The web channel Fishing Historic Places examines the shifting tides of the King Philip’s War in the summer of 1676 as the Native confederation dissolves into isolated groups. This narrative explores the tactical movements of Major John Talcott and Captain Benjamin Church across New England, analyzing the strategic, cultural, and spiritual factors that led to the collapse of Metacom‘s resistance. Historian Stan Svec investigates the events of July and discusses what may have motivated the previously victorious Native Peoples to act in what we would almost call a suicidal fashion. Click here for a 19-minute video posted on July 23, 2026.

Svec (above) reports that after a year of war the First Nations confederation led by Metacom (King Philip) had fallen apart. The component tribes, hunted and hungry, were attempting to return to their homelands and therefore right into the heart of English vengeance.

No longer cowering in garrison houses or stockaded towns, English trained bands were now on the offensive, hunting the fields, forests and hardwood swamps for hostile tribes. Narragansett Chief Canonchet (above, center) attempted to surrender in April near the Pawtuxet River but was executed by colonial and allied Native forces who swept through the area, killing Native people by the hundreds.

After a year of war the First Nations confederation led by Metacom (King Philip) had fallen apart. Captain Benjamin Church (above), having been badly wounded in the Great Swamp Massacre, met with Sakonnet Chief Awashonks to arrange their surrender and then hunted down Philip where he was killed in the Miery Swamp at his home at Mt. Hope.