It started when fishermen working off shore were suddenly surprised by natives, silently paddling bark canoes. Crews back from Caribbean voyages reported being met at sea by craft mounting swivel guns and crewed by heavily armed Native Americans.
By mid-June 1724, they had captured eleven fishing vessels, with a total complement of forty-five men, killing twenty-two in combat and taking the rest prisoner. Their ransom demands were £50 apiece for the vessels and £30 each for man, princely sums at the time.
Dangerous Waters
The captures excited intense fury in Boston. Two ships were fitted out at once for punitive action and given crews of twenty-five men each. Then they were sent to the eastward on an Indian hunt and were to make rendezvous with two other strongly armed ships from New Hampshire. The New Hampshire ships carried crews of twenty men apiece, and it was the hope of the authorities that the combined Squadron could defeat the Indians and free the captives. But on July 13 there was news that an Indian-manned schooner had seized other vessels. The colonists talked of pursuit of the schooner yet did not leave the harbor.
Armed Reaction & Dismal Defeat
A pair of Maine shipmasters, Dr. George Jackson, who sailed a schooner, and Sylvester Lakeman, commanding a shallop set out on a Search and Destroy mission. The vessels were manned by seasoned crews of twenty sailors.
While cruising off the mouth of the Penobscot, they met a big Indian schooner armed with two swivel guns. Jackson sailing the bigger and faster of the ships, plotted an intercept course to allow his gunners to rake the Indians broadside.
As the ships approached, the Indian commander came around and ran across Jackson’s bow at close range. It was the classic battle maneuver, flawlessly executed. The native gunners in war paint thrust the slow-match embers against the touch holes of the swivel guns.
Their round shot cut the mainsheet and shrouds of Jackson’s schooner. As they crossed their enemy’s bow Indian musketeers raked the crew with swan shot. Sailing past the foundering schooner, the Indian commander went on an inshore course. The Indian vessel was last seen as she sailed into Penobscot Bay.
Scorched Earth and Logistics
Following this action there were other seaborne attacks and violent victories, but they diminished. It was a matter of logistics. Unable to win at sea, the colonist began burning Native American settlements the length of the northern coast, thus destroying their food sources.
Also, the Indians did not have a home port where they could repair their ship hulls, or easy means to replace worn-out cordage, broken spars or smashed blocks. There was a shortage of powder and the danger that when cannon with a worn-thin bores was overheated they exploded.
Defeat
The tribes fought on, but, at last, accepted defeat. They had lost at sea as well as on land. With hope gone, the most retreated to inland regions of northern Canada, taking along the stories of their piracy and victories over the encroaching whites.
Sources:
Carse, Robert, The Seafarers, A History of Maritime America 1620 – 1820, Harper, Row, Publishers, New York, 1964, and the author’s research of New England Maritime history.
Michael G Walling - Mike’s expertise encompasses leadership, international terror, trans-national crime, human trafficking, piracy and counter piracy ...
