ABSTRACT
The warfare that developed in North America was not European in style or purpose, and it forced colonists to move away from military concepts of the Old World and open their minds to new but brutal ideas about warfare and military affairs that suited their unique situation. The colonists proved quick learners and adapted to their surroundings with violent alacrity. English colonists brought to the New World their own ideas about military service, purpose, and practice. King Philip’s War engulfed New England beginning in spring 1675, and before the conflict’s conclusion brought the New England colonies together militarily and solidified the colonial way of war. The American military experience in the New World began with violence. For the American colonists, the wars of the 1600s had transformed their European concepts of warfare into an American way of fighting that emphasized destruction of property and the annihilation of noncombatants as well as combatants.
