Fairfield Swamp Fight

Before the battle

After the Mystic massacre in May 1637, the English and their Narragansett and Mohegan allies drove the Pequot from their homes. Fleeing westward along the Connecticut coastline, the Pequot arrived in Sasqua Village, present-day Fairfield, and sought refuge with the Sasquas Indians, a tribe of about 200 members. The Hartford General Court dispatched Captain Israel Stoughton with roughly 120 soldiers to southern Connecticut to end the Pequot War and capture Sassacus, the Pequot chief sachem.

As the English moved westward, they encountered stragglers and obtained intelligence about Sassacus's location. When the English approached Sasqua Village, several Pequot on a hill revealed their position and attempted to flee. The English followed, and the Pequot sought refuge in a swamp later named Sadque. The English searched the abandoned village and encircled the swamp; Lieutenant Davenport tried to force his way through but was stopped by a volley of arrows.

The battle

Participants included Captain John Mason, responsible for the Mystic massacre, and Roger Ludlow, a statesman from Wethersfield. The combined English forces surrounded the swamp and fired rounds into the thickets to pressure the Pequot into negotiating the release of non-combatants. The English positioned themselves around the swamp at roughly four yards apart. Thomas Stanton, familiar with Indian language and manners, entered the swamp to negotiate.

He secured a settlement with Sassacus for the release of about 180 elderly men, women, and children, along with the 200 Sasquas Indians. Roughly 100 Pequot warriors remained with Sassacus and refused to surrender. Fighting resumed and continued through the night. The English entered the swamp and systematically shot down the Pequot warriors, some later found drowned.

The Pequot held their position until fog rolled in the next morning. Captain Patrick's forces had a clear advantage with small shot—multiple musket bullets fired at once—which disabled the Pequot.

Initially, the Pequot exploited a weak point in Patrick's perimeter and attempted to break through on the offensive, allowing Sassacus to escape to the Mohawk territories of New York. Casualties among the colonists were few; John Winthrop noted that despite arrows striking hats, sleeves, and stocks, not one Englishman was wounded. Mason's account stated that several were found slain, referring to injuries.

The aftermath

The swamp fight left most, if not all, Pequot warriors dead. English and allied forces captured 180 Pequot non-combatants, scattering them among themselves. Many of these captives failed to adjust to servitude and did not stay enslaved for long; some were sent to the West Indies as part of the slave trade. Soldiers claimed Pequot wampum, kettles, and other goods as loot.

In the weeks that followed, Mohawk warriors from New York hunted down Sassacus and his remaining warriors, killing him and sending his head to Hartford as proof. The Treaty of Hartford, signed on September 21, 1638, formally closed the war and erased the Pequot as a distinct political and cultural group. Survivors were barred from their tribal lands, and places named for the Pequot were renamed: Pequot River became the Thames, and Pequot Village became New London.

Roger Ludlow, a soldier in the fight, later asked the General Court to establish a settlement on that site. Captivated by the landscape, he led the founding of the Uncos plantation in 1639, which eventually became Fairfield.

Battlefield preservation efforts

In January 2007, the Mashantucket Pequot Museum filed an application with the National Park Service American Battlefield Protection Program to develop a phased plan to research, protect, and preserve Pequot War sites, including the Fairfield Swamp area. Kevin McBride, an archaeologist and professor from the University of Connecticut research center, leads the program. Researchers determined study and core areas from narrative accounts by Philip Vincent, John Mason, William Hubbard, Increase Mather, and the John Winthrop Papers, as well as Connecticut Colonial Records, local deeds, and other records.

Using non-invasive techniques such as metal detectors, they marked spots of interest to determine artifact origins. Much of the original swamp and surrounding areas have been substantially impacted by residential and commercial development; construction of Interstate 95 filled approximately half the swamp, and many archaeological artifacts are thought lost. Goals included finding the exact location of the Pequot Swamp and securing permission from local landowners for further survey.

Initial findings provided new information about Pequot armaments, which are being reconsidered and are thought to include firearms and Mohawk Hammers.