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Schenectady massacre
The Schenectady massacre was an attack against the colonial settlement of Schenectady in the English Province of New York on February 8, 1690. A raiding party of 114 French soldiers and militiamen, accompanied by 96 allied Mohawk and Algonquin warriors, attacked the unguarded community, destroying most of the homes, and killing or capturing most of its inhabitants. Sixty residents were killed, including 11 Black slaves. About 60 residents were spared, including 20 Mohawk.
Of the non-Mohawk survivors, 27 were taken captive, including five Africans. Three captives were later redeemed; another two men returned to the village after three and 11 years with the Mohawk, respectively. The remainder of the surviving captives were dragged through the snow, tied to horses, and left hungry for weeks before arriving in a Mohawk town north of Montreal. Those who survived were fed and clothed by Mohawk families and began new lives as members of the Mohawk nation.
The French raid was in retaliation for the Lachine massacre, an attack by Iroquois forces on a village in New France. These skirmishes were related both to the Beaver Wars and the French struggle with the English for control of the fur trade in North America, as well as to King William's War between France and England. By this time, the French considered most of the Iroquois to be allied with the English colony of New York, and hoped to detach them while reducing English influence in North America.
In much of the late 17th century, the Iroquois and the colonists of New France engaged in a protracted struggle for control of the economically important North American fur trade, known as the Beaver Wars. The Iroquois also fought other Native American nations to control the lucrative trade with the French. In August 1689, the Iroquois launched one of their most devastating raids against the French frontier community of Lachine. This attack occurred after France and England had declared war on each other but before the news had reached North America.
New France's governor, Louis de Buade de Frontenac, organized an expedition from Montreal to attack English outposts to the south, as retaliation for English support of the Iroquois and as a general expansion of the war against the northernmost English colonies. He intended to intimidate the Iroquois and try to cut them off from their trade with the English. The expedition was one of three directed at isolated northern and western settlements, and it was originally directed against Fort Orange (present day Albany).
It consisted of 114 French Canadians, mostly frontier-savvy coureurs de bois but also some marines, 80 Sault, and 16 Algonquin warriors, with a few converted Mohawks. They marched the 200 miles overland in about 22 days. Taking Fort Orange would have been a major blow against the English. At what is now Fort Edward, the French officers held council on the plan of attack. The leaders were Jacques le Moyne de Sainte-Hélène and Nicolas d'Ailleboust de Manthet. The second-in-command was the explorer and naval officer Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville.
The expedition made its way across the ice of Lake Champlain and Lake George toward the English settlements on the Hudson River. They found Fort Orange to be well defended, but a scouting party reported on February 8 that no one was guarding the stockade at the small frontier village of Schenectady to the west. Its residents were primarily Dutch Americans and held numerous Black slaves. Schenectady and Albany were so politically polarized in the wake of the 1689 Leisler's Rebellion that the opposing factions had not agreed on the setting of guards in the two settlements. The village of Schenectady (its name came from a Mohawk word meaning "beyond the Pines") was on a land patent to farm on the Great Flats of the Mohawk River originally granted to the Dutch in 1661. It was about seven miles beyond the western border of Rensselaerswyck.
Finding no sentinels other than two snowmen and the gate ajar, according to tradition, the raiders silently entered Schenectady two hours before dawn and launched their attack. They burned houses and barns and killed men, women, and children. Most of the victims were in night clothing and had no time to arm themselves. By the morning of February 9, the community lay in ruins, and more than 60 buildings were burned. Sixty residents were killed, including 11 Black slaves (referred to as "negroes' in the records). The French noted that about 50-60 residents survived and that 20 Mohawks had been spared so that the Natives would know their targets were the English, not the Mohawks. The 60 dead included 38 men, 10 women, and 12 children.
Schenectady massacre
The Schenectady massacre was an attack against the colonial settlement of Schenectady in the English Province of New York on February 8, 1690. A raiding party of 114 French soldiers and militiamen, accompanied by 96 allied Mohawk and Algonquin warriors, attacked the unguarded community, destroying most of the homes, and killing or capturing most of its inhabitants. Sixty residents were killed, including 11 Black slaves. About 60 residents were spared, including 20 Mohawk.
Of the non-Mohawk survivors, 27 were taken captive, including five Africans. Three captives were later redeemed; another two men returned to the village after three and 11 years with the Mohawk, respectively. The remainder of the surviving captives were dragged through the snow, tied to horses, and left hungry for weeks before arriving in a Mohawk town north of Montreal. Those who survived were fed and clothed by Mohawk families and began new lives as members of the Mohawk nation.
The French raid was in retaliation for the Lachine massacre, an attack by Iroquois forces on a village in New France. These skirmishes were related both to the Beaver Wars and the French struggle with the English for control of the fur trade in North America, as well as to King William's War between France and England. By this time, the French considered most of the Iroquois to be allied with the English colony of New York, and hoped to detach them while reducing English influence in North America.
In much of the late 17th century, the Iroquois and the colonists of New France engaged in a protracted struggle for control of the economically important North American fur trade, known as the Beaver Wars. The Iroquois also fought other Native American nations to control the lucrative trade with the French. In August 1689, the Iroquois launched one of their most devastating raids against the French frontier community of Lachine. This attack occurred after France and England had declared war on each other but before the news had reached North America.
New France's governor, Louis de Buade de Frontenac, organized an expedition from Montreal to attack English outposts to the south, as retaliation for English support of the Iroquois and as a general expansion of the war against the northernmost English colonies. He intended to intimidate the Iroquois and try to cut them off from their trade with the English. The expedition was one of three directed at isolated northern and western settlements, and it was originally directed against Fort Orange (present day Albany).
It consisted of 114 French Canadians, mostly frontier-savvy coureurs de bois but also some marines, 80 Sault, and 16 Algonquin warriors, with a few converted Mohawks. They marched the 200 miles overland in about 22 days. Taking Fort Orange would have been a major blow against the English. At what is now Fort Edward, the French officers held council on the plan of attack. The leaders were Jacques le Moyne de Sainte-Hélène and Nicolas d'Ailleboust de Manthet. The second-in-command was the explorer and naval officer Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville.
The expedition made its way across the ice of Lake Champlain and Lake George toward the English settlements on the Hudson River. They found Fort Orange to be well defended, but a scouting party reported on February 8 that no one was guarding the stockade at the small frontier village of Schenectady to the west. Its residents were primarily Dutch Americans and held numerous Black slaves. Schenectady and Albany were so politically polarized in the wake of the 1689 Leisler's Rebellion that the opposing factions had not agreed on the setting of guards in the two settlements. The village of Schenectady (its name came from a Mohawk word meaning "beyond the Pines") was on a land patent to farm on the Great Flats of the Mohawk River originally granted to the Dutch in 1661. It was about seven miles beyond the western border of Rensselaerswyck.
Finding no sentinels other than two snowmen and the gate ajar, according to tradition, the raiders silently entered Schenectady two hours before dawn and launched their attack. They burned houses and barns and killed men, women, and children. Most of the victims were in night clothing and had no time to arm themselves. By the morning of February 9, the community lay in ruins, and more than 60 buildings were burned. Sixty residents were killed, including 11 Black slaves (referred to as "negroes' in the records). The French noted that about 50-60 residents survived and that 20 Mohawks had been spared so that the Natives would know their targets were the English, not the Mohawks. The 60 dead included 38 men, 10 women, and 12 children.
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