Template:Wp-Raid on Deerfield

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The 1704 Raid on Deerfield (also known as the Deerfield Massacre) occurred during Queen Anne's War on February 29 when French and Native American forces under the command of Jean-Baptiste Hertel de Rouville attacked the English frontier settlement at Deerfield, Massachusetts, just before dawn. They burned part of the town and killed 47 villagers. The raiders left with 112 settlers as captives, whom they took overland the nearly 300 miles to Montreal. Some died or were killed along the way because they couldn't keep up. Some 60 persons were later ransomed by family and community. Others were adopted by Mohawk families at Kahnawake and became assimilated into the tribe. In this period, the English and their Indian allies were involved in similar raids against French villages along the northern area between the spheres of influence.

Typical of the small-scale frontier conflict in Queen Anne's War, the French-led raid relied on a coalition of French soldiers and a variety of about 300 Indian warriors, mostly Abenaki (from what is now Maine), but including Huron (Wyandot) from Lorette, Mohawk from Kahnawake (both mission villages), and a number of Pocumtuc who had once lived in the Deerfield area. Given the diversity of personnel, motivations, and material objectives, the raiders did not achieve full surprise when they entered the palisaded village. The defenders of some fortified houses in the village successfully held off the raiders until arriving reinforcements prompted their retreat. However, the raid was a clear victory for the French coalition that aimed to take captives and unsettle English colonial frontier society. More than 100 captives were taken, and about 40 percent of the village houses were destroyed.

Although predicted because of existing tensions during the war, the raid shocked New England colonists. Conflict increased with the French and their Native American allies. Frontier settlements took actions to fortify their towns and prepare for war. The raid has been immortalized as a part of the early American frontier story, principally due to the published account by a prominent captive, the Rev. John Williams, who was the principal leader of the village. He and much of his family were taken on the long overland journey to Canada. His seven-year-old daughter Eunice was adopted by a Mohawk family; she became assimilated, married a Mohawk man, and had a family with him. Williams's account, The Redeemed Captive, was published in 1707 soon after his release, and was widely popular in the colonies. It became part of the genre known as captivity narratives.