1689 battle between Native Americans, and English colonials, outside the town of Falmouth (present day Portland, Maine, USA)
An early colonial engagement in King William's War, marking conflict between French-allied Native Americans and English settlers near present-day Portland, Maine.
Key Facts
- Date
- September 21, 1689
- Conflict
- King William's War
- Colonial force size
- 160 men
- French-allied warriors spotted
- 700 warriors at Peaks Island
- Settlement size
- 25 families
- Site known today as
- Deering Oaks, Portland, Maine
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
Seven hundred French-allied Native American warriors were spotted near Peaks Island off Falmouth, alarming the small 25-family English settlement. Residents urgently appealed to colonial authorities in Boston, as Maine was then considered part of Massachusetts, prompting dispatch of a protective force of 160 men under Benjamin Church.
On September 21, 1689, Benjamin Church led 160 colonial soldiers, including some Massachusetts Bay Colony-allied native fighters, in a engagement at Brackett's Wood outside Falmouth. Church had received advance intelligence from a captive woman held aboard a Dutch merchant vessel that French-allied Indians were planning an attack on the settlement.
The battle took place at Brackett's Wood, a site on a farm owned by the local garrison commander, today known as Deering Oaks in Portland, Maine. The engagement was part of the broader King William's War, representing ongoing armed conflict between French-allied Native Americans and English colonial settlers along the Maine frontier.
Belligerents & Mobilization Analysis
Side A
1 belligerent
Benjamin Church.
Side B
1 belligerent