AUGUST 10, 1703

FRENCH & ABENAKI BEGIN NORTH COAST CAMPAIGN WITH THE “SIX TERRIBLE DAYS”

The 1701 Peace of Montréal had just seen the Iroquois Confederacy declare peace with the French in Canada, as well as neutrality in future Anglo-French struggles. Meanwhile, England provided its Puritan colonies with no material help against French and Indian attacks. In mid-1702, at Casco Bay, Maine, New England conceded to the Eastern Indians several points of contention only to renege on their promises by December. The French Governor-General, seizing the opportunity, asked the Wabanaki Confederacy to join the French in an offensive along the New England frontier. The French let the English spend the summer clearing land, building mills, and raising crops and animals. Then, on August 10, 1703, using small, fast-moving, independent teams, they launched their brutal attacks. What followed became known as the “Six Terrible Days.” Attacks occurred along over 45 miles of seaboard at Wells, Cape Porpoise, Winter Harbor, Saco Fort, Spurwick, and Perpooduck Point, near current Portland.

Source:  John Grenier, “How England And France Started A Colonial "Cold War" In North America,” Historynet, 12/28/2022.  Retrieved 10/11/2023, How England And France Started A Colonial "Cold War" In North America (historynet.com)

Lithograph:  Walter Henry Lippincott (1849-1920), 1900. Public Domain.