The Second Esopus War
Some acts of crimination and recrimination having occurred between the Dutch settlers of Kingston and Hurley and their Indian neighbors, growing out of a misunderstanding in regard to some lands, the feud finally terminated in what is spoken of in the Documentary History of New York as the “Massacre at the Esopus.” To be more certain of success the Esopus clans endeavored to get the Wappinger Indians of Duchess, and other of the neighboring clans, to join them, and succeeded partially. To lull the suspicions of the whites, a proposition for a new treaty was made only two days before the attack.
On the 7th of June, 1663, a band of two hundred Indians entered the two villages in the forenoon, from different points, and dispersed themselves among the dwellings in a friendly manner, having with them a little maize and a few beans; under pretense of selling these they went about from place to place to discover the strength of the men. After they had been in Kingston about a quarter of an hour, some people on horseback rushed through the mill-gate crying out-' "The Indians have destroyed the New Village!” And with these words the savages immediately fired their guns, and made a general attack on the village from the rear, hewing down the whites with their axes and tomahawks. They seized what women and children they could and carried them prisoners outside the gates, plundered the houses, and set the village on fire to windward, it blowing at the time from the south. The remaining Indians commanded all the streets, firing from the corner houses which they occupied, and through the curtains outside along the highways, so that some of the inhabitants while on their way to their houses to get their arms were wounded and slain. When the flames had reached their height the wind veered to the west, otherwise the flames would have been much more destructive. So rapidly did the murderers do their work that those in different parts of the village were not aware of what was transpiring until they happened to meet the wounded in the streets. Few of the men were in the village, the rest being abroad at their field labors. Capt. Thomas Chambers, who was wounded on coming in from the fields, issued immediate orders to secure the gates, to clear the gun and drive off the savages, which was accordingly done. After the few men in the village had been collected, and by degrees others arriving from different quarters, being attracted by the columns of smoke and the firing, they mustered in the evening sixty-nine efficient men. The burnt palisades were immediately replaced with new ones, and the people distributed, during the night, along the bastions and curtains to keep watch.
Capt. Thomas Chambers, who was wounded on coming in from the fields, issued immediate orders to secure the gates, to clear the gun and drive off the savages, which was accordingly done. After the few men in the village had been collected, and by degrees others arriving from different quarters, being attracted by the columns of smoke and the firing, they mustered in the evening sixty-nine efficient men. The burnt palisades were immediately replaced with new ones, and the people distributed, during the night, along the bastions and curtains to keep watch. In this attack on the two villages fifteen men, four women and two children were killed. Most of the women and children killed were burned to death. Of the prisoners taken by the Indians at this outbreak there were thirteen women, thirty children, and one man. At Kingston twelve houses were burned, while the New Village was entirely destroyed.
Soldiers were now sent up from New York, and the Indians were hunted like wild beasts from mountain to mountain. The force employed, including the volunteers from Esopus, numbered nearly three hundred men. Scouting parties were sent out in every direction in which it was supposed hostile Indians could be found, destroying their crops and burning their wigwams.
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