Siege of Brookfield – Aug 1675

The Siege of Brookfield was a battle between Nipmuc Indians under Muttawmp, and the English of the Massachusetts Bay Colony under the command of Thomas Wheeler and Cpt. Edward Hutchinson, in August 1675 during King Phillip’s War  The battle consisted of an initial ambush, called Wheeler’s Surprise by the Nipmucs on Wheeler’s unsuspecting party, followed by an attack on Brookfield, Mass. and the consequent besieging of the remains of the colonial force.

The siege part of the battle took place  at John Ayers‘ Tavern/Garrison in West Brookfield,  John was the brother of our ancestor Sarah Ayers LAMSON.  The identify of their parents is not known.

John Ayers was killed in the initial ambush, the location of which was a subject of extensive controversy among historians in the late nineteenth century.

Brookfield, Worcester, Mass.


John Ayres removed to Brookfield, Mass, when the settlement of that place was commenced, and in Nov. 1672, sold all his rights at Ipswich, including those “belonging to my father-in-law Mark SYMONDS, and used by me while I was a tenant upon Mr. John Norton’s farm.”  See John Ayres’ bio at the end of this post for details of his years in Brookfield.

Simultaneous to the outbreak of war the colonists sent Ephraim Curtis to the west of Boston into Nipmuc territory to negotiate with the tribe and obtain assurances of loyalty to the English from them. However, Curtis’ expedition party found only empty Nipmuc villages which signified that something was already afoot. Eventually, Curtis managed to find the whereabouts of the Nipmuc chief sachem, Muttawmp, and agreed to a meeting at a pre-arranged spot.  However, unbeknownst to Curtis it was too late for negotiations, as the Nipmucs, under sachem Matoonas, had already attacked an English settlement at Mendon and had decided to join Metacom’s rebellion. Curtis was later joined by Captain Thomas Wheeler and Captain Edward Hutchinson (son of Anne Hutchinson).




[June 25, 1675] Conkcaskogau alais Conkganasco”



Curtis and his men met with the Nipmuc sachem Muttawmp on July 14, the same day that another party of Nipmuc warriors was attacking Mendon. Hence, at the meeting, Muttawmp already considered himself to be at war with the English. However, while Muttawmp’s soldiers were rude to the English emissaries, the sachem himself considered it better to feign friendship to the colonists and so told Curtis that he would show himself in Boston within seven days.

After Curtis returned to Boston and informed his superiors of the arrangement, a decision was made not to wait for Muttawmp’s arrival, but instead to sent Captain Hutchinson, along with Captain Wheeler and 30 mounted soldiers, as well as some “Natick” Praying Indian guides to negotiate with the Nipmuc sachem directly he party made their way to New Norwich where, on July 31, they found the village empty. Consequently they learned that the Nipmucs had moved their base camp to about 10 miles from Brookfield, and sent Curtis and the Naticks to talk to Muttawmp again. There, the emissaries were once again treated rudely by the Nipmuc braves, while Muttawmp continued his deception and agreed to meet Hutchinson in Brookfield on the following day.


However, when the colonists arrived in full force at the agreed spot the next day they found nothing. At that point the Natick guides tried to persuade the English to give up and return to Brookfield. Hutchinson and Wheeler, however, decided to march on to the Nipmuc camp, where they had met them the previous day.

In order to reach Muttawmp’s camp, the English had to cross a swamp, taking a narrow path in single file. Despite more protestations from the Indian guides, Hutchinson and Wheeler decided to risk it, while at the same time aware that they might be walking into a trap.

In fact, after they proceeded for about 400 yards, Muttawmp’s braves emerged from among the tall swamp grass and attacked them with bows and rifles. When the English turned around and tried to flee along the narrow path, they encountered another group of Nipmucs blocking their retreat.  The colonial force was so completely disorganized that initially they were not even capable of returning fire. Both Hutchinson and Wheeler were seriously wounded. Eight other men were killed in the initial attack and several others were wounded.

The entire force would have most likely been annihilated there and then had it not been for the Natick guides, one of whom assumed command of the company in place of the wounded English captains, and managed to lead the rest of the English out of the trap and into the hills near the swamp. Once out of immediate danger, the group made its way to Brookfield, fully aware that Muttawmp was in pursuit.

Siege of Brookfield

Wheeler and the rest of his men, led by the Natick guides, fled to the English settlement of Quabaug (which later was to become the town of West Brookfield). The village was relatively isolated which meant that no help was coming soon, even if the colonists in other New England towns got word of the attack.

At Brookfield, the soldiers gathered at the house of Sgt. John Ayers (who had been killed in the ambush) and there they were joined by about 70 villagers who had learned of the coming Nipmuc attack. Ayers’ garrison was the largest building in the settlement. Once inside the house, Wheeler recovered from shock and took charge of his men again, and ordered them to fortify the defenses. He tried to sent two soldiers to get help, but they did not leave before the arrival of Muttawmp and his warriors. In all about 80 persons had gathered inside the Ayers house.

Capture of Brookfield

When they arrived at the scene, some of the Nipmucs kept the garrisoned house under constant fire, while others drove off the livestock, looted other houses in the settlement, and then set them on fire. Once Muttawmp had gathered all his men and completely surrounded the house he launched three attacks on the Ayers house. All three were unsuccessful and the only English casualties that occurred on the first day were two colonists who made the mistake of stepping outside and who were quickly killed. As a result Muttawmp realized that he needed a different approach.

Attack on Ayres Tavern

On the second day of the siege, early at dawn, Muttawmp had his men fill a village wagon with combustible material and direct it at the fortified house, hoping to set it on fire and in that way force the defenders out. However, the plan did not work because of heavy rains which began to pour while the wagon was in preparation.

Attack on Ayers Tavern

During the confusion that accompanied the execution of the plan, Ephraim Curtis managed to sneak out of the house and made a successful run for the woods. He eventually made it to Marlborough although by that time colonial soldiers had already been alerted by some travelers who had heard gunfire near Brookfield. As a result, a group of men under Major Simon Willard were already on their way to relieve the besieged.


Willard, who was the chief military officer of Middlesex County, Massachusetts, with 48 troops had been stationed at Lancaster. After being informed of the siege he hurried to Brookfield, arriving on the night of the 3rd. This forced the Indians to break off the siege. Further reinforcements continued to arrive, and Willard eventually commanded 350 English soldiers and an unknown number of Mohegan Indian allies.

The battle between the two sides continued until the middle of the night of the 4th but neither side could dislodge the other. At that point, Muttawmp, who felt he had already achieved most of what he wanted (including obtaining crucial supplies from the looting of Brookfield), decided that he did not want to risk the death of any more of his warriors and withdrew from the battlefield.


Stone Marker at the site of the Meeting House at Brookfield



A garrison was maintained until winter when the Court ordered the people to leave, not to return to Brookfield for twelve years.

Site of John Ayres' Tavern in Brookfield

After withdrawing from Brookfield, Muttawmp led his men to a fort at Hatfield. Metacom himself, with 40 Wampanoag warriors, arrived there a short while later. King Philip, hearing of the attack, rewarded the Nipmuc sachems with unstrung wampum.

Throughout the rest of the 1675, the Native American forces had a string of victories, thanks in large part to skillful leadership of sachems like Metacomet, Muttawmp and Matoonas, who exploited their knowledge of local terrain to achieve surprise and often successfully ambushed colonial forces sent to track them down, much in the same way as happened in Wheeler’s Surprise. However, 1675 ended with a significant defeat for the Native Americans, with the defeat of the Narragansetts in the Great Swamp Fight.

While Philip and his allies managed to regain the initiative for some time in 1675, eventually the scorched earth tactics practiced by the English caused them to start running out of supplies. The supply shortage, coupled with a partial amnesty, prompted an increasing number of chiefs to leave Philip’s alliance.  . In the spring of 1676 the tide turned in favor of the English.  Muttawmp, the victor of Brookfield, tried to make peace with the English. Promises of safety were broken however, and he was executed in September 1676.

John Warner, son of William WARNER and son-in-law of Mark SYMONDS removed from Ipswich to Brookfield in 1670, was one of three men there who took the Indian deed for the town of Brookfield, December 19, 1673, and was one of the principal inhabitants there. When the town was destroyed by the Indians in 1675 he retreated with his younger children to Hadley, Massachusetts, whither Mark Warner, an elder son, and other children had gone to settle.  .







Biography of John Ayers







Property Plots Brookfield


Ayres Homestead Brookfield 1675


John Ayers built and kept John Pynchon's Quaboag Grist Mill








Children of  John & Susannah Ayres

John Ayres
Came to Quaboag before May of 1667. His full family of 7 sons and 1 daughter came with him. Died Aug 2, 1675 @ Wheeler’s Surprise.
Susannah Symonds
Daughter of Mark SYMONDS. Died at Ipswich Feb 1682-3
John Ayres, Jr.
Ipswich, 1649
Came to Quaboag with his father in 1667. On Aug 28, 1672, he married 1. Abigail Hovey, daughter of Deacon Hovey, a neighbor at Quaboag. Abigail died young, probably at Quaboag, no children. He was at Quaboag during the Siege. Took his mother and remaining family back to Ipswich.
2. Married Mary Woodman of Ipswich, 3 children, no sons that survived. Death ??? Conflicting evidence, but it seems likely John, Jr. died Aug 12, 1711, age 62, at Boston.
Samuel Ayres
Ipswich, 1650
Came to Quaboag with his family. Returned to Ipswich after the Siege of Brookfield. Married on Apr 16, 1677, Abigail Fellows who bore him 10 children. Died at Ipswich on Feb 7, 1696-7. Some of the children of Samuel were prominent in the affairs of the 2nd settlement at Brookfield.
Thomas Ayres
Ipswich, 1652
Came to Quaboag with his family. Returned to Ipswich, never returned to Brookfield. Married in March of 1677-8 Hannah Herrington. They had 7 children.
Joseph Ayres
Ipswich, abt 1655
Came to Quaboag with his family. Returned to Ipswich. Married on Jun 9, 1684, Sarah Caldwell, who bore his 5 children. She died on Apr 29, 1710. He married Hannah Dutch at Ipswich, who came with him to Brookfield on Oct 23, 1713. He was one of those of the family to return to Brookfield for the 2nd settlement. Lived on his farm at Brookfield until his death.
Edward Ayres
Ipswich, Feb 1658
Inhabitant of Kittery, Maine.
Mark Ayres
Ipswich, Dec 1661
Did not attempt to resettle at Brookfield. Also an inhabitant of Kittery, ME. in 1690, with his brother Edward. In 1716, he is listed as of Portsmouth, N. H. He married and had 2 sons.
Nathaniel Ayres
Ipswich, Jul 16, 1664
Married Amy —– and had 5 children. Was a Blacksmith by trade and lived most of his life in Boston. Died in Boston on Dec. 4, 1737.
Susannah Ayres
Ipswich 1656
Came to Quaboag with her family. After the siege returned with her family to Ipswich, at age 19 and single.


About these ads
This entry was posted in History, Veteran, Violent Death. Bookmark the permalink.

7 Responses to Siege of Brookfield – Aug 1675

  1. Pingback: John Ayre | Miner Descent

  2. Pingback: John Chipman | Miner Descent

  3. Pingback: William Warner | Miner Descent

  4. Pingback: William Danforth | Miner Descent

  5. Pingback: Capt. Robert Andrews | Miner Descent

  6. Ron Benson says:

    what book did you find the pictures of the siege of Brookfield?

    • markeminer says:

      Hi Ron,

      I found most of them on Wikipedia. One said Source: Sutro Library, San Francisco. Another said Collection of the Dover Public Library, Dover, New Hampshire. I try to use Wikipedia first for any pictures to avoid any copyright issues.


Leave a Reply


You are commenting using your account. Log Out / Change )

Twitter picture


Facebook photo


Google+ photo


Connecting to %s