The Pequot War was the first major conflict between Native Americans and Europeans in northeastern North America. It began in September 1636, lasted eleven months, and involved thousands of Native and English peoples who fought several major battles in present-day Connecticut. In the early months of the war, most of the fighting occurred about a half-mile east of Saybrook Fort during the Siege and Battle of Saybrook Fort from September 1636 to March 1637. Lieutenant Lion Gardiner successfully defended the fort against unrelenting Pequot attacks during the fall and winter of 1636–1637, although over half of the garrison became casualties. In early March 1637, the siege was lifted when the English-allied Narragansett attacked Pequot country from the east and reinforcements from Massachusetts Bay under Captain John Underhill arrived. For the rest of the war, Saybrook Fort was where most English forces gathered before campaigns against the Pequot at Mistick and Quinnipiac. After the war, the fort remained in use until it was destroyed by fire in 1647. Research and archaeology in 2010 through 2013 concluded that the fort stood on higher ground farther north on the point, where archaeologists recovered hundreds of musket balls, military equipment, domestic goods, and architectural hardware, identified places connected to events recorded by Gardiner in 1660, and located the fort’s warehouse, wharfs, garden area, and other sites associated with the fighting.

Photo: Michael Herrick