Mystic Massacre: English Forces Destroy Pequot Village
English Captain John Mason and a force of 77 colonists and several hundred Mohegan and Narragansett allies attacked the Pequot fortified village at Mystic, Connecticut, on May 26, 1637. They set fire to the village before dawn while residents slept. As Pequots tried to escape the flames, English soldiers and their allies cut them down with swords and muskets. Between 400 and 700 Pequot men, women, and children were killed in less than an hour. Captain John Underhill, who participated in the attack, later wrote that the scene was "so terrible" that some English soldiers wished to withdraw. The Mystic Massacre effectively destroyed the Pequot nation. Survivors were enslaved or absorbed into other tribes. The colony of Connecticut declared a day of thanksgiving for the victory.
May 26, 1637
389 years ago
Key Figures & Places
Germany
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Connecticut
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Native Americans in the United States
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Protestant
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Mohegan
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Pequot War
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John Mason (c.1600-1672)
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Pequot
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John Mason (c.1600–1672)
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massacring
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Pequot War
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Mohegan
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John Mason (colonist)
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Connecticut
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Mystic massacre
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Pequot
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Connecticut Colony
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Mystic River (Connecticut)
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