The destruction of villages and the deadly
ambuscade of bodies of men followed each other in quick succession. In
the space of sixty days his forces attacked Lancaster, Medfield,
Weymouth, Groton, Warwick, Marlboro', Rehoboth, Providence, Chelmsford,
Andover and Sudbury. At least one half of the death and desolation of
this war was crowded into this short period of time.
There was no security except in garrisons defended by armed men. The
Indian marches exceeded in celerity the movements of well-furnished
cavalry in civilized countries. Their women even aided in the march
and in the camp. Accustomed to hardship and famine, they subsisted in
a manner incredible to our time and race. And with one or two
exceptions, when the colonists came upon the Indians unexpectedly, the
latter were superior in the strategic arts of war, though in open
fight their fire was much less destructive. It must be confessed that
Captain Lathrop at Bloody Brook, and Captain Wadsworth at Sudbury,
were, in a degree, incautious. Hubbard closes his account of the
disaster with these words:
"Thus, as in former attempts of like nature, too much courage and
eagerness in pursuit of the enemy hath added another fatal blow to
this poor country."
For a long period a feeling of insecurity oppressed the settlers. Each
town was furnished with a garrison.
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