Key Facts
- Date
- August 14–15, 1696
- Soldiers returned to Boston
- 92
- Soldiers killed by Iberville
- 3
- Duration
- 2 days
- Conflict
- King William's War
Strategic Narrative Overview
In August 1696, a French and Native force led by Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville and Baron de St. Castin besieged Fort William Henry at Pemaquid over two days, August 14–15. Commander Captain Pasco Chubb, outnumbered and under pressure, surrendered the fort. Iberville killed three of the garrison and released the remaining 92 soldiers, sending them back to Boston rather than holding them prisoner.
01 / The Origins
King William's War (1689–1697) was the North American theater of the War of the League of Augsburg, pitting English colonial settlements against French New France and their Native allies. The frontier between English Maine and French Acadia was a zone of repeated raids and counter-raids. Pemaquid, a fortified English settlement in present-day Bristol, Maine, stood as a strategic outpost on this contested border.
03 / The Outcome
The fall of Fort William Henry was counted among the most significant French successes of King William's War, eliminating a key English stronghold on the Maine frontier. The defeat prompted New England colonial forces to mount a retaliatory raid against Acadia, continuing the cycle of border warfare that characterized the conflict until the Treaty of Ryswick ended the war in 1697.
Belligerents & Mobilization Analysis
Side A
1 belligerent
Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville, Baron de St. Castin.
Side B
1 belligerent
Captain Pasco Chubb.
Kinetic Engagement Axis
Scroll horizontally to view full axis. Events plotted relatively.