The Pequot War

In 1637 the Puritans of Massachusetts and the fledgling colony of Connecticut declared war on the Pequot Indians--the most powerful of all the New England tribes.The Pequots' seat of power was near the mouth of the Thames River, at New London and Mystic. The area under their control, roughly two thousand square miles, stretched far beyond the Connecticut River and included parts of Long Island.The objective of the English was not merely to defeat the Pequots, but to annihilate them entirely, to destroy them as a people. The Pequot War was the first genocidal war fought in New England.What--if anything--had the Pequots done to incur the wrath of the English? Why did the English undertake such a vicious campaign? Why did the Narragansetts and Mohegans side with the English? What role did the Dutch play in the war? Why did the Pilgrims of Plymouth Colony refuse Massachusetts' request for assistance?Edward Lodi provides answers to these and other questions. Drawing upon numerous sources, including seventeenth-century narratives by men who fought in the war--John Mason, leader of the Connecticut forces; John Underhill, leader of the Massachusetts forces; and Lion Gardiner, in charge of the fort at Saybrook--Lodi presents a lively description of the war, along with a Chronology and Brief Biographies of more than one hundred and fifty significant players: English, Indian, and Dutch.