1637
MassacreBook sources
Mystic / Pequot massacre
Connecticut; Pequot people
On 26 May 1637, English forces with Mohegan and Narragansett allies attacked the fortified Pequot settlement at Mystic. English troops set it on fire and killed people escaping the flames. Hundreds died, including women and children, in a massacre during the Pequot War.
Dates preserve the source’s precision. This entry is part of a selected historical record; its qualifications and sources are retained below.
Context / qualification
Participant John Underhill describes armed resistance before the English set the settlement alight and acknowledges the killing of women and children. Estimates of deaths vary; no exact count is established here. This attack is distinct from the 1636 expedition and did not end Pequot survival as a people.
Sources
- Howard Zinn, The Twentieth Century: A People’s History, H07 at 00:39:44 (approximate; supplied recording)
- Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States (2014), chapter 4
- Howard Zinn, A People’s History of the United States, chapter 1, pp. 14–15; supplied print pages, edition/year unidentified
- John Underhill, Newes from America (1638), pp. 32–36; Paul Royster’s electronic edition ↗
- Mashantucket Pequot Museum, Battlefields of the Pequot War: 1636 expedition and 26 May 1637 Mistick attack ↗