Governor Josiah Winslow Leads Militia Against Narragansett Tribe
On November 2, Plymouth Colony governor Josiah Winslow led a combined force of colonial militia against the Narragansett tribe.
The Narragansetts had not yet been directly involved in the war, but they had sheltered many of the Wampanoag's women and children and several of their men had reportedly been seen in several Indian raiding parties. The tribe was not trusted by the colonists. As the colonial force assembled and marched around Rhode Island, they found and burned several Indian towns that had been abandoned by the Narragansett, who had retreated to a massive fort in a swamp.
The Narragansett in 1674 numbered some 5,000. The next year witnessed the outbreak of King Philip's War, which destroyed Native American power in S New England. The Narragansett shared the common fate. Their fort near the site of Kingston, R.I., was attacked (1675) by a colonial force under Josiah Winslow, and in that engagement, known as the Great Swamp Fight, the Narragansett under Canonchet lost almost a thousand men.