This at once drew upon him the hostility of the English,
and it was determined to strike a signal blow that should involve
both the Sachems in one common ruin. A great force was therefore
gathered together from Massachusetts, Plymouth, and Connecticut,
and was sent into the Narragansett country in the depth of
winter, when the swamps, being frozen and leafless, could be
traversed with comparative facility and would no longer afford
dark and impenetrable fastnesses to the Indians.
Apprehensive of attack, Canonchet had conveyed the greater part
of his stores, together with the old, the infirm, the women and
children of his tribe, to a strong fortress, where he and Philip
had likewise drawn up the flower of their forces. This fortress,
deemed by the Indians impregnable, was situated upon a rising
mound or kind of island of five or six acres in the midst of a
swamp; it was constructed with a degree of judgment and skill
vastly superior to what is usually displayed in Indian
fortification, and indicative of the martial genius of these two
chieftains.
Guided by a renegado Indian, the English penetrated, through
December snows, to this stronghold and came upon the garrison by
surprise. The fight was fierce and tumultuous.
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