King William's War Read online

  Governor Andros responded the following year by sending a large force to Pemaquid to rebuild the fort there. The first detachment with four armed vessels proceeded directly to the fort while a second detachment carrying some two hundred colonial troops disembarked at Black Point when they saw signs of enemy activity. Before the expedition realized what had happened a sharp firefight broke out. Some sixty English casualties were counted when the engagement was finally broken off. Even with these losses Andros was successful in erecting and reinforcing Fort Charles at Pemaquid, thus maintaining New York’s claim to the area. The Treaty of Casco the next year brought an end to the First Abenaki War, but for their part the Abenaki had stifled English expansion into Maine.8

  The conflict had stopped, but the root causes of it still remained. While tensions remained high along the New England frontier, they did not suppress Massachusetts’s interest in the growing Acadian fur trade or the New England fishing fleets that descended upon the area. For the next several years this last issue became the primary point of contention between Acadia and Massachusetts. At one point, after several French vessels were seized, the governor of Acadia demanded a French frigate to drive away the English interlopers. Acadia’s capital was shifted back to Port Royal in 1684 with the arrival of Governor Francois-Marie Perrot, but progress was slow when it came to repairing the old fortifications. It would not be until Perrot’s replacement, Louis-Alexandre des Frische de Mennenval, arrived in 1687 that more concerted efforts were undertaken to rebuild the fortifications of Port Royal, but even these were not finished by the start of King William’s War.

  In 1686, Andros returned to the American colonies, this time as governor of the Dominion of New England. He had been recalled to England due to complaints about his governorship of New York, but was exonerated of any charges against him. Not long after his appointment, the settlements along the coast of Maine were transferred to Massachusetts’s care, which proved uneventful until problems began to resurface with the Abenaki in the spring of 1688. Andros responded by reinforcing the frontier, but what was perhaps more telling was when, knowing that Castin was away, he foolishly raided the baron’s trading post at Penobscot and “plundered Castin’s house and fort; leaving only the ornaments of his chapel to console him for the loss of his arms and goods.” The governor couched the action as a search for contraband goods tied with illegal trade between the colonies, but at its heart he was clearly looking to punish Castin for what he saw as French involvement in his current border problems.9

  A similar mentality was applied to the Abenaki. At Saco a local magistrate, Benjamin Blackman, seized and imprisoned sixteen natives under the pretense that they had been involved in killing cattle. The seizure brought an immediate response in the form of a raid on New Dartmouth (Newcastle, Maine), in which several English families were carried off. The Abenaki informed their prisoners that the raid was in retaliation for Blackman’s actions and the attack on Castin’s post. Castin was particularly enraged at what had transpired and promised his native allies all the French powder and ball they required. After this, it took very little on Castin’s part to push the Abenaki toward retaliation. Attempts were made to hold peace talks and exchange prisoners, but the Abenaki were silent. “By their discourse and all their actions they Shew that they Intend War with us, & we Question not but that there is a Strong Combination with them and the French against us, and are afraid that the Captives are Carryed to the French & Indians at Penobscutt,” the commander of Fort Falmouth informed the New England governor.10

  In November, Andros responded by reinforcing Pemaquid with seven hundred troops to repair the fortifications and overawe the natives. Further attempts were made to hold peace talks, but nothing materialized. The remainder of the fall and winter passed in a guarded peace. Andros was confident that the defensive measures he had enacted in the area would hold, but this trust would prove to be misplaced.

  Part Two

  Grand Alliance

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  The Glorious Revolution

  THE STUARTS PROVED TO BE A TROUBLED MONARCHY. Charles I had lost a war to parliament and paid for it with his head. His son, Charles II, proved a capable king when he returned from exile in 1664, but the delicate transition back to monarchy and personal distractions prevented him from being anything more. Charles’s brother James, the Duke of York, became king upon his brother’s death in 1685. James II’s reign was perhaps the most troubled of all the Stuarts. It was certainly the shortest. Although James had held the position of lord high admiral, a post in which he had honorably served through the last two Anglo-Dutch Wars, he was considered less capable than his brother. There had been opposition to his reign from the start, primarily due to his earlier conversion to Catholicism. James’s brutal retribution on those who had supported an uprising by his Protestant nephew and Charles II’s popular but illegitimate son, the Duke of Monmouth, did little to help his reputation, while his marriage to the daughter of Louis XIV and his financial dependence on his father-in-law further diminished his image. His pro-French and pro-Catholic stance, coupled with his desire to create an absolute-style monarchy, had made many in England question their new king. When James produced a Catholic heir, the kingdom had seen enough.

  English Protestant leaders extended the crown to James’s eldest daughter, Mary, and her husband, William, the Prince of Orange, both Protestants. Seizing the opportunity William landed at Brixham on November 5, 1688, at the head of fifteen thousand Dutch, Danish, and German troops. Almost immediately prominent Protestants began to defect to William’s cause, including James’s younger daughter, Anne, and John Churchill, the future Duke of Marlborough. Within James’s army there was wide-spread defection as well, and although he still possessed a force large enough to confront William, James instead opted to flee to France. Unfortunately, he was captured in Kent not long after. For simple political reasons William had no desire to keep James around, and as such, he was quietly allowed to “escape.”1

  News of the Glorious Revolution and the coronation of William III in February 1689 did not reach the American colonies until spring, but when it did it set off a political firestorm in New England. Charles II and his brother James’s attempts to institute royal rule over the daily lives of New Englanders had been met with scorn and disdain. Had not the founders of the colonies left to avoid this, people asked. Was not life on the frontier difficult enough without all the problems of Old England as well? Up until the 1660s New England had, for all practical purposes, existed outside of English rule. As a good period of this time includes the upheaval of the English Civil War it is perhaps understandable why the English government did not play a greater role in the colony’s life. But even when Cromwell assumed the mantle of protector he did little to interfere with the New England governments and, in fact, sent warships and troops to help deal with colonial threats. It was not until Charles II rejected the old charters in 1684 that Yankee ire began to show itself. Matters simply became worse under James II, as his open Catholic connections added yet another dimension to the Puritan outrage.

  James looked to continue his brother’s work and assert royal control over the American colonies. To accomplish this he formed the Dominion of New England in 1686, which also encompassed New York and New Jersey. He then placed Andros, who had served him well as governor of New York, in charge. The powers granted to Andros were viceroy-like; taxation, justice, commerce, and military affairs all fell within his prerogative. The people of New England recoiled at the new system, which swept away their representative assemblies. Charges of corruption and injustice were leveled at Andros and his advisors. For his part Andros did not overstep his authority, although it would have taken a large stride to do so. As far as he was concerned the king’s wishes were to be realized whether the populace liked it or not. Protestors who argued the lack of representation in matters of levied taxes were immediately arrested, and traditional New England town meetings, which he claimed just promoted dissent, were l
imited to once a year.2

  Thus, when news of the flight of James and the ascension of William and Mary to the throne of England arrived, it was met not only with delight but with opportunity. New Englanders had opposed royal rule from the outset and were still angry over the loss of their assemblies. Fueled by rumors of Papist plots and the heavy-handed tactics, Andros himself, a Catholic and longtime subordinate of James, was arrested in Boston on April 18, 1689, after a short standoff. The fortifications of Boston were taken without a shot the next day, leaving the revolutionary council not only in control of the city but all of New England. Andros was imprisoned and a letter of congratulations was sent to the new Protestant king, explaining the actions of the revolutionary council and their allegiance to William’s cause. Then, to the delight of most, the old colonial charters were reinstituted throughout New England. While the long-term political and social repercussions of the Glorious Revolution would change the interactions between New England and the mother country as well as contribute to the development of a New England identity, the immediate impact was on the defense of the colony.3

  Andros may have proven an inept politician, but the same could not be said for his military leadership. An officer in the Royalist Army during the English Civil War, he had proven proactive, and although he made some mistakes, such as destroying Castin’s fort, he had demonstrated a competent approach in dealing with threats posed to New England. Replacing Andros’s leadership in terms of the defense of the colony would be difficult. However, the matter would not be resolved at this point, as questions of loyalty and religion migrated down to the lower ranks of the colonies’ militias. Soon the process had escalated to foolish levels as the need for control demanded by the restored assemblies approached that of what they had deposed.

  The garrisons of the frontier forts also used the moment to revolt against the officers appointed over them by Andros. In June, Lt. John Jordan at New Dartmouth (Newcastle), Maine, was arrested by his men for acts of “cruelty and tyranny.” It was also claimed that the lieutenant had attempted to convince his men to defend the fort “against the Boston dogs” who had seized the governor. The following month on July 23, the Revolutionary Council of Safety in Boston decided to withdraw the troops Andros had posted on the frontier for fear of their disloyalty to the new government. A trio of colonial officers “now abroad in the army to Eastern,” was ordered “to dismiss Major Brockholes, Macgregory, Lockhart, Lieutenant Weems, Captain Manning, and Ensign Smith from their present command in the Army, and send them to Boston.”4

  The effect on the frontier garrisons was frightening and predictable. When Andros arrived he had brought two companies of regulars with him. Many of these men were assigned to bolster the frontier posts. With the governor and their commanding officers’ arrests and their unit’s recall, most simply deserted, leaving garrisons like the one at Fort Pemaquid with less than a score of men to defend its walls. Nor were matters improved by the void created by the imprisonment of Andros’s staff. Logistics, raising the militia, and the basic forms of government, such as the courts, customs, and revenue collection, were suddenly thrown into the lap of the Council of Safety. The result was confusion and chaos.

  Many of the frontier posts went without supplies and no replacements or reinforcements were sent forward. Arguments over positions and their powers, lack of legislative experience, and a general lack of leadership at this crucial time led one witness to comment that “New England, which yesterday was united and formidable, is divided into about ten little independent kingdoms, each acting as if it knew no superior power.” Another wrote that, “Every man is a Governor.” Soon the folly would come to fruition as the Wabanaki attacked and ravaged the Maine frontier. Panic struck New England, which was ill-prepared to handle a major conflict, and all braced for the raids that would surely follow. Andros’s secretary, Edward Randolph, a prisoner alongside the governor, wrote New York lieutenant governor Francis Nicholson of the situation. “I know not how this country can be preserved from utter destruction through these internal dissensions unless the King send a good force to restore order.”5

  Nicholson could sympathize. The Glorious Revolution quickly swept through New York and New Jersey. These two colonies had long been against being included in the Dominion of New England, and New York City in particular suffered economically under the arrangement. When news of King William’s coronation and the governor’s imprisonment arrived from Boston, it set off uprisings in Long Island. “Having read the declaration published at Boston on 18 April, we, having like them at Boston groaned under arbitrary power, think it our bounden duty to use all lawful endeavors to secure the forts at Albany, New York, and elsewhere, pending further orders from the English Parliament.” Armed with this document a detachment of men from Suffolk and the surrounding communities marched on Fort James.6

  The twenty-nine-year-old Francis Nicholson, serving in his first official post as Andros’s lieutenant governor, was able to negotiate an uneasy truce with this force but feared it was only a matter of time before the situation boiled over. “Several of them with the assistance of some ill-affected and restless spirits,” he informed the Board of Trade in mid-May, “used all imaginable meanes to stir up the Inhabitants of this City to sedition and Rebellion, But we have hitherto prevented their dangerous designs, but know not how long we shall be able to resist their further attempts.” There were also other concerns complicating the situation. First among these were rumors of a war with France. Fort James was in no condition to resist any kind of attack, being in a state of ruin after years of neglect. To pay for the stronghold’s repairs Nicholson turned to another problem. The revolutionary zeal was beginning to manifest itself when it came to customs and duties. A number of New York merchants refused to recognize the authority of the New York customs agent to collect taxes, pointing to his association with James and now regarding the entire act as being illegal until news arrived from King William on how to proceed. Nicholson called together all parties and agreed that until directions arrived from England all monies collected from customs and duties would be used to repair Fort James.7

  For the next few weeks rumors and secret meetings abounded, but there were no overt moves toward rebellion. On May 31, Nicholson provided the revolutionaries with their opportunity. In a dispute with Lt. Henry Cuyler, who was in command of a detachment of the city’s militia, Nicholson leveled a pistol at Cuyler’s corporal, a man the governor considered a troublemaker and scoundrel. “He afterwards said,” Cuyler testified, “that there were so many rogues in the town that he was almost afraid to walk in the streets, and that before it should go longer on in this manner he would set the town on fire.”8

  Such wild words from an associate of Andros, and a former representative of the deposed King James, provided all the sparks required to start the fire. A crowd of protestors and part of the city’s militia began gathering at the residence of council member Captain Jacob Leisler. Leisler was a prominent citizen and one of the richest men in New York. He had signed on as a soldier in the Dutch West India Company in 1660 and arrived in New Amsterdam that summer. When his enlistment expired, Leisler turned to the quick profits of the fur trade and was very successful, which allowed him to branch into other profitable ventures. Respected and well liked by the inhabitants of New York, Governor Dongan appointed Leisler to several civil posts within the colony and made him a captain of militia on September 10, 1684.9

  After speaking to the people’s grievances and rallying the crowd in the name of King William, several of Leisler’s supporters led the group forward against Fort James, where Lt. Governor Nicholson and his council were meeting. The fort was in such a state that there was little to stop the mob from entering, and within minutes the parade ground was filled with armed men. There were some tense moments, but in the end, given the lopsided numbers, there was little choice. On the afternoon of May 31, 1689, Nicholson relented and handed over control of the fort. Then, as agreed upon, he arranged passage to E
ngland on the first vessel he could find.

  With Nicholson and his staff gone a revolutionary council was convened, which named Leisler commander of Fort James. One of the first orders of business for Leisler and the new council was to draft a letter to the king, professing the current government’s loyalty to William and explaining why Nicholson was removed from his post. The former lieutenant governor’s comments concerning putting the town to the torch were, of course, purposely misconstrued to place Nicholson, a “pretended Protestant,” alongside Andros as an enemy of the king, leaving the revolutionary leaders and the citizens of New York with no choice but to act in order to preserve their liberty, property, and religion.

  For his part Leisler accelerated the repairs to Fort James, which he renamed Fort William Henry in honor of the new king. It was no simple matter, but work progressed well enough that Leisler turned his thoughts toward securing the rest of New York. Most of this did not prove difficult, but Albany and its council were not so quick to yield control to Leisler and his ad-hoc band. Instead, an uneasy cooperation developed between Leisler and the Albany party led by Robert Livingston, one based on the immediate threat posed by the French. This workable truce became more difficult later in the year when Leisler, seizing mail intended for Nicholson, loosely interpreted one letter from Whitehall as royal confirmation of his position as lieutenant governor of New York.10