"He was instrumental in originating the expedition, formed the plan, followed out its details, fought its battles, clinched, as it were, with iron screws, its results, and wrote its history... From this period he became renowned as an Indian fighter, and stood forth a buckler of defence to the exposed colonies, but a trembling and a terror to the wild people of the wilderness... Mason is one of the prominent figures in our early history. He shines forth as a valiant soldier and a wise counselor. He was prudent, and yet enterprising; fertile in resources, prompt and heroic in field of action. The natural ardor of his mind, fostered by early military adventures, and continually called into exercise by great emergencies, made him a fearless leader in war. Sturdy in frame, and hardy in constitution; regardless of danger, fatigue, or exposure; he was invaluable as a pioneer in difficult enterprises, and a founder of new plantations. He was also a religious man and a patriot; of virtuous habits, and moderate ambition. Though he sustained many high and honorable offices in the infant colony, he was best known by the simple title of Captain... Yet viewing the character of Mason at this distance of time, we become aware of some rigid and imperious features. Though faithful to his convictions of duty, he was stern and unrelenting in the execution of justice, and as a magistrate and commander, dictatorial and self-reliant." - Francis Caulkins
"The Commander over Men; he to whose will our wills are to be subordinated, and loyally surrender themselves, and find their welfare in doing so, may be reckoned the most important of Great Men. He is practically the summary for us of all the various figures of Heroism; Priest, Teacher, whatsoever of earthly or of spiritual dignity we can fancy to reside in a man, embodies itself here, to command over us, to furnish us with constant practical teaching, to tell us for the day and hour what we are to do." - Thomas Carlyle
John MasonA brief introduction of one of Connecticut's earliest heroes, with [revisionism] and [personal commentary] as always marked in brackets.
Major John Mason was born in the year 1600, most likely in the English town of Norwich. Prior to his new life in the new world, he was a veteran of the Eighty Years' War. This experience in his youth helped forge the man who would become magistrate, representative, and commander of the military forces of the colonies in which he resided. He had lived in the Massachusetts Bay Colony a scant few months before he was called upon to help defend the fledgling settlements. First in 1632 to ward off the piracy of a certain Dixy Bull, then later in 1634 as surveyor of the Boston peninsula and head commissioner of a fort to be built for her protection. Six years later, now a dutiful husband [inceldom was illegal in Puritan society] and in silent disagreement with the stifling orthodoxy of the Plymouth Colony, Mason volunteered to lead a group of settlers in establishing a colony upon the Connecticut River. This was quite the undertaking, as the settlers were to find themselves just shy of 100 miles away from the rest of English civilization, alone and surrounded by the largest and most militaristic of Indian tribes. His leadership proved to be invaluable, as his experience in the army helped the settlers to protect themselves in case of attack, and as an engineer he led the construction of a palisaded settlement that would come to be known as Windsor. Thomas Hooker, a prominent minister of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, had simultaneously left to form his own settlement just to the north of Windsor, christened Hartford. Thus, alienated by both the Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay colonies, these two men would lay the foundations for the Connecticut Colony.
In John Mason's biography, author Louis B. Mason tells us, "The Captain had but little time to give to cultivating domestic interests, since from the first the Pequot Indians had shown a restlessness that did not insure safety for the inhabitants. They feared the treachery of the red men, so that Mason took every precaution that was possible to fortify the town to prevent a sudden attack. It was held by the colonists in general 'that in the case of hostile Indians, no good can come of attempts to conciliate, unless respect is first imposed by a sufficient castigation.'" By the 1630s, the politics of the southern Connecticut River Valley were at a boiling point. Seeking to monopolize the fur trade with the English, the Pequot Sachem Sassacus began to expand his territory by subjugating first the lands of the Wampanoag tribe to the north, the Narragansett to the east, and the Lenape and Algonquian tribes to the southwest. The long-standing animosity between the Pequot and Mohegan tribes came to a head, and when the Mohegan requested English support in dealing with Sassacus and his Pequot warriors war loomed inexorably on the horizon. Mason's biographer states:
"All of the small tribes feared the powerful Pequots, who continually made war on them. The Pequots, whose name it is said translated into English meant 'destroyer,' claimed as their territory all the land along the coast of Long Island Sound, while their principal forts were located at New London, then Known as Pequot and Mystic. Their chief, Sassacus, had twenty-six sachems under him, and about eight hundred warriors at his command at the forts... Sassacus, the wily chief of the Pequots, like King Philip, Tecumseh, Black Hawk, Pontiac and other chiefs later, was the first to realize that the English, with their guns, would eventually drive the Indians from their land, or annihilate them in war. His jealousy, together with his fear for the future of his people, aroused his enmity which was to lead to war with the planters, and the destruction of his race."
As with all things in history, there are no true polarities in war. While the majority of cross-cultural relations were peaceful and lucrative for both parties, incidents such as Captain Thomas Hunt's abduction of twenty natives to be sold into Spanish slavery helped fan the fires of discontent. It certainly didn't help that ministers of the Puritan colonies likened Natives to the special emissaries of the Great Adversary. To defeat the Natives in battle was to strike directly at the Devil himself. [We at Pioneer Valley Dissidence are not going to go to great lengths to excuse the English settlers' actions in 1636. It will suffice to say that in this long chain of mutual betrayals and reconciliations and yet further betrayals, the Pequots constituted the last link.] The killing of merchant captain John Oldham by the Pequot vassal tribe, the Narragansett, and the subsequent refusal of the Narragansett/Pequot leadership to give up the perpetrators, combined with the murder of a Captain Stone the year prior, was too much to bear and ultimately formed the casus belli of the New England colonies. The orders of the militia issued by Massachusetts Bay Colony Governor Henry Vane, were as follows, "To put to death the men of Block Island, but to spare the women and children, and to bring them away, and to take possession of the island; and from thence to go to the Pequots, to demand the murderers of Capt. Stone and other English, and one thousand fathoms of wampum for damage, Etc., and some of their children for hostages; if they should refuse they were to obtain by force." Block Island would be taken without contest, though negotiations with the Pequots afterward turned violent and set an uneasy tone throughout the quiet winter, another simmering pot set to boil over with the spring thaw. These negotiations under the command of Governor John Endicott of Massachusetts were seen as a failure, and only worsened the situation. The tensions were cut loose in April the following year, 1637, when the English settlement of Wethersfield, CT was attacked. Six men and three women slain, with two children held in captivity. Simultaneously, the Pequot held the English fort at Saybrook near the mouth of the Connecticut River, commanded by a certain Lion Gardiner, under siege throughout the early months of 1637. But where was the hero of our story, John Mason?
Captain Mason had become known to the Indians of the southern Connecticut River valley as a just and fair magistrate, and brave warrior. His presence, according to his biographer, had been enough to ensure peace locally between Windsor and the surrounding tribes. In the leadup to the Pequot War, Mason had established an alliance with the Chief Sachem of the Mohegan tribe, a man called Uncas. Sachem Uncas was an apt politician, descended from the royal line of Pequots, and after a dispute with Sassacus had fallen in with the Mohegans and was elected their leader. This will become important later on. Upon hearing of Lion Gardiner's plight to the south, Mason mustered what he could from the able-bodied men of Windsor. He and a mere twenty men sallied forth to relieve the fort, and according to the man himself, "After his coming (to Saybrook), there did not one Pequot appear in view for one Month Space which was the time he there remained." [Truly evidence of Captain Mason's heroic persona on display.] Mason and Connecticut Governor Hooker's petitions to Massachusetts for reinforcements were granted in the arrival of a Captain Underhill and his men, allowing Mason to return to his family in Windsor temporarily. Mason travelled back and forth for a time and was stationed at the Saybrook fort during the attack on Wethersfield.
"The Indians after finishing their bloody task, sailed down the river in great glee, and when they passed the fort, they waved the clothing of the victims they had murdered, to attract the attention of the soldiers. Mason and Gardiner realized that the Indians were on the warpath and returning from some murderous expedition, and taking a chance shot at them 'with the Piece of Ordinance,' Mason said, 'Which beat off the Beak Head of one of the Canoes wherein our two Captives were.'"
By this point, the Connecticut Court had adopted a more martial outlook towards the Pequots and their vassals. An ally to some tribes and feared by others, Mason understood that the war of Sassacus was one of ultimate survival. The lower Connecticut River valley was simply too small to be shared with Sassacus' ambitions, and if the Pequots were to truly unite militarily with their client tribes the extermination of the English colonies was assured. The Court appointed Mason to be the leader of a force of 90 men, and Mason called upon the loyalty of the leader of the Mohegan tribe, his good friend Uncas, to help strike back at the Pequots. These 160 traveled south again to the Saybrook Fort, whereupon they prepared an excursion deep into Pequot territory. Doubted by Underhill and Gardiner that such a small force would be able to challenge Sassacus any better than Endicott's attempts the year prior, Mason took liberties with the colonial leadership's orders, reasoning that the direct attack proscribed therein was suicide. In a tale reminiscent of Publius Claudius and the sacred chickens of Rome, Mason consulted the local Chaplain, and asked him to pray to the Lord overnight, to determine the course of action. Mason's biographer states that he,
"visited the Chaplain who was staying on one of the shallops, while the Captain lived on shore. We may be sure that when the Captain asked the Chaplain for instructions from the Lord, that he very carefully pointed out the whys and wherefores of his own views. It was therefore not with surprise, but with great satisfaction, when the Chaplain visited him the next morning, to be told that he had followed Mason's wishes, and that his views were the right ones. Then the contingent arranged to sail the following morning.
In his history of this war, Mason stops at this point to moralize, and to point out how justly the commander of an army can go contrary to directions by the government. 'For,' as he wrote, 'it is not possible for the wisest and ablest Senatore to foresee all Accidents and Occurents that fall out in the Management and Pursuit of a War'; even though 'he might be trained in Military Affairs.'"
Mason and his retinue sailed for the lands of the Narragansett tribe in order to try and convince their Sachem, Canonicus, to help in the fight against their ancient enemy and overlord, the Pequots (making quite sure that the Pequots saw them leaving south, hoping to give them the impression of retreat). Canonicus agreed to allow them passage through his lands to attack the Pequots, but doubted Mason the same as the two officers of Saybrook Fort earlier. Such a small campaigning force had no chance of succeeding against the well-trained personal guard of Sassacus, claimed Canonicus. Mason's diplomatic overtures and reputation as a brave warrior won the Narragansett over, however, and a contingent of two hundred joined the cause. On the march to the Pequot lands proper, they were joined again by more Narragansett, these under the command of Canonicus' nephew, Miantonimo. The Narragansett "suddenly gather[ed] into a ring, one by one, making solemn protestations how galliantly they would demean themselves, and how many men they would kill." Now, Mason's ragtag assembly numbered roughly 500. However, as they marched ever closer to Sassacus and his army, some Narragansett became unnerved and headed back to their homes rather than provoke the ire of the Pequots. Upon reaching the base of the hill upon which the Pequot fort lie, Mason noticed the lack of Narragansett among his troops. Uncas told him they had fallen behind and were most likely only going to watch and see how it played out. To which Mason replied that Uncas tell, "the rest of their Fellows, That they should by no means Fly, but stand at what distance they pleased, and see whether English Men would now fight or not."
Mason and Captain Underhill, who despite his reservations at the feasibility of the plan volunteered to accompany the Connecticut troops on their mission, decided they would begin a two-pronged assault on the Pequot position. As it was still some hours before sunrise, and since the Pequots had celebrated late into the night over the supposed English retreat, they had no idea of what was to happen. Some of the Pequots had by chance noticed the English maneuvers, and they hastened to awaken the rest of the fort to no success. Mason and Underhill's troops fired into the fort and were positioned at either entrance in wait. At first, they attempted to sweep the fort house-by-house to clear out the Pequots and preserve the battle's bounty, but Mason quickly realized they would lose their significant advantage in doing so. Thus, he gave the orders to set fire to the whole encampment. The Pequot were corralled in their own fortifications, unable to organize and break the defensive perimeter set up by Mason's Mohawk and Narragansett allies. Two Englishmen were killed and twenty wounded, while seven hundred Pequot perished in the bloody siege on Mystic Fort. Sassacus and some of his personal guard escaped the carnage and fled west in the hopes of taking refuge with the Mohawks of the Hudson River, whereupon they seized him, cut off his head, hands and feet, and had the grisly trophies sent to the Massachusetts Bay as evidence of their goodwill towards them. Thus, the Pequot War was ended in its infancy thanks to the initiative of Captain John Mason. Mason's biographer tells us,
"All of this had taken place within three weeks and three days since the decision of the Court. The little army had tramped through trackless forest, sixty miles in all, in four days, in a heat almost unbearable, so that some of the men had fainted. The victory was a complete one, and one of the most remarkable in the history of warfare in the colonies settled by the English. It must not be forgotten that the settlements along the great river did not number all told eight hundred, and that less than two hundred were able to bear arms to fight the battle, and protect the homes. Also, that Connecticut in its quick decision, led by Mason, to settle the matter at once, and not wait for the assistance from the ever vacillating magistrates of Massachusetts, made peace possible for the further settlement of the country. Another fact that must not be forgotten, that while Connecticut always made quick decisions and carried them out, Massachusetts dilly-dallied, as she did with the murderers of Captain Stone for over three years, and then, the criminals were not executed. Sassacus was no longer the terror of the other Indian tribes. Mason was the man they now feared, as Prince said, 'he soon became the equal dread of the most numerous nations, from Massachusetts to the Hudson River.'"
[And, lest we forget the purpose of this blog, a little Boston character assassination:]
"It is to be added, that with the exception of the twenty men with Underhill, no other soldiers had gone to the seat of the action from Boston. Their tardiness, the authorities explained, was because it was learned 'that some of the officers, as well as some of the private soldiers, were still under a covenant of works; and that the blessing of God could not be implored, or expected to crown the arms of such unhallowed men with success.'"
In the aftermath the Connecticut Court convened again, where they promoted Mason to the rank of Major. His new responsibility was to train every able-bodied man in the colony in warfare, effectively mobilizing the entire population. There was also a treaty called between the Mohegan and Narragansett, where each would take half of the Pequot prisoners into their own respective tribes, and that there was to be a permanent peace between the three political entities. The remaining Pequots now adopted into the Mohegan and Narragansett promised to never return to their lands, a promise they promptly abandoned. The official end of the Pequot War came in the autumn of 1637, where Mason assembled a group of 40 men to once again oust the returned natives. At the conclusion of that three-month war, the English colonies had killed or enslaved all of Sassacus' tribe, and the existential threat of the Great Pequot Sachem's ambition had been permanently put to rest.
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