Dummer's War

Encroachment of settlements and fortifications

After the peace, New England settlements expanded east of the Kennebec River, and New Englanders began fishing in Nova Scotia waters, establishing a permanent fishing settlement at Canso, Nova Scotia. This upset the local Miꞌkmaq, who raided the settlement and attacked fishermen. In response, Nova Scotia Governor Richard Philipps built a fort at Canso in 1720. Massachusetts governors Joseph Dudley and Samuel Shute built forts around the mouth of the Kennebec River: Fort George at Brunswick (1715), Fort Menaskoux at Arrowsic (1717), St. George's Fort at Thomaston (1720), and Fort Richmond (1721) at Richmond.

The French built a church in the Abenaki village of Norridgewock in Madison, Maine on the Kennebec River, maintained a mission at Penobscot on the Penobscot River, and built a church in the Maliseet village of Meductic on the Saint John River. In a 1717 meeting at Arrowsic, Governor Shute and Wabanaki representatives attempted to reach agreement on encroachment. Kennebec sachem Wiwurna claimed sovereign control of the land, while Shute reasserted colonial rights to expand.

The Wabanakis were willing to accept existing settlements if a proper boundary was drawn, but Shute responded, 'We desire only what is our own, and that we will have.' Over subsequent years, colonists continued settling east of the Kennebec, and Wabanakis stole livestock. Canso, fortified by Nova Scotia and occupied by Massachusetts fishermen, was attacked by Miꞌkmaq and French forces in 1720. Shute protested the presence of French Jesuit priest Sébastien Rale at Norridgewock and demanded his removal. The Wabanakis refused in July 1721 and demanded hostages be released in exchange for furs as restitution.

Undeclared war

Governor Shute blamed the French for the Wabanaki claims on disputed land, so in January 1722 he ordered Colonel Thomas Westbrook to lead 300 soldiers to Norridgewock and capture Father Rale. Most of the tribe was away hunting, and Rale was tipped off and fled into the woods. The soldiers did find his strongbox, which had a secret compartment holding letters that showed Rale was working for the Canadian government, promising the Indians enough ammunition to push British settlers out. Shute then wrote to the Lords of Trade and New France’s Governor General Vaudreuil, restating English ownership of the area.

Vaudreuil replied that France claimed sovereignty, while the Wabanakis actually held the land, and suggested Shute did not grasp how European and Indian ideas of ownership differed. After the raid on Norridgewock, the Abenakis struck back on June 13 by attacking Fort George, commanded by Captain John Gyles. They burned homes and took 60 prisoners, though most were later freed. On July 15, Father Lauverjat led 500 to 600 Penobscot and Maliseet warriors to besiege Fort St. George for twelve days.

They destroyed a sawmill, a large sloop, and several houses, and killed many cattle. Five New Englanders died and seven were captured; the defenders killed 20 Maliseet and Penobscot fighters. Westbrook then took command of the fort. Brunswick was raided and burned again before the warriors returned to Norridgewock.

In response to the March 1722 attack on Father Rale, 165 Miꞌkmaq and Maliseet fighters gathered at Minas to besiege Annapolis Royal. In May, Lieutenant Governor John Doucett took 22 Miꞌkmaqs hostage to protect the capital. By July, Abenakis and Miꞌkmaqs blockaded Annapolis Royal, hoping to starve it. They captured 18 fishing vessels and prisoners from Cape Sable Island to Canso, and also seized vessels and prisoners in the Bay of Fundy.

Eastern theater (Maine and New Hampshire)

Between 400 and 500 St. Francis and Miꞌkmaq Indians attacked Arrowsic, Maine on September 10, in conjunction with Father Rale at Norridgewock. Captain Penhallow's musketry wounded three Indians and killed another, allowing villagers to retreat into the fort. The Indians slaughtered 50 cattle and set fire to 26 houses outside the fort, then assaulted the fort, killing one New Englander.

That night, Col. Walton and Capt. Harman arrived with 30 men, joined by about 40 from the fort under Captains Penhallow and Temple. The combined force of 70 attacked but was overwhelmed by numbers and retreated into the fort. The Indians retired up the river, viewing further attacks as useless.

During their return to Norridgewock, they attacked Fort Richmond with a three-hour siege, burning homes and killing cattle, but the fort held. They destroyed Brunswick and other settlements near the mouth of the Kennebec. On March 9, 1723, Colonel Thomas Westbrook led 230 men to the Penobscot River and traveled about 32 miles upstream to the Penobscot Village, finding a large fort 70 by 50 yards with 14-foot walls surrounding 23 wigwams and a large chapel. The village was vacant, and the soldiers burned it to the ground.

The Wabanaki Confederacy orchestrated 14 raids against towns along the New England border in 1723, primarily in Maine, from April to December, killing or capturing 30 people. Dummer ordered residents to evacuate to blockhouses in spring 1724. In spring 1724, the Wabanaki Confederacy conducted ten raids on the Maine frontier, killing, wounding, or imprisoning more than 30 New Englanders, and took a sloop in Kennebunk harbor, slaughtering the crew.

Lovewell's raids

Captain John Lovewell led three military campaigns against Indigenous groups. His first, in December 1724, involved a militia company of thirty men, often called "snowshoe men," who departed from Dunstable, New Hampshire. They traveled north of Lake Winnipesaukee into the White Mountains.

On December 10, 1724, Lovewell’s group, along with a company of rangers, killed two Abenaki people. Lovewell’s second expedition took place in February 1725, again heading toward Lake Winnipesaukee. On February 20, his force encountered wigwams near the head of the Salmon Falls River in Wakefield, New Hampshire, where they killed ten Indigenous people. Lovewell’s third expedition, with forty-six men, left Dunstable on April 16, 1725.

They constructed a fort at Ossipee, New Hampshire, leaving ten men there—including a doctor and John Goffe—while the rest set out to attack the Pequawket tribe at Fryeburg, Maine. On May 9, chaplain Jonathan Frye was leading the militiamen in prayer when they saw a lone Abenaki warrior. Lovewell and his men pursued him, abandoning their packs in a clearing.

A Pequawket war party under Chief Paugus discovered the packs and laid an ambush. Lovewell’s men caught the warrior and exchanged fire; Lovewell and one man were wounded, and Ensign Seth Wyman killed the warrior. When the militia returned to their packs, the ambush was triggered. Lovewell and eight of his men were killed, and two more were wounded.

The survivors fell back to a defensible position and held off repeated attacks until the Pequawkets withdrew at sunset. Only twenty militiamen survived the battle; three more died on the journey home. The Pequawket losses included Chief Paugus.

Did You Know?

• Dummer's War is also known as the Fourth Anglo-Abenaki War, following King Philip's War, King William's War, and Queen Anne's War.
• The western theater of the war has also been referred to as 'Grey Lock's War'.