Pax Britannica: A History of the British Empire
Aug 3, 2026 · 32 min · 10 segments
With King Philip's War going badly, Massachusetts turns on their Christian Indian subjects. Join the Mailing List! Join the…
Samuel HumeHost
Last week we saw the first shots of King Philip's War, and we left off with Benjamin Church's ill-fated expedition into the Pocasset Swamp to try and capture the Sarn Square of the Pocasset and King Philip's sister-in-law, Witamu.
Josiah Winslow, governor of Plymouth, sent word that most of the colony's militia was to be sent home to work the fields, but that the hundred best soldiers were to be kept under arms, to continue the war and unite with their colonial and indigenous allies.
On the 19th of July 1675, a combined force of these Plymouth and Massachusetts militia once again marched into Pocasset Swamp, determined to find Witamu and the sachem she was sheltering, Philip of the Wampanoag.
They brought with them Massachusetts men, as in from the Massachusetts tribe which gave the colony their name, but which was now a shadow of its former self.
Perhaps 10% of the pre-contact population had survived the epidemics of European diseases and violence, and most of them now lived in the colony's praying towns.
One of those, Massachusetts, was Job Nesserton, the former colleague of John Eliot and his first collaborator in translating the Bible into the Algonquin language.
The bulk of the force, colonial militia, ranged out along the path, determined not to fall into an ambush like some of them had experienced just a few days before.
Waiting troops opened fire from the undergrowth, from behind shadowed trees, from out of nowhere, it seemed.
The militia tried to fight back, but they couldn't see their enemy and they couldn't manoeuvre, surrounded by clinging brambles and thick bushes.
This terrain was exactly why swamps were such effective defensive positions and why colonial writers described them as castles to the native population.
The enemy disappeared far deeper into the swamp, leaving several men dead in the undergrowth, including Job Nesserton, shot in the side.
The militia continued their advance, and they emerged into yet another abandoned camp, empty save for one old man.
The old man explained that Witamu and Philip had been here, but you just missed them.
Philip and Witamu had gone further into the swamp, just about half a mile away, but he was too old to keep up, so he'd stayed behind.
Too excited by the prospect of capturing Philip to wonder whether the old man was maybe fibbing, the militia marched on.
But it became pretty clear pretty quickly that this tactic just wasn't going to work.
More likely, it was one of their comrades, since there were cases of friendly fire.
Last week we saw the first shots of King Philip's War, and we left off with Benjamin Church's ill-fated expedition into the Pocasset Swamp to try and capture the Sarn Square of the Pocasset and King Philip's sister-in-law, Witamu.
Josiah Winslow, governor of Plymouth, sent word that most of the colony's militia was to be sent home to work the fields, but that the hundred best soldiers were to be kept under arms, to continue the war and unite with their colonial and indigenous allies.
On the 19th of July 1675, a combined force of these Plymouth and Massachusetts militia once again marched into Pocasset Swamp, determined to find Witamu and the sachem she was sheltering, Philip of the Wampanoag.
They brought with them Massachusetts men, as in from the Massachusetts tribe which gave the colony their name, but which was now a shadow of its former self.
Perhaps 10% of the pre-contact population had survived the epidemics of European diseases and violence, and most of them now lived in the colony's praying towns.
One of those, Massachusetts, was Job Nesserton, the former colleague of John Eliot and his first collaborator in translating the Bible into the Algonquin language.
The bulk of the force, colonial militia, ranged out along the path, determined not to fall into an ambush like some of them had experienced just a few days before.
Waiting troops opened fire from the undergrowth, from behind shadowed trees, from out of nowhere, it seemed.
The militia tried to fight back, but they couldn't see their enemy and they couldn't manoeuvre, surrounded by clinging brambles and thick bushes.
This terrain was exactly why swamps were such effective defensive positions and why colonial writers described them as castles to the native population.
The enemy disappeared far deeper into the swamp, leaving several men dead in the undergrowth, including Job Nesserton, shot in the side.
The militia continued their advance, and they emerged into yet another abandoned camp, empty save for one old man.
The old man explained that Witamu and Philip had been here, but you just missed them.
Philip and Witamu had gone further into the swamp, just about half a mile away, but he was too old to keep up, so he'd stayed behind.
Too excited by the prospect of capturing Philip to wonder whether the old man was maybe fibbing, the militia marched on.
But it became pretty clear pretty quickly that this tactic just wasn't going to work.
More likely, it was one of their comrades, since there were cases of friendly fire.
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