ABSTRACT
The end came for the New England colonists’ most feared enemy on 12 August 1676. The Wampanoag sachem Metacom, better known among the English as King Philip, was at last brought to bay in a swamp near his home at Mount Hope (now Bristol, Rhode Island) bordering Plymouth colony. His relentless pursuer was one of the most notable frontier commanders in American history, Captain Benjamin Church (1639-1718), leader of a picked company of English and friendly Indians. While we know nothing of Philip’s thoughts on this fateful day, he must have been exhausted and demoralized. The uprising which bears his name was in collapse and Church had already captured his wife and son. Philip’s own followers were falling away and, indeed, it was a deserter who led Church to his camp on the swamp’s edge.
