On the Tunbridge hilltop across the meadow, three hundred Indians led by the British in the waning years of the Revolutionary War lay in wait on the night of Oct. 15, 1780. As dawn approached on the 16th, they began pillaging, burning homes, and capturing and killing unsuspecting settlers. Near this site in the Royalton meadow by the river, young Thomas Pember was killed, and on the hill northeast of here, Peter Button also died. After marauding through the White River valley, the raiders had captured 32 people and killed 4. The captives were marched to Canada to be sold or imprisoned, and in the years that followed, many returned to their families through escape or ransom.