The Pequods, on the departure of Captain Mason, burned their wigwams, destroyed their principal fort, and were with difficulty restrained from putting their own chief, Sassacus, to death, as they looked upon him as the author of their calamity. They scattered themselves throughout the country, Sassacus, Mononotto, and seventy or eighty of their chief counsellors and warriors, taking their route over Hudson river. In the mean time, Massachusetts, hearing of the success of Mason, despatched a body of one hundred and twenty men under Captain Stoughton, to follow up the victory. Arriving in the enemy's country, the Massachusetts army, finding a body of that tribe in a swamp, made an assault upon them, with the aid of the Narragansets. Some twenty-eight were killed and a larger number taken prisoners. The court at Connecticut ordered that forty men should be raised forthwith, for the further prosecution of the war, under the same commander. These troops formed a junction with the party under command of Stoughton at Pequod, and the conclusion was immediately to march in pursuit of Sassacus. They proceeded on their way as far as Quinnipiac (New Haven), where, after staying several days, they received intelligence that the enemy was at a considerable distance, in a great swamp to the westward. Here the Indians were met, and an engagement took place, under circumstances of great difficulty to the English, many of whom were nearly mired, but it was nevertheless attended with success. The fighting was of a most desperate character, the assailants finding it nearly impossible to master or dislodge the foe. Under the cover of a fog, after having been watched through the night, Sassacus and sixty or seventy of his bravest warriors broke through the English ranks, and escaped. About twenty Indians were killed, and one hundred and eighty were taken prisoners. The Pequods, who remained in the territory, amounting to some two hundred, besides women and children, were at length divided among the Narragansets and Mohegans, and the nation became extinct. The character of this war, from the boldness and vigor with which it had been prosecuted, seemed to belong to the age of romance. It is replete with thrilling incident and daring adventure. Yet the sober, religious spirit and convictions of duty, which accompanied the pilgrims to battle, turn its chivalrous aspect into the features of stern reality and unavoidable necessity. It involved the fate of an infant republic and the interests of posterity. The conquest of the Pequods, while it was so fatal to one party, was productive of the most happy consequences to the other. It struck the Indians throughout New England with such a salutary terror, that they were contented to remain at peace nearly forty years. [Illustration] [Illustration: PHILIP'S WAR] VII. PHILIP'S WAR.