to utter ruin.”
