1622 Detail

March 22, 1622 - The Indian Massacre of 1622 occurs when Chief Opechancanough and the Powhatan Confederacy tried to rid the colony of settlers. One third of the colony at the time, three hundred people, were killed.

No matter the House of Burgesses that had been founded only three years earlier and their attempts to find common ground with the Powhatan Confederacy that effectively surrounded them, the nine hundred or so settlers within the fort or on plantations and small farms that surrounded it were always at jeopardy. At their height, the Powhatan Confederacy had twenty-five thousand people in thirty Algonquian speaking tribes, each led by their own chief. Most of these tribes never wanted the English to be on their land. Their efforts to coexist for the last fifteen years had lost the patience of one of their leaders, Chief Opechancanough, who headed a tribe along the Pamunkey River. He was probably the brother, or half-brother, of Wahunsenaca (Chief Powhatan), the father of Pocahontas. Chief Powhatan had died in 1618, and eventually brother Opechancanough inherited his title of paramount chief. This chief wanted to go to war. He had never been in favor of the English; it was he who had captured John Smith, and if not for Pocahontas throwing her body over Smith, and her father, Chief Powhatan putting a stop, Smith would have perished as might the colony.

But what about the peace that had lasted eight years since the marriage of John Rolfe and Pocahontas. The Virginia Company wanted to take advantage of the good publicity that a Christian converted Powhatan chief's daughter, Pocahontas, later known as Rebecca Rolfe, could mean to increased interest in more English coming over the Jamestown. The Rolfe's traveled to England in 1616, toured the country to tout the opportunity, and met with King James I and Queen Anne, plus John Smith. They intended to travel back to Jamestown in 1617, but Pocahontas became ill right after the trip began, was taken back to England, and died. After her father's death the next year, the good will of the marriage ceased to exist.

The 1622 Attack

Chief Opechancanough, after his brother's death, became leader of the tribes in the eastern half of Virginia. He had become more and more incensed about the hundreds of tobacco farms and plantations that were springing up along the rivers of Powhatan territory. He and war leader Nemattanew developed the plan for a surprise attack on the tobacco farms and settlements that were outside James Forte. After a settler killed his adviser Nemattanew, Opechancanough quickly ordered an attack on thirty-one plantations and settlements, predominantly along the James River. On March 22, 1622, the plan went into force. They would enter the houses of the settlers on a ruse, with food to trade, then grab utensils inside the house to kill the men, women, and children who lived there. Their attacks spread to Henricus, Wolstenholme Towne, and Martin's Hundred. Seventy-three people were killed at Martin's Hundred alone.

Three hundred forty-seven settlers outside the fort were killed with twenty women captured. That represented one quarter to one third of all English in the Jamestown settlements. An Indian youth named Chauco or Chanco by various accounts, living in the home of Richard Pace, a colonist, had heard of the attacks, and warned Pace to safeguard his family and the fort. The fort increased their defenses.

The young Indian is give credit for saving many lives in a letter from the Virginia Council to the Virginia Company, "one...who had lived much amongst the English, and by revealinge yt pl[ot] To divers appon the day of Massacre, saved theire lives..."

Opechancanough did not attack the fort. The council wanted to realiate, but there were too few men to make a good effort.

Buy Chronology

Jamestown after the Attack

While the council decided to draw together the settlements in order to provide better defense, including the abandonment of the Falling Creek Ironworks, Henricus, and Smith's Hundred, news reached back the England. In the meantime, Opechancanough withdrew his warriors and thought that his action would provoke all the English to leave. They did not.

A peace conference was called between Opechancanough and Captain Tucker. On May 22, 1623, the ceremony began with Dr. Potts concocting poison wine and offering it to the Powhatan representatives. Two hundred died with fifty killed afterwards. Opechancanough escaped, but the Jamestown settlers continued to retaliate by burning and destroying Powhatan villages. Over the next ten years, instead of Opechancanough's thought that the English would leave, they expanded their settlements under new leadership.

The King of England, James I, had been furious at the mismanagement of the Virginia Company and the attack that they allowed; he revoked their charter in 1624 and made Virginia a crown colony. As a crown colony, it grew to a robust town to the east, and references to the fort began to disappear.

Source: Image below: Montage (left) Drawing of 1622 Powhatan attack on Virginia settlers, 1628, Matthaus Meriam. Courtesy Wikipedia Commons; (right) Powhatan Indian Warrior, 1585, John White. Courtesy Wikipedia Commons. Image below: Drawing of the famous scene of Pocahontas laying her body over John Smith as Opechancanough attempted to kill the Englishman. Chief Powhatan, sighting the action of his daughter, stopped the execution, even though he had been in favor it before, 1870, Henry Schile. Courtesy Library of Congress. Info source: historicjamestowne.org; National Park Service; Wikipedia.

History Photo Bomb

Painting of King Charles I, 1628, Gerard van Honthorst. Courtesy National Portrait Gallery via Wikipedia Commons.

Pequot War on February 22, 1837, 1890, Charles Stanley Reinhart. Courtesy Wikipedia Commons.

ABH Travel Tip

You can visit much of the Pre-Revolution history of the United States throughout the many trails and historic sites of the nation. And don't miss out on the Native American history throughout Florida or other regions. The history of the nation and North America comes from the culture of the many tribes that made up the mosaic of human culture in each state. They were here before the majority of us, after all, and their history is an amazing collection of wonder, beauty, and dedication to the land that sits beneath us.

Roger Conant's house in Salem, Massachusetts Bay Colony, 1898, illustration from Upper Canada Sketches, Thomas Conant. The house had been originally part of the Cape Ann Colony, later dismantled, then reassembled at Salem. Courtesy British Library via Wikipedia Commons.

Timeline Book