ABSTRACT

The continuities in European-Indian warfare in the period 1675-1815 are readily apparent. There was little change in weapons, technology, or tactics. A soldier or warrior of King Philip’s War would not have been out of place in the conditions of the War of 1812. Indian skulking tactics-concealment and surprise, moving fire, envelopment and, when the enemy’s ranks were broken, hand-to-hand combat-remained the cardinal features of Native American warfare. The superb training and formidable physical endurance of Indian warriors continued to provide them with advantages that often offset inferiority in numbers. In their wars against the United States, they produced military leaders such as Little Turtle and Tecumseh who demonstrated extraordinary tactical skill and, in the latter’s case at least, strategic vision. We know much less about the Indian military leaders of King Philip’s War, but the continuities evident in the Indian way of war imply that they possessed similar skills.