Siege of Springfield

Background

English colonists from Massachusetts Bay Colony established a settlement on the Connecticut River in 1636. Their economic interactions with local Indian tribes centered on the fur trade, with colonists trading wampum, cloth, and metal for furs. Tribes sometimes used land as collateral for colonial goods on the future promise of beavers, but overhunting caused the pelt trade to fall from a 1654 high of 3,723 pelts to 191 a decade later, leading tribes to forcibly cede land they had put up as security.

Colonist Samuel Marshfield acquired so much land from the Agawam inhabitants that the Massachusetts General Court forced him to allocate them 15 acres. Some tribes built palisaded forts; the Agawam fort outside Springfield was on Long Hill, though commonly believed to have stood in a park called King Philip’s Stockade. In 1675, Wampanoag sachem Metacomet led his people and allies against the New England Colonies after his brother Wamsutta's death, and the conflict spread rapidly.

The siege

Springfield's leaders sought to maintain peace with local tribes as the war grew. The Agawams cooperated, providing intelligence. In August 1675, colonial soldiers in Hadley demanded that Nonotuck Indians disarm; the Nonotucks refused and left on the night of August 25. A hundred soldiers pursued them to Sugarloaf Hill, where the colonists attacked but were forced to withdraw.

Colonial leaders recognized that Springfield could be endangered by this attack. Connecticut authorities advised village leader John Pynchon to take hostages rather than disarm the Agawams. Pynchon sent Agawam hostages to Hartford, but this did not prevent the Agawams from rising. While Pynchon and his soldiers fought in Hadley, hundreds of Indian tribesmen prepared to attack Springfield.

They sent a small group to rescue the hostages in Hartford, likely passing through Windsor, Connecticut, where an Indian named Toto, a laborer for the Wolcott family, may have learned of the impending action. Accounts differ on whether Toto was coerced or volunteered the information, but he informed the colonists of the attack.

Aftermath and legacy

John Pynchon and his troops arrived only after Springfield was burnt, possibly leading to his replacement as chief commander by Samuel Appleton. An indigenous woman taken captive at Springfield told colonists of Metacomet's future targets and winter quarters, after which she was torn to pieces by dogs. During King Philip's War, more than 800 settlers and approximately 8,000 Indians were killed, enslaved, or made refugees. Some histories mark the war's end with Metacom's death in summer 1676, though conflict continued into Maine.

After the war, most of the Indian population left Western Massachusetts, though land deeds continued into the 1680s. Many refugees joined the Wabanaki Confederacy. Indian warriors returned with the French during the Seven Years' War, and Abenaki descendants visiting Deerfield are recorded in the 1830s and beyond. Plaques and statues in Springfield commemorate the siege, including a plaque at The Student Prince and The Fort Restaurant, and bronze statues of Miles Morgan and Toto.