In 1636,
John Oldham (q. v.) was trading in a vessel of his own along the shores of
Connecticut, and near
Block Island he was attacked by Indians of that island, and he and his crew were murdered.
Filled with the barbarians, who did not know how to manage rudder or sail, the vessel was found drifting by John Gallop, a Massachusetts fisherman, who had only a man and two boys with him. They gallantly attacked the Indians, killed or drove them into the sea, and recaptured the vessel — the first naval fight on the
New England coast.
They found the dead body of
Oldham on the deck, yet bleeding, The
Block Island Indians were allies of the Pequods, and were protected by the latter.
The murder of
Oldham was a signal for war. In August five small vessels, carrying about 100 men, under
John Endicott, sailed from
Boston to punish the
Block Island savages.
His orders from the magistrates were to kill all the men, but to spare the women and children.
There were four captains in the company, because the Indians in fighting usually divided into small squads, and it was necessary to attack them in like detachments.
One of these captains was the famous
John Underhill.
(See
Pequod Indians.)
Endicott's party landed in a heavy surf, and in the face of a shower of arrows.
but only one Englishman was wounded.
The
Indians fled into the interior of the island.
Everything — dwellings, crops.
and the simple furniture of
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the Indians--was destroyed.
The island was completely desolated.
Endicott could not find the Indians to kill them, but he left them in a condition to starve to death.
