Assacumbuit, (1660–1727; many variant spellings, including Escumbuit, Nescambiouit and Nescambious), was a
Native American leader of the
Maliseet
The Wəlastəkwewiyik, or Maliseet (, also spelled Malecite), are an Algonquian-speaking First Nation of the Wabanaki Confederacy. They are the indigenous people of the Wolastoq ( Saint John River) valley and its tributaries. Their territory ...
tribe of the
Abenaki who was knighted by
Louis XIV of
France in 1706.
King William's War
During
King William's War, he was first associated with the French in the siege of Fort St. John led by
Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville in 1696-1697 during the
Avalon Peninsula Campaign. Even after the war was officially ended, Abenaki raids on the English colonists continued. On March 4, 1698 Maliseet Abenaki Chief
Escumbuit Assacumbuit, (1660–1727; many variant spellings, including Escumbuit, Nescambiouit and Nescambious), was a Native Americans in the United States, Native American leader of the Maliseet tribe of the Abenaki who was knighted by Louis XIV of France i ...
led a group of 30 Native Americans in an attack on
Andover, Massachusetts, the last and most severe Native attack on this town.
Queen Anne's War
During
Queen Anne's War, he participated in the
Northeast Coast Campaign. In early 1705 he was again in Newfoundland, where he participated in the
Siege of St. John's
The siege of St. John's was a failed attempt by French forces led by Daniel d'Auger de Subercase to take the fort at St. John's, Newfoundland during the winter months of 1705, in Queen Anne's War. Leading a mixed force of regulars, militia, a ...
and other French and Native American attacks against English colonial holdings.
[ Later that year he was invited to France as part of France's bid for an alliance with his tribe. He returned to America in 1706.] He fought in the 1708 Raid on Haverhill.
Fearsome reputation
His reputation among the English colonists of New England was notorious—they called him a "bloody devil", and accused him of killing many women and children.
Texts
*''Abenaki Warrior: The Life and Times of Chief Escumbuit'', Alfred E. Kayworth, 1998
See also
*Island Pond (Rockingham County, New Hampshire)
Island Pond (sometimes referred to locally as Big Island Pond) is a water body located in Rockingham County in southern New Hampshire, in the towns of Derry, Hampstead and Atkinson. The pond is at the head of the Spicket River watershed, which f ...
- Escumbuit is namesake of island in the pond
References
External links
National Plaques and Monuments - Nescambious
People of Queen Anne's War
1660 births
1727 deaths
17th-century Native Americans
Abenaki people
Native American leaders
Persons of National Historic Significance (Canada)
Military leaders of the War of the Spanish Succession
People of the Nine Years' War
Military history of Acadia
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