Two Tragic Events: Seafight of Capt. Anthony Chester, 1621; Indian Massacre, 1622 Transcribed by Kathy Merrill for the USGenWeb Archives Special Collections Project ************************************************************************ USGENWEB ARCHIVES NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by any other organization or persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must obtain the written consent of the contributor, or the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently for free access. http://www.usgwarchives.net *********************************************************************** WILLIAM AND MARY COLLEGE QUARTERLY HISTORICAL MAGAZINE VOL. IX. APRIL, 1901. NO. 4 TWO TRAGICAL EVENTS. 1. THE SEAFIGHT OF CAPT. ANTHONY CHESTER, 1621. 2. THE INDIAN MASSACRE, 1622. The Spaniards deeply resented the settlement of the English on the North American continent, and would, if they had dared, have made an attempt to wipe out the colony at Jamestown. They, however, kept a constant lookout for the vessels of the Virginia adventurers. The sea fight of the Margaret and John caused much excitement in England, and the English were very proud of the exploits of the ship, which was small and not well provided. In the latter part of March 1621 (1620, O.S.) this vessel had a severe battle with two Spanish men-of-war in the West Indies, in which she was fortunate enough to come out the victor. Two accounts were published, one at Amsterdam, the other at London. The following is the title of the latter: "A true Relation of a Wonderfull Sea Fight between two great and well appointed Spanish Ships or Men-of-Warre, And a small and not very well provided English ship * * the Margaret and John, or The Black Hodge, London, printed for N. B." Smith's History, II., 544 (Arber's Edition), and Purchas, IV., p. 1780, give abstracts from this "Relation." There was printed at Leyden a Dutch translation of an account (whether the one printed originally at Amsterdam or not I do not know) by Peter Vander, bookseller, in 1707, entitled the "Scheepstogt Van Anthony Chester, na Virginia gedaan in het jaar 1620." The account in the Dutch, a copy of which is in the State Library, is now again translated into English by Charles Edward Bishop, Ph.D., professor of Modern Languages in William and Mary College, and printed below. Another account still was written by Thomas Hothersall, "late zity- sone and Grocer of London being an I witness and interpreter in the exployte," which, according to Dr. Alexander Brown, is still extant in Manuscript. (Brown's First Republic, 415.) ---------- 204 WILLIAM AND MARY COLLEGE QUARTERLY. VOYAGE OF ANTHONY CHESTER TO VIRGINIA, MADE IN THE YEAR 1620, Narrated by a Distinguished Passenger, who Participated in this Expedition. RELATING VERY ACCURATELY A FEARFUL AND DESPERATE NAVAL ENGAGEMENT WITH TWO SPANISH SHIPS, WHICH WERE FORCED TO TAKE FLIGHT, AND TO LEAVE THE VIC- TORY TO THE ENGLISH. ALSO: A TERRIBLE AND TREACHEROUS MASSACRE PERPETRATED IN A CRUEL MANNER BY THE INHABITANTS OF VIRGINIA ON THE ENGLISH. All Experienced by this Traveller, Described by him in English, and now Trans- lated out of that Language. Enriched with a complete Index* and Engraving. AT LEYDEN. BY PETER VANDER AA, BOOKSELLER, 1707. Cum privilegio. VOYAGE OF ANTHONY CHESTER To Virginia in the year 1620, as narrated by a distinguished passenger; translated into Dutch and published by Peter Vander Aa, bookseller at Leyden, in 1707. In the beginning of February 1620 I left England in the ship Margaret & John, our ship was of 160 ton burden, our Captain was Anthony Chester a brave seaman. Besides the crew we had on board a good many passengers of whom I was one, our ship carried 8 cannon with a valconet, our destination was Virginia where we hoped to transact some profitable business. _____________________________________________________ *The index is omitted in the present translation. ---------- TWO TRAGICAL EVENTS 205 About the 14th of March we came in about 20 miles off Mettalina; the next day we passed Dominica and neared Guadaloupe where we intended to take in fresh water. Nearing this place we observed two vessels lying at anchor which we took to be Hollanders, not only because the ships were built after the model of that nation, but more so because the Admiral had the Dutch flag flying from the mizzenmast. Expecting no harm we kept straight on & anchored in their immediate vicinity; but so as not to be taken by surprise we sent some sailors in a boat towards the Admiral's ship to reconnoitre, who returned in a very short time with the report that they were two Spanish men of war. Notwithstanding this we sent the boat out a second time to make a more thorough investigation while we commenced busying ourselves to make things ready in case it should come to a fight. But our ship was so full of household goods that we could not place our cannon as we wanted to, and so we had to make out the best we could. Upon our boat reaching the Vice Admiral's ship our men inquired from whence the ship, but instead of receiving a polite reply the Spaniards demanded their surrender which of course our men declined and rowed back to our ship as rapidly as possible. Meanwhile several shots were fired at them striking and breaking some of their oars, but not a man of them was hurt. When within about a musket shot frm our ship, there were fired at from a big cannon, and as soon as our men were on board of our ship, the Spaniards hoisted sail preparatory to attack us. We on our part anticipated a bloody encounter and were much troubled by our inability to properly place our guns for reason mentioned above. The Vice Admiral approached us with gread rapidity, and in passing greeted us with a broadside which we ignored altogether, as our aim was to save ourselves by flight rather than risk an unequal contest with two such powerful vessels. The Spaniard however gave us no chance for flight, so that we found we had to choose between two evils, either to fight desperately or to surrender ourselves into slavery. In this manner we were forced into a fight, ad we attacked the Spaniard so bravely and fought as heroes or rather as madmen and played upon them with out muskets and 4 cannon so furiously that they were forced to leave us the victory, taking to flight and returning to their former anchor- ---------- 206 WILLIAM AND MARY COLLEGE QUARTERLY. age. As soon as the Spanish Admiral saw this he took down the Dutch flag and hoisted the Spanish colors weighed anchor and sailed towards us, but before firing upon us they spoke us enguiring what nationality we were, we replied we were English and had no intention of harming them unless we were forced to do so and that it was our desire to proceed peacefully on our voyage. Hereupon, the Spaniard demanded that we take down our mainsail which according to him was required by the rights of the King of Spain and marine usage, whereupon our Captain replied that he could not subject himself to any such rights nor did he intend to harm the subjects of the King of Spain. While friendly relations existed between ther respective sovereigns he wished the same to exist between their subjects. After exchanging a few more words, our Captain went down in the cabin, tired of listening any longer to the unjust demands of this Spaniard, but at the request of the Admiral our Captain came again on deck and was ordered to come on board the Admiral's ship to show his papers, but this our Captain refused to do saying if they wished to see them they could come on board his ship and he would show them his papers. But what happens? Instead of answering by word of mouth, they saluted us with two pieces of cannon and a hail storm of musket balls, drew their swords, threatened to cut us to pieces, and calling us dogs, grappled us and thought they had subdued us already, when, at a sign previously agreed upon, our men sprang forward with their muskets and received them so well, supported by our 4 pieces of cannon, that they had to retreat. It was not long though before they returned attacking us with a loud noise, grappled us again, and began to come on board our ship but our men led by our brave and courageous Captain received them so well with their muskets, spears, and grappling axes that we drove them off a second time sending many of them to a watery grave. This, however, did not satisfy the Spaniard, they attacked and grappled us a third time and during the fierce hand to hand fight, which now ensued, we had the good luck to shoot their Admiral down upon which they raised such a hue and cry that it astonished all of us, and they immediately took to flight leaving us the victory. In this fierce and bloody encounter we, for reasons mentioned before, could not bring but 4 of our 8 cannon into use, but these ---------- TWO TRAGICAL EVENTS 207 were handled so rapidly and skillfully that several times the Spaniard would have gotten away from us but for their ship being lashed to ours until finally one of our men, with orders from our Captain, cut the ropes with his grappling axe upon which they immediately took flight giving us several volleys from their big and small guns as they retreated. The Vice Admiral, seeing we did not pursue his Admiral, acted as if he wanted to fight us again, but we did not mind him much, and set to work to face them both if they were so inclined. But the admiral's ship held off and we now attacked the Vice Admiral so furiously that we disabled his ship to such an extent that the whole crew had to take to shore to save themselves from a watery grave. The night following this battle, all on board our ship, passengers as well as crew, were busy filling cartridges, cleaning cannons and muskets repairing damages etc. so as to be ready in case the Spaniard should feel inclinced to attack us again, and by dawn of day it looked as if we had not been working all night in vain, the Spaniards seemingly preparing to attack us again. However, after looking at each other for about two hours with frowning faces, the Spaniard hoisted sail and took their course towards the nearest island, their movements being such that it was plain that they must have had a good many dead and wounded. On our side we had 8 dead,* and of the 16 wounded 2 died afterwards; how many of the Spaniards were killed we never knew but certain it is that during the encounters we saw many of them fall and not a few find their grave in the water which was actually red with their blood. The Admiral's ship was of 300 ton burden, carried 22 big gun and was well supplied with men and ammunition; the Vice Ad- __________________________________________________________ *Among the dead was Dr. Lawrence Bohun, who was educated "among the most learned surgeons and physitians in the Netherlands." He came to Virginia with Lord Delaware in 1610. December 13, 1620, being in London, he was appointed by the London Company physician general to the colony; and soon after he sailed for Virginia on the Margaret and John with Captain Anthony Chester. During the battle Dr. Bohun received a mortal wound. Capt. Chester embraced him and exclaimed, "Oh! Dr. Bohun, what a disaster is this." The noble Doctor replied, "Fight it out, brave man, the cause is good, and Lord receive my soul." (Brown's Genesis U. S., II., p. 830.) ---------- 208 WILLIAM AND MARY COLLEGE QUARTERLY. miral's ship was also of 300 ton burden and carried 16 big guns with a correspondingly ample supply of men and ammunition; on the other hand ours was a small ship, as stated before, with 8 big guns of which we could only use 4, notwithstanding which we were so fortunate as to come out victorious. We now proceeded on our voyage and landed without further accidents in Virginia. Soon thereafter Captain Chester obtained a return cargo and set sail again for England. It is not my purpose to give a description of the country and its inhabitants; this has been done by the invincible and courageous John Smith in his Voyages in such a way that it cannot be improved upon. From the beginning that our people settled in Virginia, they have been subjected to a great many adversities, difficulties and hard labor; but what I wish to relate here has been one of the greatest setbacks they ever could have encountered, for the devil had through the medium of the priests such an influence upon the natives that they only waited for a good opportunity to extirpate the foreigners. In order to accomplish this Powhatan, King of the savages, succeeded in closing a treaty with the English by which he and his subjects promised to be faithful subjects of the King of England, in gratitude of which they offered to pay a yearly tribute. These articles of peace were engraved in copper and fastened to an oak tree close by the residence of King Powhatan, while both parties were greatly rejoiced over the success of closing this treaty. The savages were rejoiced, because they found the English too powerful to successfully resist and also because now the English were to defend them against attack of hostile tribes; the aim of the English was to obtain by means of this treaty a better and safer opportunity to inspect and conquer the country.* This treaty lasted uninterruptedly for quite a while and both parties adhered to the terms of it so well that our people went among them unarmed and the Savages became so friendly that they often visited the English and dined with them which compliment the English frequently returned hoping by these means to reform the savages and induce them to embrace the Christian religion. __________________________________________________________ *On the marriage of Pocahontas to John Rolfe, in 1614, a general peace with the Indians had ensued. ---------- TWO TRAGICAL EVENTS 209 For some reasons, best known to the English government, in March 1622 the King of England had to remind King Powhatan* of the articles of the treaty of peace existing between them, in answer to which King Powhatan said that he would prefer seeing the country turned upside down rather than break a single article of the treaty, but, as will be proved later on, this conduct of the savages was nothing by hypocrisy and deceit, they only awaiting a favorable opportunity to kill out the English. Several days before this bloodthirsty people put their plan into execution, they led some of our people through very dangerous woods into a place from which they could not extricate themselves without the aid of a guide, others of us who were among them to learn their language were in a friendly way persuaded to return to our colony, while new comers were treated in an exceedingly friendly manner. On Friday before the day appointed for the massacre had arrived, a number of the savages visited many of our people in their dwellings, and while partaking with them of their meal the savages, at a given signal, drew their weapons and fell upon us murdering and killing everybody they could reach sparing neither women nor children, as well inside as outside the dwellings. In this attack 347 of the English of both sexes and all ages were killed. Simply killing our people did not satisfy their inhuman nature, they dragged the dead bodies all over the country, tearing them limb from limb, and carrying the pieces in triumph around. The valiant and noble gentleman George Thorpe,+ one of the most influential among the English then in Virginia, took a ___________________________________________________________ * Opechancanough is meant; Powhatan died in April, 1618. + George Thorpe, Esq., was the son of Nicholas Thorpe, of Wanswell Court, Gloucestershire, by his first wife, May Wikes, alias Mason, neice of Sir John Mason, a councillor of State, and was a grandson of Thomas Thorpe and Margaret Throckmorton. In 1618, he formed a partnership with his kiknsmen and connections, Sir William Throckmorton, John ---------- 210 WILLIAM AND MARY COLLEGE QUARTERLY. great interest in these savages, and embraced every opportunity that presented itself to speak to them about the Christian religion, and was either held in such high esteem or so feared by the Indians that they would apparently not harm him in any way whatever. In fact, they submitted to punishment for misbehavior if Mr. Thorpe deemed such a course necessary. Mr. Thorpe in order to befriend King Powhatan [i.e., Opechancanough] as much as possible caused a good substantial house to be built for him, of which the King was very proud, in place of his hut built of mats and straw; he was particularly pleased with the locks and keys, amusing himself frequently for an hour or more at a time locking and unlocking the doors; by these means Mr. ____________________________________________________________ Smith, of Nibley, and Richard Berkeley, to found "a new Berkeley" in Virginia. He was a manager of the college lands and a great friend of the Indians. He was twice married, first to Margaret, daughter of Sir Thomas Porter, on July 11, 1600, who died s. p.; and secondly to Margaret, daughter of David Harris, who died in 1629. Their son, William Thorpe, was also twice married, his first wife (married in 1636) being Ursula, daughter of John Smith, of Nibly. There was a Richard Thorpe, who died in York county, Va., in 1660, who mentions his sons Richard and George, wife Elizabeth and kinsman Major Otho Thorpe. These sons probably died unmarried, as the will of Richard Thorpe, of Marston Parish, dated March 12, 1669, gives all his estate to his father-in-law (step-father), Otho Thorpe. The widow Elizabeth Thorpe, when about to marry Otho Thorpe, made a deed to her sons Richard and George Thorpe. Major Othor Thorpe was a justice of York county and a Major of Militia. He suffered severe losses during Bacon's Rebellion. He married three times, first Elizabeth, widow of Richard Thorpe; secondly Dorothy, widow of Samual Fenn, who died October 27, 1675, and thirdly, Frances ________, who survived him, and married John Annesley, Gent., of Westminster, England. Major Thorpe appears to have died without issue in the parish of All-Hallows-the-Wall, London, giving his property to his nephew Capt. Thomas Thorpe, niece Hannah Thorpe and cousin John Grice. Capt. Thorpe died October 7, 1693, aged forty-eight, and his tombstone is in Bruton Church-yard. He probably left no children, since in a deed in 1699 Hannah Thorpe, who married John Pell, a cooper of London, calls herself Major Otho Thorpe's "right and lawful heir." Nevertheless, Robert Beverley, in behalf of Harry Beverley, petitioned in 1710 for a caveat against a patent for lands in Essex to the orphans of a Thomas Thorpe, deceased. (Calendar of State Papers, Vo.. X, p. 142.) There is a tombstone of Thomas Thorpe in King and Queen, and he was probably one of these orphans (son of Thomas Thorpe). (See Quarterly, IX., p. 168.) Otho Thorpe, of Virginia, was certainly the Othor Thorpe who was baptized in the parish of St. Martins-in-the-Fields on August ---------- TWO TRAGICAL EVENTS 211 Thorpe tried to win the friendship and confidence of the King and his subjects, embracing every opportunity to speak on religious topics, until finally the King confessed that he had come to the conclusion that the God whom the English worshipped was mightier and far superior to the gods they served; for he said, the God of the English had done him more good than all his gods combined, upon which Mr. Thorpe answered that if he and his subjects would be converted to the Christian religion, they would receive many more and much greater blessings. __________________________________________________________ 16, 1606. He died in 1686-'87. The Thorpe entries in the register establish his relationship with Capt. George Thorpe, of the text. This latter had an Indian lad whom he had trained to learning. He copied the draft of the patent of Berkeley Hundred sent to the Governor Sir George Yardley. Among the burials reported in the parish register of St. Martins-in-the-Field is George Thorp, homo Virginiae, Sept. 27, 1619. FROM THE REGISTER OF THE PARISH OF ST. MARTIN'S-IN-THE-FIELDS, COUNTY MIDDLESEX, ENGLAND. Gulielmus Thorpe, buried June 18, 1567. Joannes Thorpe and Rebecca Greene, married Sept. 15, 1592. Elizabeth Thorpe, baptized May 30, 1593. Maria Thorpe, baptized November 24, 1594. Rebecca Thorpe, baptized January 25, 1595. Katherine Thorpe, baptized December 11, 1597. Gulielmus Thorpe, baptized November 7, 1600. Thomas Thorpe, baptized June 23, 1598. Mr. George Thorpe and Mrs. Margaret Porter, married July 11, 1600. Johannis Thorpe, baptized January 28, 1601. Johannis Thorpe, buried March 26, 1602. Richard Thorpe, baptized, October 6, 1603. Rebecca Thorpe, buried June 22, 1604. Johannis Thorpe and Margarett Ann Sherry, married Sept. 16, 1605. Otho Thorpe, baptized August 16, 1606. Rebecca fil. Johnnis, baptized December 27, 1608. Ellina Tharp, fil John, baptized July 30, 1611. John Lynch and Elizabeth Thorp, married Sept. 27, 1611. Richard Thorp, buried March 2, 1614. Margaret Thorp, baptized February 13, 1613. Infans George Thorp, buried January 12, 1617. Georgius Thorp, baptized September 10, 1619. Rebecca Thorp, buried April 7, 1617. Richard Thorp, Gen., buried June 3, 1619. Georgius Thorp, homo Virginiae, buried September 27, 1619. ---------- 212 WILLIAM AND MARY COLLEGE QUARTERLY The result of Mr. Thorpe's efforts was that the King and his subjects began to show much inclination to embrace the Christian religion, from which the English expected much good, but it was not long before they found out that the savages were false and great hypocrites, for in the general massacre mentioned heretofore even Mr. Thorpe was not spared though he could have saved his life by flight. An hour before his death he was warned of the danger by one of his Indian servants who had embraced the Christian religion, but he had such faith in these savages that he remained at his post; his servant though was more prudent and fled to Jamestown, a place fortified by the English to protect themselves against the attacks of the Indians. At the time of this massacre a party of Indians embarked in four boats for Jamestown, with the intention of attacking and murdering the English in this town and the surrounding country, but this hellish plan was frustrated by the disclosure of the project by a converted Indian* in the employ of a Mr. Pace; on the night preceding the contemplated attack two Indians, brothers, who had embraced the Christian religion, one in the employ of a Mr. Perry,+ the other in the employ of a Mr. Pace,++ on retiring for the night discussed the plan of murdering their masters and by thus doing assist and please their King Powhatan and thus also to aid the massacring party who were to arrive the following day by order of King Powhatan to murder all the settlers. Apparently the plan as discussed by the two brothers was agreed upon, but the Indian in the employ of Mr. Pace arose early in the morning while his brother was yet asleep and repairing to his master's residence disclosed to him the entire murderous plan, for he regarded and loved Mr. Pace as a father while Mr. Pace loved this Indian as a son. Mr. Pace was not slow in heeding the warning, at once placing his residence in a state of defence; and hastily rowed in a canoe across the river to Jamestown to notify __________________________________________________________ *Chanco. +Capt. William Perry, of the Council, who afterwards married Isabella, the widow of Richard Pace. He afterwards lived at Buckland, in Charles City county, and died in 1637, leaving a son, Capt. Henry Perry. ++Richard Pace lived at Pace's Pains with Capt. William Perry, distant four miles from Jamestown, on the south side of the river. He left a son, George Pace. ---------- TWO TRAGICAL EVENTS 213 the Governor of the impending danger. Hardly had we completed our defensive preparations when the boats bearing the savages hove in sight, but as soon as we opened fire upon them with our muskets they retreated in a cowardly manner. By mercy of the Lord who had moved the heart of this converted Indian to give us timely warning the lives of more than a thousand of our people, of whom I was one, were spared. About a year previous to the event just narrated King Opechankanough had made strenuous efforts to obtain from another Indian King, whose land was very fertile in poisonous herbs, a large quantity of poison with the intention to therewith exterminate the English, but neither presents nor threats could induce this King to accede to the demands of Opechankanough.* In regard to the reason of this murderous attack of the Indians upon the English there is considerable difference of opinion; some say that a certain Indian by the name of Nemaltenow, by the English named Jack-of-the-Feather, who was looked upon by the Indians as supernatural, had induced a certain Englishman, by the name of Morgan, to go with him to Pamunkey to barter his wares, and Morgan not returning after the lapse of a reasonable time his friends investigated the matter and found that he had been murdered by this Indian, whereupon they took Nemaltenow prisoner and brought him before Mr. Thorpe to be dealt with according to his misdeed; on the way thither, however, the Indian escaped from his captors, and being unable to overtake him they shot him dead. This occurrence enraged King Opechankenough so that they say he swore to revenge the death of this Indian upon the English on the first favorable opportunity; but my opinion is that their heathen priests, who are the tools of the devil, were constantly working upon the credulity and ignorance of this people to make them believe that the English had come to exterminate them in the same way as the Spaniard had done in other parts of the West Indies, and to prevent this the murderous attack was decided upon and brought into execution. When the occurrence of this massacre became known in the mother country, the English were ordered to take revenge by destroying with fire and sword everything of the Indians; conse- _________________________________________________________ *The Indian meant was probably the "Laughing King" of Accomac, a firm friend of the English. ---------- 214 WILLIAM AND MARY COLLEGE QUARTERLY. quently they set out for Pamunkey, destroyed both the houses and crops of the Indians, took Opechankenough prisoner and shot him on the very place where his house stood before it was burned down. On this spot the English then built a new town.* By these means the Indians became bery much subdued and lived in contant dread of the English. The English in the meantime became thereafter more prudent in their dealings with the Indians. Moreover, the King of England sent from his arsenals all sorts of weapons and ammunition and ordered his subjects to more and more cultivate the land and bring the Indians into submission. _________________________________________________ *Opechancanough's town, Pamunkey, was situated at the junction of the Pamunkey and the Mattaponi. In June, 1623, Capt. William Tucker, with twelve others, were sent in a shallop under pretense of making peace with Opechancanough. The whites treacherously shot forty Indians, including three of the chiefs, and they flattered themselves that Opechancanough was one of them. But they were in error, for the chief survived for many years, and lived to inflict another massacre in 1644. In 1646, he was captured by Sir William Berkeley at the head of a party of horse, and was taken to Jamestown. Here he was shot by a soldier through the back. In 1629, Col. William Claiborne landed a detachment near the site of the Pamunkey town, and defeated the Indians at Candayack, which he afterwards patented. In 1661 he removed to the vicinity, and lived at Romancoke. But previous to this Capt. John West had removed to the vicinity, and on Herman's map of Virginia the settlement at the site of the old Pamunkey town is called Delaware. It was afterwards named West Point. Up the Pamunkey river, some miles above West Point, a fragment of the old Pamunkey tribe is still resident.