The Raid on Oyster River (also known as the Oyster River Massacre) happened during

King William's War King William's War (also known as the Second Indian War, Father Baudoin's War, Castin's War, or the First Intercolonial War in French) was the North American theater of the Nine Years' War (1688–1697), also known as the War of the Grand All ...

, on July 18, 1694, at present-day Durham, New Hampshire.

Historical context

Massachusetts responded to the

Siege of Pemaquid (1689) The siege of Pemaquid (August 2–3, 1689) was a successful attack by a large band of Abenaki Indians on the English fort at Pemaquid, Fort Charles, then the easternmost outpost of colonial Massachusetts (present-day Bristol, Maine). The French ...

by sending out 600 men to the border region. Led by Major

Jeremiah Swaine Jeremiah, Modern: , Tiberian: ; el, Ἰερεμίας, Ieremíās; meaning "Yah shall raise" (c. 650 – c. 570 BC), also called Jeremias or the "weeping prophet", was one of the major prophets of the Hebrew Bible. According to Jewish ...

Reading, Massachusetts Reading ( ) is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, north of central Boston. The population was 25,518 at the 2020 census. History Settlement and American independence Many of the Massachusetts Bay Colony's original settle ...

, the soldiers met on August 28, 1689, and then scoured the region. Despite Swaine's presence, the natives attacked Oyster River (Durham, New Hampshire) and killed 21 people, taking several others captive. In 1693, the

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

had entered into peace and trade negotiations with the

Abenaki The Abenaki ( Abenaki: ''Wαpánahki'') are an Indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands of Canada and the United States. They are an Algonquian-speaking people and part of the Wabanaki Confederacy. The Eastern Abenaki language was pre ...

tribes in eastern

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...

. The French at

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

under Governor Frontenac wished to disrupt the negotiations and sent

Claude-Sébastien de Villieu Claude-Sébastien de Villieu ( fl. 1674–1705) was a French military officer best known for his service in New France. In addition to service during King William's War, he served for a time as military governor of Acadia. According to his own s ...

in the fall of 1693 into present-day

Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and ...

, 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 Fort Nashwaak (also known as Fort Naxoat, Fort St. Joseph) was the capital of Acadia and is now a National Historic Site of Canada in present-day Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada. It was located strategically up the Saint John River and clos ...

. The

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

bands of the region were in general disagreement 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 The Penobscot (Abenaki: ''Pαnawάhpskewi'') are an Indigenous people in North America from the Northeastern Woodlands region. They are organized as a federally recognized tribe in Maine and as a First Nations band government in the Atlantic ...

and

Norridgewock Norridgewock was the name of both an Indigenous village and a band of the Abenaki ("People of the Dawn") Native Americans/First Nations, an Eastern Algonquian tribe of the United States and Canada. The French of New France called the village Ke ...

under command of their sagamore Bomazeen (or Bomoseen). A number of Maliseet from Medoctec took part in the attack. The Indian force was divided into two groups to attack the settlement, which was laid out on both sides of the Oyster River. Villieu led the Pentagoet and the Meductic/Nashwaaks. The attack commenced at daybreak, with the small forts quickly falling to the attackers. In all, 104 inhabitants were killed and 27 taken captive,Webster, John Clarence. ''Acadia at the End of the Seventeenth Century''. Saint John, NB, The New Brunswick Museum, 1979. p. 65 with half the dwellings, including the garrisons, pillaged and burned to the ground. Crops were destroyed and livestock killed, causing

famine A famine is a widespread scarcity of food, caused by several factors including war, natural disasters, crop failure, population imbalance, widespread poverty, an economic catastrophe or government policies. This phenomenon is usually accompani ...

and destitution for survivors.

Consequences

After the successful raid on Oyster River,

joined Acadian Governor Joseph Robineau de Villebon as the commander of

, capital of

Acadia Acadia (french: link=no, Acadie) was a colony of New France in northeastern North America which included parts of what are now the The Maritimes, Maritime provinces, the Gaspé Peninsula and Maine to the Kennebec River. During much of the 17t ...

References

Endnotes Primary texts
William L. Wolkovich - Valkavicius, "The Groton Indian Raid of 1694 and Lydia Longley", ''Historical Journal of Massachusetts'' Volume 30, No. 2 (Summer 2002)

''Acadia at the end of the 17th Century'', p. 56

A French account of the raid upon the New England frontier in 1694. ''Acadiensis''. 1901
* Rev. John Pike, ''Journal of the Rev. John Pike, of Dover, N.H.'', ed. Rev. A.H. Quint (Cambridge: Press of John Wilson and Son, 1876) * Jan K. Herman, "Massacre at Oyster River," ''New Hampshire Profiles'', October 1976, 50. * Francis Parkman, ''Count Frontenac and New France under Louis XIV'', vol. 2 of ''France and England in North America'' (1877; reprint, New York: The Library of America, 1983) * Jeremy Belknap, ''The History of New Hampshire'', ed. John Farmer (Dover, N.H.: S.C. Stevens and Ela & Wadleigh, 1831) * Thomas Hutchinson, ''The History of the Colony and Province of Massachusetts Bay'' (originally published 1764–1828; reprint, Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1936), 2:55. * Cotton Mather, ''Decennium Luctuosum'' (Boston, 1699); reprinted in ''Magnalia Christi Americana'' (London, 1702), 86. * Everett S. Stackpole, ''History of New Hampshire'' (New York: The American Historical Society, 1926), 1:182.
Samuel Adams Drake, ''The Border Wars of New England Commonly called King William's and Queen Anne's Wars'' (Williamstown, Mass: Corner House, 1973), 96.
* Jan K. Herman, "Massacre on the Northern New England Frontier, 1689–1694" (master's thesis, University of New Hampshire, 1966), 43. * Kenneth M. Morrison, ''The Embattled Northeast'' (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1984), 128. * John Clarence Webster, ''Acadia at the End of the Seventeenth Century''. Saint John, NB, The New Brunswick Museum, 1979. * The address of C. Alice Baker - History and Proceedings of the Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association, Volume 4, p. 401 * Samuel Abbott Green, "Groton during the Indian Wars"; see: "King Williams War"

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oyster River, Raid on Military history of Acadia Military history of Nova Scotia Military history of New England Military history of Canada King William's War Battles involving England Battles involving France Captives of Native Americans Conflicts in 1694 17th century in Canada New France Military raids 1694 in the Thirteen Colonies Province of New Hampshire

Historical context

Raid

Consequences

See also

References

External links