A Rabble in Arms: Massachusetts Towns and Militiamen during King Philip’s War

Introduction

1 Introduction On a late August day in 1675, a lone rider arrived in the coastal town of Marblehead, Massachusetts, bearing dispatches for the local committee of militia.1 The message came from Major General Daniel Denison in nearby Salem, the commander of the Essex County Regiment. King Philip’s War had been raging since June and Massachusetts Bay was mobilizing its militia as quickly as possible. The rider found Samuel Ward, lieutenant of the town’s militia, and handed over a single sheet of paper. As Ward took the dispatch, he knew that the day he dreaded had finally arrived; in his hand was an impressment notice. The document ordered the militia committee to select five men to serve in a newly formed expeditionary company under the command of Captain Thomas Lathrop of Beverly. Lathrop’s company was urgently needed in western Massachusetts to defend the towns of the Connecticut River Valley against attacking Wampanoags, Nipmucks, and other Native Americans. Lieutenant Ward quickly called a meeting of the town’s militia committee. Richard Norman (the town militia’s ensign), Major William Hathorne from Salem, and Lieutenant Ward quickly assembled, most likely in the town’s meetinghouse . The three men had some hard choices to make. Who from the town would they send to war? The impressment order called for able soldiers to be sent—the colony needed good men to stop the Indian onslaught and strike back at the enemy . But the three men on the committee knew that they would have to answer to their town if the soldiers were lost in battle; they might even have to tell the men’s families the grim news of defeat and death if the worst occurred. Probably after much discussion and debate, the men drew up a list of five names. Then they summoned Marblehead’s constables , Richard Hanniford and Nicholas Andrews, and gave them the signed impressment warrants. The constables had the unenviable task of finding William Dew, Samuel Hudson, John Merrett, Mark Pittman, and Thomas Rose and informing them that they had been pressed “for the county 2 Introduction service.” It is hard to imagine the response of the men. Some were probably afraid, although they dared not let it show. Others might have felt an excited anticipation, knowing they were escaping Marblehead and going “off to the wars.” Over the next few days, the five readied their seldomused weapons, put their affairs in order, and said goodbye to friends and families before marching out of town. They most likely met up with the rest of the company in Beverly, Captain Lathrop’s home, or possibly in Salem , home to the Essex County Regiment. Now combined with men from almost every town in the county, the five Marblehead soldiers formed up behind their new commander and quickly marched west. Those who came to see them off watched as the company swiftly passed from view. The town waited anxiously for news of their soldiers’ safe return. Then one day, in late September, another rider came galloping into Marblehead. The report that he carried was devastating. Captain Lathrop’s company had been ambushed and destroyed south of Deerfield, at a place now called Bloody Brook. Four of the five Marblehead soldiers died on that bright and sunny day. The shocking story was told in full when Thomas Rose, the sole survivor, finally came home. Less than two months later, as horrific reports from the frontier continued to pour into town, yet another messenger rode into Marblehead. Lieutenant Ward probably stared long and hard at the document in his hand before he finally opened it. It was another warrant— this time, thirteen Marblehead men were needed. They would serve on a perilous winter campaign to attempt to crush the Narragansetts in Rhode Island. The town reeled at the news. Would this group of its citizens also be annihilated? Who should the militia committee send? The question of who was sent to fight colonial New England’s wars is a deeply complex and important one. Its answer offers crucial insights into New England’s society. An examination of the choices that community leaders made when faced with total war offers vital clues to the values, hopes, and fears both of individual towns and the entire society. The culture ’s principles were in flux as the seventeenth century crept by. But for the majority of people, those values still centered on the Puritan goal that brought them (or their parents) to New England...