Captain John Lovewell, of Dunstable, raised a volunteer company and
met with great success. At one time he fell in with an Indian trail
and pursued it till he discovered them asleep on the bank of a pond.
They were all killed, and their scalps, stretched upon hoops, served to
decorate their triumphal return. They, of course, received the bounty,
which amounted to ten pounds.
(1725.) Lovewell, having augmented his company to 46 men, again set out
with the intention of attacking an Indian town on the Saco. They built a
fort on the Great Ossapy pond, and then proceeded, leaving one of their
number sick, and eight men to guard the fort.
When about 22 miles from the fort they rested on the banks of a pond,
where they discovered a single Indian at a distance, on a point of land,
and rightly judging that he was attached to a large party of Indians,
Lovewell determined to advance and attack them. Accordingly the whole
company threw off their packs in one place among the brakes; and, to
gain the advantage, the men were spread so as partially to surround the
water. Lovewell had, however, mistaken the position of the Indians, who
were already on his track, and coming to the place where the packs were
deposited, by counting them discovered the number of English to be less
than their own. They, therefore marched to assault the English in the
rear, and actually hemmed them in between the mouth of a brook, a rocky
point, a deep bog, and the pond. The company, completely surrounded,
fought desperately till nightfall, when the Indians, tired of the
conflict, moved off. The number of killed and wounded amounted to 23,
Lovewell being among the former. The remainder of the party returned to
the fort which had been deserted, in consequence of the arrival of one
of Lovewell’s men who fled at the beginning of the fight, and reported
all the rest killed. After resting, they started for home, where they
arrived, to the great joy of their friends, after enduring the severest
hardships. The survivors were liberally compensated, and the widows and
families of the slain were provided for by the government of the province.