History Corner: The Deerfield Massacre: A Surprise Attack, a Forced March, and the Fight for Survival in Early America byJames L. Swanson

 Disclosure / Disclaimer: I received this ebook, free of charge, from Simon & Schuster via Edelweissplus, for review purposes on this blog. No other compensation, monetary or in kind, has been received or implied for this post. Nor was I told how to post about it. All opinions are my own.

In the tradition of the New York Times bestseller Empire of the Summer Moon comes a spellbinding account of a forgotten chapter in American history: the deadly confrontation between Indians and colonists in Massachusetts in 1704 and the tragic saga that unfolded, written by acclaimed historian James Swanson.

Synopsis:

Once it was one of the most infamous events in early American history. Today, it has been nearly forgotten.

In an obscure, two-hundred-year-old museum in a little town in western Massachusetts there stands what once was the most revered relic from the history of early New England: the massive, tomahawk-scarred door that came to symbolize the notorious Deerfield Massacre of 1704. This impregnable barricade—known to early Americans as “The Old Indian Door”—constructed from double-thick planks of Massachusetts oak and studded with hand-wrought iron nails to repel the tomahawk blades wielded by several attacking Native tribes, is the sole surviving artifact from one of the most dramatic moments in colonial American history: In the leap year of 1704, on the cold, snowy night of February 29, hundreds of Indians and their French allies swept down on an isolated frontier outpost to slaughter or capture its inhabitants.

The sacking of Deerfield led to one of the greatest sagas of survival, sacrifice, family, and faith ever told in North America. One hundred and twelve survivors, including their fearless minister, the Reverend John Williams, were captured and forced to march three hundred miles north into enemy territory in Canada. Any captive who faltered or became too weak to continue the journey—including Williams’s own wife—fell under the tomahawk or war club.

Survivors of the march willed themselves to live and endured captivity. Ransomed by the royal governor of Massachusetts, the captives later returned home to Deerfield, rebuilt their town and, for the rest of their lives, told the incredible tale. The memoir of Rev. Williams, The Redeemed Captive, published soon after his liberation, became one of the first bestselling books in American history and remains a literary classic. The Old Indian Door is a touchstone that conjures up one of the most dramatic and inspiring stories of colonial America—and now, at last, this legendary event is brought to vivid life by popular historian James Swanson.

Review:

So we can trace our family lineage back to the early days of New England and Canada, so I thought it would be interesting to take a gander at this book, and see the other side, so to speak, as normally I look at the Native American perspective. The book obviously is leaned more toward the colonists of Deerfield, although it does look at the other side as well. What I found interesting was how some of the children chose to remain with their Native captors, and refused all contact with their families, after the colonists had returned to Deerfield. Swanson does a great job in making the tale more realistic to the modern reader, filling in blank spaces with appropriate theories and comes back around the a look at how the search for freedom came in varied forms for our many ancestors. If you love North Eastern history, you'll want to add this book to your bookshelf.

About the Author:

James L. Swanson is the Edgar Award–winning author of the New York Times bestseller Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln’s Killer and an executive producer of the 2024 Apple TV+ Manhunt series. As a Historic Deerfield Fellow in Early American History, he lived in a pre–Revolutionary War house near the massacre site in Deerfield, Massachusetts.