Portsmouth Plains Massacre


Thursday the 25th of June was a cool unsettled day with occasional
lightning and rain. Early in the day a party of Indians from the
York, ME / Nubble area were seen paddling up the Piscataqua from
Portsmouth. Word spread quickly among the settlements to keep people
alert for potential mischief. That afternoon at Portsmouth Plains the
livestock came out of the woods where they had been grazing and seemed
somewhat agitated. Was it just the storm, or were there Indians
waiting to attack? The villagers suspected Indians but decided to
stay in their homes for the night instead of seeking the safety of the
nearby Garrison.

As the daylight faded and the people of Portsmouth Plains settled in
for the night the Massacre Marsh Indians that had previously been seen
paddling up the Piscataqua probably slipped quietly back down the
river in the dark to meet up with the rest of the raiding party at 
what is today Rye. Previous raids into this area had been launched
from south of Ordiorne’s Point. In 1691 a raiding party came ashore
and killed 21 people, burning homes and taking hostages at what is
today still called Massacre Marsh. They were also from York/Nubble. 
Massacre Marsh is about 2 miles south-east from Portsmouth Plains, and
would have provided a safe hiding place for their canoes.

The raiding party made their way to Portsmouth Plains during the
night. Just before dawn they set fire to the barns and outbuildings
of the village, only then screaming their war cries to wake the
people. They charged the houses, looting anything that could be
easily carried and killed as they went. The women and children that
could escape while the men put up a defense ran for the garrison house
just north of the Plains. The elderly and injured attempted to hide
in the nearby woods.

The men of the village fought as well as they could but they were
outnumbered. It was only a matter of time before they too had to
retreat to the garrison. 

The raiding party knew the path to the garrison
and positioned men along the path in the forest. They killed, maimed
or captured villagers that were alone or in twos as they tried to
reach safety.

By the time the garrison had organized a response and returned to
Portsmouth Plains, the raiders were gone. The march to the Plains was
a gory one. Many dead and wounded lay on the path, including 33 year
old Mary Brewster. At first they thought her dead. She had been
scalped and her head split by a tomahawk. Her head would later be
mended with a silver plate and she would go on to live a good long
life to the age of 81.

Arriving at the Plains the men of the garrison counted five homes
burned. Nine barns in total were destroyed, two of them filled with
grain and livestock for the village. There were more dead and wounded.
Captain William Shackford of Dover was among the men at Portsmouth
Plains that morning and led the pursuit of the raiding party.
Following their trail south, they finally found them. The Indians had
stopped to eat on a hillside that is to this day called Breakfast
Hill.

The Indians had placed the captives between themselves and any
pursuers that may come after them providing a human shield in case
they were discovered. A direct assault would not work without killing
the hostages. Shackford sent men around the hill for the attack. As
the men charged out of the woods the Indians they fled into the
marshes to the east and disappeared. They hid in the marshes the
rest of the day, slowly making their way back to the coast and hidden
canoes by nightfall. Shackfords men saved all the hostages and
recovered everything that had been stolen by the raiding party.

Portsmouth had been alerted to the attack in the morning and expected
the Indians may try to sneak away in the dark. Men were sent up the
Pascataqua to stop escape to the west. Commander Gerrish was assigned
with some Sloops to patrol the coast to cut off if any attempted
escape by sea. The raiding party was spotted that night attempting
to escape North up the coast and Gerrish set the line of sloops in
their path. Unfortunately he misjudged the distance to the raiders in
the dark and gave the order to fire early, while they were out of
range. The Indians quickly turned to the open ocean  paddling for 
the Isles of Shoals. Gerrish attempted to chase them but could not
catch them as the disappeared around the Isles and headed North back
to York.


Postscript: Most of the histories have some mention of this incident
all the way back to Belknaps first history. By far the most complete
is found in Rambles About Portsmouth pp 71-76, written by an early
Portsmouth columnist Charles Brewster. This re-telling is based on
his account of what happened that day.