Anglo-Powhatan Wars
The Anglo-Powhatan Wars were three wars fought be-
tween English settlers of the Virginia Colony, and Indians
of the Powhatan Confederacy in the early seventeenth
century. The First War started in 1610, and ended in a
peace settlement in 1614.[1] Another war between the two
powers lasted from 1622 to 1626. The third war lasted
from 1644 until 1646, and ended when Opechancanough
was captured and killed. That war resulted in a boundary
being dened between the Indians and English lands that
could only be crossed for ocial business with a special
pass. This situation would last until 1677 and the Treaty
of Middle Plantation, which established Indian reserva-
tions following Bacons Rebellion.
1 Early conict
Complications with natives typically resulted at most of
the settlements the English tried to establish from the
beginning. The failed Roanoke colony marked the rst
contact between English settlers and Algonquian coastal
tribes in North Carolina. As early as 1585 an elder by
the name of Richard Hakluyt bluntly stated the English
Position for the new colony: The ends of they voyage
[to America] are these: 1.to plant Christian religion 2.to
Tracke 3.to conquer.[2]
The rst permanent English settlement, Jamestown, Vir-
ginia (May 1607), was within the territory of the powerful
yet still expanding chiefdom of Wahunsunacawh (known
to the English as Chief Powhatan).[3] The Jamestown lo-
cation was less than successful, because the conditions
of this swampy area were far less than desirable , in-
cluding: polluted water, signicant amount of insects
that carried disease, and soon, the lack of food supply.
Jamestown, and the other colonies to be established in the
New World were dependent on natives for a successful
settlement.
Captain John Smith, a colonial leader, imagined that
someday the Virginia Indians would be doing all the
work for the English,[2] but Powhatan envisioned some-
thing dierent: he wanted Smith and the colonists to for-
sake the swamp and instead live in one of his satellite
towns called Capahosick where they would make metal
tools for him in exchange for full provision.[4] However,
Smith underestimated the power of the Virginia Indians
and what they were capable of, as they knew the land
much better than the English. In December 1607, only
seven months after building the fort on Jamestown Island,
Smith, while reconnoitering the countryside near Orapax,
1
one of Powhatans capitals, was captured by a communal
hunting party led by Opechancanough. Smith much later
in life claimed that during his captivity, Pocahontas had
dramatically saved him from Powhatans clubs, but his-
torians dier as to whether or not this was propaganda,
or an actual native ritual. Smiths capture represented
just an example of the diplomatic strategies employed
by Wahunsunacawh to make the English cooperate with
and contribute to his expanding control in this region.[2]
Smith was released in time for New Years 1608, when he
promised to move the colony to Capahosick. Smith had
convinced the grand chief that he was the son of Cap-
tain Newport, and that Newport was their head weroance
(tribal chief).
Relations between the two peoples began deteriorating
again in late 1608, when the starving colonists began to
strong-arm some supplies of corn from the natives, who
had likewise had a bad harvest. Smiths contacts with ri-
val tribes around the Chesapeake Bay in the summer, and
Captain Christopher Newport's military expedition to the
Monacan country that fall, had not helped matters.
By spring 1609, the local Paspahegh tribe had resumed
raiding the English fort at Jamestown. However, their
weroance, Wowinchopunk, declared an uneasy truce af-
ter he was captured and escaped, and as a result some
colonists were even allowed to board in Indian towns.
Then Smith, who had become president of the colony the
preceding fall, antagonized the Powhatan further in sum-
mer 1609, by attempting to establish new forts in their
territory. First he sent a party with Captain John Martin
to settle in Nansemond territory. When they could not
purchase the island with their temple, Martin ransacked
it and the burial platforms of their weroances, and oc-
cupied it by force, which was not well received. Later
he abandoned the position after 17 of his men, disobey-
ing orders, were wiped out while trying to buy corn at the
Kecoughtan village (now Hampton, Virginia). Smith also
sent 120 men with Francis West to build a fort far upriver,
at the falls of the James, right above the main town of the
Powhatan proper (and the present site of Richmond, Vir-
ginia); Smith purchased the site from Wahunsunacawhs
son, Parahunt, but this ended up faring no better.
Smith was then injured in an accidental gunpowder ex-
plosion, deposed as president, and sailed to England on
October 4, 1609, and the colony began to starve. Soon
afterward, the settlers succeeded in establishing a second
fortication, Fort Algernon at Old Point Comfort, right
beside the Kecoughtan village.
2 3 THE PEACE OF POCAHONTAS

In November, the Powhatan ambushed and killed Cap- killing them.

tain John Ratclie, who had gone to Orapax to buy corn. In May 1611, a new governor, Sir Thomas Dale, arrived
Francis West sailed to the Patawomecks, a fringe group and soon began looking for places to establish new settle-
among Powhatans subjects, for corn, but beheaded two ments; he was repulsed by the Nansemonds, but success-
of them, then absconded directly to England. fully took an island in the James from the Arrohattocs,
Unable to trade with the natives, the English began which became the palisaded 'cittie' of Henricus, despite
to starve to death, to the point that when Sir Thomas raids there led by the renegade warrior Nemattanew, or
Gates arrived in late May 1610, he decided to evacuate as they dubbed him, 'Jack of the Feather'.
Jamestown. However, on their second day of sailing, they Around Christmas 1611, Dale and his men seized the Ap-
met Lord de la Warr (Francis Wests older brother) com- pomattoc town at the mouth of their river, and quickly
ing into the Bay with the remnant of his eet, which had palisaded o the neck of land, renaming it 'New Bermu-
left England one year earlier, but been scattered in a hur- das.
ricane. They therefore returned to the fort under de la
Warrs command. The aged chief Powhatan made no major response to this
English expansion, and he seems to have been losing ef-
The nobleman, Lord de la Warr, proved far harsher and fective control to his younger brother Opechancanough
more belligerent toward the Indians than any of his pre- during this time, while the English consolidated their new
decessors, and his solution was simply to engage in wars footholds.
of conquest against them, rst sending Gates to drive o
the Kecoughtan from their village on July 9, then giving In December 1612, Argall concluded peace with the
Chief Powhatan the ultimatum of either returning all En- Patawomeck; while there in April 1613, he managed
glish subjects and property, or facing war. Powhatan re- to capture the great chief Powhatans own daughter,
sponded by insisting that the English either stay in their Pocahontas, delivered into his hands by Japazaws, brother
fort, or leave Virginia. Enraged, De la Warr had the of the Patawomeck weroance. This caused an immediate
hand of a Paspahegh captive cut o and sent him to the ceasere from the Powhatan raids on the English, as they
paramount chief with another ultimatum: Return all En- held her ransom for peace. In the meantime, English set-
glish subjects and property, or the neighboring villages tlers had begun to expand to south of the rivers, building
would be burned. This time, Powhatan did not even re- houses at City Point in what is now Hopewell, Virginia.
spond. In early 1609, Jamestown Island had been the only ter-
ritory under English control. By the end of this period,
the Powhatan had lost much of their riverfront property
2 First Anglo-Powhatan War along the James to the English conquest; the Kicough-
tan and Paspehegh subtribes had been eectively de-
The First AngloPowhatan War, between the Powhatan stroyed, and the settlers had made major inroads among
and the English colonists, lasted from 1610 to 1614.[5] the lands of the Weyanoke, Appomattoc, Arrohattoc, and
Powhatan proper. Two James river tribes, the Arrohat-
On August 9, 1610, tired of waiting for a response from toc and Quiockohannock are not heard from again after
Powhatan, De la Warr sent George Percy with 70 men this, possibly indicating that they had been dispersed or
to attack the Paspahegh capital, burning the houses and merged with the other chiefdoms.[6]
cutting down their cornelds. They killed 65 to 75, and
captured one of Wowinchopunks wives and her children.
Returning downstream, the English threw the children
overboard, and shot out their Braynes in the water. The 3 The Peace of Pocahontas
queen was put to the sword in Jamestown. The Paspa-
hegh never recovered from this attack, and abandoned
their town. Another small force sent with Samuel Argall Peace negotiations stalled over return of captured
against the Warraskoyaks found that they had already ed, hostages and arms for nearly a year; nally in March
but he destroyed their abandoned village and cornelds as 1614, Dale went with Pocahontas (Matoaka) and a large
well. force to nd Powhatan himself. Getting a shower of ar-
rows at present-day West Point, they went ashore and
Following these attacks, and the oense of killing royal sacked the town; nding Powhatan at his new capital
women and children, both sides now found themselves at Matchcot. They nally concluded a peace that was sealed
war. That fall, a party of Englishmen was ambushed at by the marriage of Pocahontas to the colonist John Rolfe.
Appomattoc; soon afterward Lord de la Warr managed This was the rst known inter-racial union in Virginia,
to establish a company of men at the falls of the James, and helped usher in a brief period of better relations
who stayed there all winter. between the Indians and the newcomers. A separate
In February 1611, Wowinchopunk was killed in a skir- peace was concluded the same year with the autonomous
mish near Jamestown, which his followers revenged a few Chickahominy tribe which even made them honorary
days later by enticing some colonists out of the fort and Englishmen, thus subjects of King James I.

Following the 1614 marriage of Rolfe and Pocahon-
tas, relative peace and good relations reigned for sev-
eral years. This time has been called the golden age
of Powhatan-English relations, in English eyes.[7] It has
also been called the peace of Pocahontas.[8][9]
In 1616, when Governor Dale had gone to England along
with Pocahontas, the Chickahominy refused to pay their
corn tribute to the new governor (George Yeardley), re-
jected their alliance with the English, and instead nally
became a part of Chief Powhatans Confederacy.
Following Chief Powhatans death in 1618, his younger
brother Opechancanough assumed full power, being their
middle brother Opitchapam the new mamanatowick, and
Nemattanew continued to be a prominent gure alongside
him.
4 Second Anglo-Powhatan War
Opechancanough maintained a friendly face to the
colony, and nally even met with an English minister to
give the appearance of his imminent conversion to Chris-
tianity. Then on Friday, March 22, 1622, his subjects,
planted among the settlements, struck without warning,
in what is now known as the Indian Massacre of 1622.[10]
A third of the colony were wiped out that day; were it
not for last minute warnings by Christianized natives, a Anchored at its center by Middle Plantation on land
higher toll would have been certain.
Powhatan military doctrine did not call for an immedi- in the following extract from a letter written in 1634, from
ate follow-up blow, but rather to wait and see what would Jamestown, by Captain Thomas Yonge:
happen after inicting such a blow, in hopes that the set-
tlement would simply abandon their homeland and move
on elsewhere. However, English military doctrine did
not call for reacting this way. For the next ten years,
they marched out nearly every summer and made assaults
on Powhatan settlements. The Accomac and Patawom-
eck allied with the English, providing them corn, while
the English went to plunder villages and cornelds of the
Chickahominy, Nansemond, Warraskoyack, Weyanoke
and Pamunkey in 1622. In 1623 Opechancanough sued
for peace. The colonists thus arranged to meet the na-
tives for a peace agreement, but poisoned their wine, then
fell upon them shooting them and killing many in revenge
for the massacre. They then attacked the Chickahominy,
the Powhatan proper, the Appomattoc, Nansemond and
Weyanoke.
In 1624 both sides were ready for a major battle; the
Powhatans, Opitchapam leading their force, assembled
800 bowmen, arrayed against only 60 Englishmen, who
attempted to destroy the Powhatans cornelds. When the
Englishmen nally succeeded in destroying the cornelds,
the bowmen gave up the ght and retreated.
A shortage of gunpowder in the colony delayed the
colonists from going on marches in 1625 and 1626.
The natives seem not to have been aware of this short-
age, and were themselves desperately trying to regroup.
3
However, summer 1627 brought renewed assaults against
the Chickahominy, Appamattoc, Powhatan proper, War-
raskoyak, Weyanoke and Nansemond.
A 'peace' was declared in 1628, but it was more like a
temporary ceasere; hostilities resumed in March 1629
and continued until a nal peace was made on September
30, 1632. The English began to expand their settlements
on the Eastern Shore and both sides of the James, as well
as on the south of the York, and in 1633, they palisaded
o the peninsula between the York and James at about
Williamsburg. By 1640 they began claiming land north
of the York as well, and in 1642, Opechancanough leased
some land on the Piankatank to English settlers for the
price of 50 bushels of corn a year.
5 Palisade
By 1634, a palisade (stockade) was completed across the
Virginia Peninsula, which was about 6 miles (9.7 km)
wide at that point between Queens Creek which fed into
the York River and Archers Hope Creek, (since renamed
College Creek) which fed into the James River. The new
palisade provided some security from attacks by the Vir-
ginia Indians for colonists farming and shing lower on
the Peninsula from that point.
patented by Dr. Potts, the palisade is partially described
a strong palisade ... upon a straight between
both rivers and ... a sucient force of men to
defence of the same, whereby all the lower part
of Virginia have a range for their cattle, near
forty miles in length and in most places twelve
miles (19 km) broad. The pallisades is very
near six miles (10 km) long, bounded in by two
large Creeks. ... in this manner to take also in
all the ground between those two Rivers, and so
utterly excluded the Indians from thence; which
work is conceived to be of extraordinary benet
to the country ...
6 Third Anglo-Powhatan War
After twelve years of peace following the Indian Wars
of 1622-1632, another AngloPowhatan War began on
March 18, 1644, as a last eort by the remnants of the
Powhatan Confederacy, still under Opechancanough, to
dislodge the English settlers of the Virginia Colony.[10]
Around 500 colonists were killed, but that number repre-
sented a relatively low percent of the overall population,
as opposed to the earlier massacre (the 1622 attack had
wiped out a third; that of 1644 barely a tenth). However,
4 9 REFERENCES

Opechancanough, still preferring to use Powhatan tactics, the Blackwater, northwesterly to the Appomattoc village
did not make any major follow-up to this attack. beside Fort Henry, and continuing in the same direction
This was followed by a last eort by the settlers to deci- to the Monocan village above the falls of the James, where
mate the Powhatan. In July, they marched against the Pa- Fort Charles was built, then turning sharp right, to Fort
munkey, Chickahominy, and Powhatan proper; and south Royal on the York (Pamunkey) river. Necotowance thus
of the James, against the Appomattoc, Weyanoke, War- ceded the English vast tracts of still-uncolonized land,
raskoyak, and Nansemond, as well as two Carolina tribes, much of it between the James and Blackwater. English
the Chowanoke and Secotan. settlements on the peninsula north of the York and below
the Poropotank were also allowed, as they had already
In February 1645, the colony ordered the construction of been there since 1640.
three frontier forts: Fort Charles at the falls of the James,
Fort James on the Chickahominy, and Fort Royal at the
falls of the York. In August, Governor William Berke- 7 Result of the Wars
ley stormed Opechancanoughs stronghold and captured
him. All captured males in the village over age 11 were
deported to Tangier Island.[11] Opechancanough, around The wars end ushered in 30 years of relative peace be-
92 years old, was taken to Jamestown where he was shot tween the colonists and the Powhatan, shattered only by
in the back by a guard.[10] Opechancanoughs death re- the attacks of Bacons Rebellion in 1676. This resulted in
sulted in the disintegration of the Powhatan Confederacy the Treaty of Middle Plantation signed by Cockacoeske,
into its component tribes, whom the colonists continued Powhatans matrilineal successor. The treaty set up reser-
to attack. In March 1646, the colony decided to build a vations for each tribe, and allowed them hunting rights
fourth frontier fort, Fort Henry, at the falls of the Appo- outside their reservations. It established that all the Indian
mattox, where the modern city of Petersburg is located. rulers were equal, with the provision that the Queen of
Pomunky was now owed the ancient subjection of sev-
eral scattered groups of Indians.[12]
6.1 Treaty of 1646 Under her next two successors, lands within the original
Pamunkey reservation, which was coterminous with King
William County, Virginia, would be sold to the English,
resulting in the relatively small Pamunkey and Mattaponi
reservations of the present.

8 See also
List of conicts in the United States

History of Virginia

9 References
Red line shows boundary between the Virginia Colony and Trib-
utary Indian tribes, as established by the Treaty of 1646. Red
dot shows Jamestown, capital of Virginia Colony.
In the peace treaty of October 1646, the new weroance,
Necotowance, and the subtribes formerly in the Confed-
eracy, each became tributaries to the King of England.
At the same time, a racial frontier was delineated be-
tween Indian and English settlements, with members of
each group forbidden to cross to the other side except by
special pass obtained at one of the newly erected border
forts. The extent of the Virginia colony open to patent by
English colonists was dened as: All the land between the
Blackwater and York rivers, and up to the navigable point
of each of the major rivers - which were connected by a
straight line running directly from modern Franklin on
[1] First Anglo-Powhatan War (16091614)". Encyclopedia
Virginia. Retrieved 19 April 2017.
[2] Puglisi, Michael J. (1991). Capt. John Smith, Pocahon-
tas and a Clash of Cultures: A Case for the Ethnohistor-
ical Perspective. The History Teacher. 25 (1): 97103.
JSTOR 494612.
[3] Glenn, Keith (1944). Captain John Smith and the Indi-
ans. Virginia Magazine of History and Biography. 52 (4):
228248. JSTOR 4245316.
[4] Helen Rountree, Pocahontass People, p. 38.
[5] Rountree 1990, p. 55n; she notes that while historians
such as Fausz place the beginning in 1609, her 'emphasis
on diplomatic relations would rather date the outbreak of
the full-edged war to 1610.
[6] Rountree, p. 80 n.
 5

[7] Rountree, p.61

[8] Historic Jamestowne National Park Service

[9] [Pocahontas http://teacherlink.ed.usu.edu/tlresources/

units/byrnes-famous/poca.html] Tammy Rodeback

[10] Spencer C. Tucker; James R. Arnold; Roberta Wiener (30

September 2011). The Encyclopedia of North American
Indian Wars, 16071890: A Political, Social, and Military
History. ABC-CLIO. pp. 1719. ISBN 978-1-85109-
697-8. Retrieved 30 March 2013.

[11] A Study of Virginia Indians

[12] 1677 treaty text

10 Further reading
Grenier, John (2005). The First Way of War, Amer-
ican War Making of the Frontier, 1607-1814. New
York: Cambridge University Press. pp. 2425.
ISBN 0521845661.

Rajtar, Steve (1999). Indian War Sites. Jeerson,

NC: McFarland. ISBN 0786407107.

Rountree, Helen (1990). Pocahontass People.

Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN
0806122803.
6 11 TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES

11 Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

11.1 Text
Anglo-Powhatan Wars Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglo-Powhatan_Wars?oldid=776282862 Contributors: Dimadick, Ben-
der235, Hargrimm, LtNOWIS, Woohookitty, Deeahbz, Hfarmer, Tim!, Josiah Rowe, DVdm, Howcheng, SmackBot, Patrickneil, Hmains,
TimBentley, Mitchumch, Jwalte04, ChrisCork, Ioannes Pragensis, Porterjoh, Cydebot, Doug Weller, Dermo69, JamesBWatson, Buck-
shot06, FlieGerFaUstMe262, Drewmutt, JoDonHo, 1812ahill, Hugo999, VolkovBot, Sannita, DesertDave, TXiKiBoT, Bdb484, In-
ternetHero, Deconstructhis, Til Eulenspiegel, Benea, Lightmouse, ClueBot, Solar-Wind, Muro Bot, B'er Rabbit, Heironymous Rowe,
Dthomsen8, Good Olfactory, Addbot, Lysosomal, Tassedethe, Zorrobot, Yobot, Arla, Burgundo, AnomieBOT, Flewis, Materialscientist,
James500, Omnipaedista, JMilty, Sarah1607, Serols, Brian the Editor, Jfmantis, EmausBot, John of Reading, K6ka, Mz7, F, ClueBot NG,
Morgan Riley, Wiki13, Joseon Empire, Khazar2, FoCuSandLeArN, 1SydneyCarton1, Von Paigest, A Great Catholic Person, CAPTAIN
RAJU, Giorgio Traverso Coda, Leschnei, Marianna251, SCOTTPAT64, Sophia251251, Wikishovel, Ramosramos469 and Anonymous:
78

11.2 Images
File:1646linemap.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/59/1646linemap.jpg License: Public domain Contrib-
utors: Transferred from en.wikipedia to Commons by The Bushranger using CommonsHelper. Original artist: Til Eulenspiegel at English
Wikipedia
File:Flag_of_Virginia.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/47/Flag_of_Virginia.svg License: Public domain
Contributors: It is from the xrmap ag collection, specically usa_virginia.svg in ags-2.6-src.tar.bz2. The README le in that collection
says of the SVG ags We release them in the public domain. The blue color has been redone based on vexilla-mundi. Original artist:
Commonwealth of Virginia
File:Question_book-new.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/99/Question_book-new.svg License: Cc-by-sa-3.0
Contributors:
Created from scratch in Adobe Illustrator. Based on Image:Question book.png created by User:Equazcion Original artist:
Tkgd2007

11.3 Content license

Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0