Opposition: Captain John Underhill

One of the greatest compliments a Settler on the American frontier could receive was that of an Indian Fighter.  One of the first of such men, who had a reputation in at least three colonies for his skills in two Indian Wars was John Underhill (1597-1672).

John was born in England to a gentry family.  His grandfather was Keeper of the Wardrobe to Queen Elizabeth I and his father performed a similar function for Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester.  At some point, the father was involved in the Essex Revolt and fled to the Netherlands with his family.  John grew up in the Netherlands along with the Puritan exiles who would later form the nucleus of the Pilgrim Fathers.  He saw military service in the army of the Prince of Orange and married a Dutch woman.  Some time prior to 1630, he immigrated to Massachusetts Bay Colony, where his military experience would come in handy.  He rose to prominence in colonial affairs, becoming a Selectman for Boston and later being sent to arrest Roger Williams, whom the Puritans considered a heretic.  Williams had already fled to Connecticut. 

Underhill led the Massachusetts militia fighting the Pequot War (1636-1638).  It was Underhill who, along with other militia leaders, was responsible for the fire at the Pequot village near present-day Mystic that would become known as the Mystic Massacre.  Over 400 Pequot men, women and children perished in the fire.  Underhill later published an account of his actions during the Pequot War.  By 1640, he was under investigation by Puritan authorities for supporting minister John Wheelwright and Anne Hutchinson.  Underhill was among those banished from Massachusetts Bay and fled first to New Hampshire.  Later, when his military services were needed once again, the banishment order was lifted.  John, meantime, decided to hedge his bets and leased land for a tobacco plantation in New Netherlands, though that never came to fruition.

He had moved to Connecticut when, in 1643, he was hired by Willem Klieft, Director of the New Netherlands colony, to lead colonists and militia from Massachusetts against the Lenape and Wappinger.  In one engagement, his men killed 400-700 Lenape.  Underhill moved to New Netherlands and continued to lead troops against the Natives throughout Klieft's War (1643-45).  He once again rose to prominence, becoming a Selectman in what is now Flushing, when he developed a quarrel with Klieft's successor, Peter Stuyvesant.  He circulated a petition calling for Stuyvesant's overthrow as a tyrant.  Not surprisingly, Stuyvesant had Underhill thrown into prison.  Upon his release, Underhill learned of a Dutch plan to attack English settlements in Connecticut and returned there.  Authorities in Connecticut hired Underhill to meet the Dutch advance and authorized him to attack what is now Hartford.  Stuyvesant knew what Underhill was capable of and knew that he wouldn't stop at Hartford, but would attack New Amsterdam itself.  Stuyvesant ordered a wall built at what is now Wall Street. 

New Netherlands and Connecticut settled their differences in 1654 and Underhill decided he'd had enough of war.  He settled in Oyster Bay, hoping that was out of reach of Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Netherlands, and any Natives bent on revenge.  He later served as a representative of Oyster Bay, and as an advisor to a local band of Lenape who conveyed 150 acres to him.  Underhill would clash with Stuyvesant again, when he banned Quakers from settling in New Netherlands.  The ban was ultimately lifted.  Underhill died in 1672 and was buried in what is now Locust Grove, New York.  His tomb still stands in a burial ground named after his family and his descendants survive to this day.