King Philip’s War 8: The Defeat of the Algonquians

Maps of New England during King Philip’s War

In May 1676 the tide of King Philip’s War had turned against the Algonquians of southern New England, but the New English settlers didn’t know it yet. They would soon. Suddenly, in a matter of a few weeks, the Algonquian resistance collapsed. This episode looks at that collapse through the eyes of Benjamin Church, whose men would finally catch and kill Metacom on August 12, 1676. Along the way, Church would persuade the Sakonnets, a Wampanoag group, to switch sides. They would teach him a new way of war, and Church would eventually be considered the “first American ranger,” at least by people who haven’t thought to give that credit to Nompash, the Sakonnet commander who taught Church.

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Regicides on the Run!

Selected references for this episode (Commission earned for Amazon purchases through the episode notes on our website)

Thomas Church, The History of Philip’s War: Commonly Called the Great Indian War, of 1675 and 1676

Nathaniel Philbrick, Mayflower: Voyage, Community, War

Matthew J. Tuininga, The Wars of the Lord: The Puritan Conquest of America’s First People

Eric B. Schultz and Michael J. Tougias, King Philip’s War

Lisa Brooks, Our Beloved Kin: A New History of King Philip’s War