Metacomet (1638-1676), was the second son of Massassoit. His father had welcomed and tried to maintain peaceful relationships with the Massachusetts colonists, though that was not easy to do. He had given his sons, both Sachems serving under their father, English names. His eldest son, Wamsutta was called King Alexander, and Metacomet was called King Phillip. Wamsutta initially succeeded as Grand Sachem after Massassoit's death in 1661. However, Wamsutta was arrested for buying land from a Settler in violation of a law which prohibited individual settlers from doing any kind of business with the Wampanoags, though Wamsutta was not under English jurisdiction. He was kept in prison and was killed or died after escaping and trying to flee to Wampanoag territory. Metacomet succeeded his brother in 1662 and became increasingly uneasy at White encroachment on Wampanoag land and fought several skirmishes against the colonists. At Taunton, in 1671, he was forced to sign a treaty, part of which required the Natives to give up firearms. In 1675, Massachusetts authorities hanged three Wampanoags for the murder of a Christianized Native who served as Metacomet's translator and an informal mediator between the Natives and the settlers. The Wampanoag rose in anger. 
In June, 1675, Pokanoket raiders attacked homes in the settlement of Swansea. Soon afterwards, a total eclipse of the moon occurred, which various tribes took as being a good sign. In retaliation, Colonial forces destroyed the Wampanoag town at Mount Hope, near modern-day Bristol, Rhode Island. The Native forces next destroyed Freetown, burning several homes and killing Settlers of both sexes. The war spread as the Podunk and Nipmunk tribes became involved, with attacks at Dartmouth, Middleborough, Mendon, Brookfield, Lancaster, Deerfield, Handley and Northfield. Settlers struck back at the Narragansett in the battle known as the Great Swamp Fight in December 1675, near present-day Kingstown, Rhode Island. They killed 600 men, women and children and burned the Natives' fort, or palisaded town, forcing hundreds of others to flee into the winter cold, where many of them died. To survive, the Narrangansett had no choice but to join the uprising. Throughout the winter of 1675-1676, Natives attacked more settlements in New England. In February, 1676, Metacomet led a force of 1500 warriors against the larger settlement of Lancaster, Massachusetts. The wife of the local minister, Mary Rowlandson, was captured and spent several months in captivity, later producing the first captivity narrative. The allied Natives attacked Plymouth Plantation in March, 1676, capturing 9 men who were ritually tortured in an episode that went down in New England history as Nine Men's Misery. Meanwhile, other Natives burned Providence, Rhode Island, cutting that colony off from any help from the others. Smaller towns in Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island fled to the safety of larger towns.
Taking advantage of the situation to war against rival tribes, the Mohawk, whose aid hadn't been asked by anyone, invaded New England from New York, destroying Native villages and attacking war parties from all the tribes involved. Many New England Natives abandoned the fight, fleeing to Canada, New Hampshire and Vermont to get away from the Mohawk, whom they feared worse than the Colonists. The tied began to turn against the allied Natives in summer, 1676, as Settlers fended off an attack at Sudbury and began to make gains elsewhere. The Settlers were joined by the Mohegan and remaining Pequots, who feared the Mohawk more than they did the Wampanoag or other local tribes.
Metacomet's allies began to desert him and he took refuge in the Assawomset Swamp, near Mount Hope. The colonists formed raiding parties composed of Settlers and local Natives who launched hit-and-run raids against the allied Natives in a style that would become famous the world over as "fighting American style". Metacomet was assassinated by one of these strike teams on August 12, 1676. He was beheaded post-mortem, his body quartered and the various parts put on display, the traditional English treatment of rebels. Another war chief, Anawan of the Pocasset, was captured and beheaded alive, thus putting an end to the southern theater of King Phillip's War.
Meanwhile, in what is now Maine and the French settlements of Acadia, unrest raged on. Though Maine was nominally part of Massachusetts, French influence from adjoining Acadia continued to create friction. The French were interested in the fur trade and in missionary work among the Natives, rather than creating settlements. French missionaries began offering scalp bounties to local Abenaki for the scalps of any Protestant Settlers they could find. English Settlers quickly took action, trying to raid a Native village near Falmouth in 1675. They were driven off by the Abenaki. Meanwhile, Massachusetts had passed a law forbidding the sale of firearms or ammunition to Natives. Already dependent on the musket to hunt, those tribes who had been predisposed to assist the English now transferred allegiance to France and joined with the Abenaki. Raids and strikes continued in Maine from 1675-1677, the rough terrain and scattered population making open pitched battles impossible. Most of the English settlements were burned as colonists fled back to the safety of the larger settlements in Massachusetts.
Fighting in Maine was ended with the Treaty of Casco in 1678. English and French settlers began leaving Maine, though some stayed and skirmishes continued. Meanwhile, in the south, the remaining allied Natives faced severe reprisals. More than 1,000 colonists and 3,000 Natives had died. Disease on both sides added to the casualty count. Several hundred other Natives were rounded up and transported to Bermuda and other Caribbean colonies, including Metacomet's son and, possibly, one of his wives. Several tribes, such as the Wampanoag, Narragansett, Podunk and Nipmuk were weakened and ceased to exist as cohesive tribal entities. Others such as the Mohegan, were weakened. With the tribes destroyed, disbanded or otherwise disinclined to fight, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut was open to settlement. Only in Maine did attempts to colonize remain dangerous. Reprisals also fell on the Settlers themselves, from the Royal government in London. Now realizing that the colonies weren't distant outposts, but powerful local governments in their own right, the Royal government revoked their charters, and reestablished the colonies as crown colonies under control from London. Massachusetts was forced to accept Anglican settlers and the establishment of the Anglican church. Connecticut's charter and statues of religious freedom were also revoked. No one was safe from punishment after this War.
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