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Battle of Turner's Falls
Part of King Philip's War
IMG 3998 Turner Monument
Marker commemorating the battle
DateMay 19, 1676
Locationpresent-day Gill, Massachusetts
Coordinates: 42°36′46″N 72°32′58″W / 42.612865°N 72.549434°W / 42.612865; -72.549434
Result Colonial victory
Belligerents
Algonquian tribes, principally Nipmuc Massachusetts Bay Colony
Commanders and leaders
William Turner
Strength
60-70 warriors 150
Casualties and losses
100-200, mainly women, children, and elderly 39 killed or captured

The Battle of Turner's Falls, also known as the Peskeompscut massacre, was fought on May 19, 1676, during King Philip's War, in present-day Gill, Massachusetts, near a falls on the Connecticut River. The site is across the river from the village of Turners Falls. A band of English colonists under the command of Captain William Turner fell upon the poorly guarded Indian village of Peskeompscut near the falls at dawn, slaughtering many of its inhabitants. Many of the warriors in the camp escaped, and they regrouped with those from other nearby camps to dispute the English retreat, during which Turner was killed.

There is an extensive account of the battle and the colonists reasons for attacking contained in a book authored by George Madison Bodge and reprinted by the Genealogical Publishing Company in 1967. The account includes a description of the battle, a listing of many of the soldiers who fought with the colonists, the soldiers who were slain in the battle, and soldiers or their descendants who were entitled to land due to their participation in the battle.

The site of the battle is in the Riverside Archeological District, a historic district listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

References[]

  • Schultz, Eric; Tougias, Michael (1999). King Philip's War. Woodstock, VT: The Countryman Press. 

George Madison Bodge, Soldiers in King Philip's War, Being a Critical Account of that War,' Third Edition', Genealogical Publishing Company, Baltimore, 1967.

All or a portion of this article consists of text from Wikipedia, and is therefore Creative Commons Licensed under GFDL.
The original article can be found at Battle of Turner's Falls and the edit history here.
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