Date 27 July 1694 | killed 20 people and took 13 captive unknown | |
Location Groton, Massachusetts, United States | ||
The Raid on Groton happened during King William's War, on July 18, 1694, at Groton, Massachusetts. This was one of numerous attacks against the settlement in the late 17th and early 18th centuries; the village was also raided in 1707 during Queen Anne's War. The French and their First Nations allies did a brisk trade in ransoming captives; some of the youngest captives were adopted by Mohawk families.
Contents
Historical context
In 1693 the English at Boston had entered into peace and trade negotiations with the Abenaki tribes in eastern Massachusetts. The French at Quebec under Governor Frontenac wished to disrupt the negotiations and sent Claude-Sébastien de Villieu in the fall of 1693 into present-day Maine, with orders to "place himself at the head of the Acadian Indians and lead them against the English."
Villieu spent the winter at Fort Nashwaak. The Indian bands of the region were in general disagreement as to whether to attack the English or not, but after discussions by Villieu and the support of Father Louis-Pierre Thury and Father Vincent Bigot (at Pentagouet), they went on the offensive.
Raid
The English settlement of Oyster River was attacked by Villieu with about 250 Abenaki Indians, composed of two main groups from the Penobscot and Norridgewock under command of their sagamore Bomazeen (or Bomoseen). A number of Maliseet from Medoctec, led by Assacumbuit, took part in the attack, but Fr. Simon-Gérard had dissuaded most of his followers from participating. Following the raid on Oyster River, "the savages of Pentagoet under Taxous and Madockawando, piqued at the little booty, and the few captives taken," took 40 warriors and marched a roundabout route to Groton, Massachusetts, which they raided on the morning of July 27, 1694. There they killed some 20 people and took captive some 13 others.
Consequences
After the successful raid on Oyster River and Groton, Claude-Sébastien de Villieu joined Acadian Governor de Villebon as the commander of Fort Nashwaak, capital of Acadia.