Page:History of the United States of America, Spencer, v1.djvu/94

 were ordered to be kept, and travellers were to go armed. No active measures were taken until the spring of 1637, in consequence mainly of the ferment and trouble arising out of Mrs. Hutchinson's case, of which we have spoken on a previous page. Orthodoxy having triumphed, vigorous attention was directed to the Pequod war, and a considerable force was raised to send into the field. But the decisive battle had been fought before the arrival of the Massachusetts troops. The Connecticut towns, early in May, having obtained the alliance of Uncas, sachem of the Mohegans, the greater part of the able-bodied men,—ninety in number—under the command of John Mason, who had been a soldier in Flanders, prepared for their departure. It was a perilous crisis; should they fail in the enterprise, the infant settlement, left without defenders, would fall into the power of their vindictive enemies—their wives and children would be ruthlessly scalped. The night of May 10th was spent in solemn prayer. On the morrow the militia embarked at Hartford, and being joined by twenty men, sent sometime before from Boston, under the command of Underhill, sailed past the Thames, and entered, unobserved, a harbor in the vicinity of the Pequod fort. They rested on the following Lord's Day, and early in the week endeavored to engage the assistance of the Narragansetts, whose sachem, Mianlouimoh, at first joined them with two hundred warriors, who, on learning that the intention of the English was to attack the Pequod forts with so small a body, were panic-struck, and most of them retreated. The catastrophe cannot be better described than in the words of an early historian of Connecticut:

"After marching under the guidance of a revolted Pequod to the vicinity of the principal fort, they pitched their little camp between, or near, two large rocks, in Groton, since called Porter's rocks. The men were faint and weary, and though the rocks were their pillows, their rest was sweet. The guards and sentinels were considerably advanced in front of the army, and heard the enemy singing at the fort, who continued their rejoicings even until midnight. They had seen the vessels pass the harbor some days before, and had concluded that the English were afraid, and had no courage to attack them. The night was serene, and towards morning the moon shone clear. The important crisis was now come, when the very existence of Connecticut, under Providence, was to be determined by the sword in a single action, and to be decided by the good conduct of less than eighty brave men. The Indiana who remained were now sorely dismayed, and though at first they had led the van, and boasted of great feats, yet were now fallen back in the rear. About two hours before day. the men were roused with all expedition, and, briefly commending themselves and their cause to God, advanced immediately to the fort, and sent for the Indians in the rear to come up. Uncas and Obequash at length appeared. The captain demanded of them where the fort was. They answered, on the