King Philip. Photo courtesy of Church, Benjamin, and Thomas Church. Phillip sic alias Metacomet of Pokanoket / engraved from the original as published by Church. Photograph. Retrieved from the Library of Congress.
Also known as Metacom’s Rebellion, the conflict marked the last major effort by Natives of southern New England to drive out English settlers.
Led by Metacom, Chief Sachem of the Wampanoag—called ‘King Philip’ by the English, his people joined in an uprising with the Nipmuck, Pocumtuck, and Narragansett.
They fought against the English colonists and their allies the Mohegan, Massachusett, and Nauset Indians.
Considered one of the bloodiest conflicts in American history, the battles and raids lasted fourteen months and destroyed twelve frontier towns. Employing Indian allies, the colonists nearly exterminated the Narragansett, Wampanoag, and Nipmuck.
Native leaders were killed and families sold into slavery. Metacom’s severed head was displayed in Plymouth. Metacom’s sister Weetamoo’s head was displayed in Taunton.
The website below provides an in depth perspective of the unsettling accounts of King Philips war from a Native American aspect rather than from the normal colonial aspect.
See Next: Dummer’s Wars