Motivations which could lead to war were revenge, boundary disputes,
and power struggles within groups.[476] The instigation for war might
come from the sachem or from some group among the people; generally
the agreement of the sachem and his council was required before war
could be undertaken.
Dancing and oratory were part of the preparations for battle,
serving to incite the warriors. The following passage describes the
pre-battle ritual:
There was one that kneeled upon a deer skin, with the company
around him in a ring, who kneeled, striking upon the ground with
their hands and with sticks, and muttering or humming with their
mouths. Besides him who kneeled in the ring there also stood one
with a gun in his hand. Then he on the deerskin made a speech,
and all manifested assent to it; and so they did many times
together. Then they bid him with a gun go out of the ring, which
he did; but when he was out, they called again; but he seemed to
make a stand. Then they called the more earnestly, till he turned
again. Then they all sang. Then they gave him two guns in each
hand one. And so he on the deerskin began again; and at the end
of every sentence in his speaking they all assented, and humming
or muttering with their mouths and striking upon the ground with
their hands. Then they bid him with the two guns go out of the
ring again, but he made a stand. So they called him with greater
earnestness; but he stood reeling and wavering as if he knew not
whether he should stand or fall, or which way to go. Then they
called him with exceeding great vehemency, all of them, one and
another. After a little while he turned in, staggering as he went,
with his arms stretched out, in each hand a gun. As soon as he
came in, they all sang and rejoiced exceedingly a while, and then
he upon the deerskin made another speech, unto which they all
assented in a rejoicing manner....[477]
The Wampanoags were skillful both in the use of their weapons and in
avoiding enemy fire. In the woods, where most fighting seems to have
been done, warriors used trees for cover. In the open, bark shields
were used to ward off arrows, and the fighters were skillful at
dodging out of the way.[478] As a rule, when a warrior had run out of
arrows he left the battle.[479] As a result, mortality was not high,
judged by the standards of European wars of the period. In a large
battle, however, as many as twenty men might be lost.[480]
The tactic of surprise was used whenever possible. The occasion of a
storm that would drive the enemy indoors was a good opportunity for
attack; warriors could enter the village unnoticed and strike down
the foe in their houses before they could organize for defense.[481]
Sometimes battles took place on the water. One reporter describes
seeing thirty or forty canoes full of men engaged in a pitched
battle.[482]
Warriors who were killed, or wounded so they could not escape,
had their heads, hands, and feet hacked off and carried away as
trophies.[483] Scalping was a practice that appeared late in the
seventeenth century; it may have been a European introduction.[484]
Most male captives faced a death by torture. Female captives were
kept alive; it is likely that they were adopted into the tribe as
wives or servants.[485]