Editing Myles Standish (section)

==Military action in support of Plymouth Colony==
By February 1621, the colonists had sighted Indians several times, but there had been no communication. The men of the colony were anxious to prepare themselves in case of hostilities, so they formed a militia on February 17, 1621, consisting of all able-bodied men, electing Standish as their commander. The leaders of Plymouth Colony had already hired him for that role, but this vote ratified the decision by democratic process.<ref name=Philbrick88/> The men of Plymouth Colony continued to re-elect him to that position for the remainder of his life. As captain of the militia, he regularly drilled his men in the use of pikes and muskets.<ref>Philbrick, p. 89.</ref>

Contact with the Indians came in March 1621 through [[Samoset]], an English-speaking [[Abenaki]] who arranged for the Pilgrims to meet with [[Massasoit]], the [[sachem]] of the nearby [[Pokanoket]] tribe. On March 22, Plymouth Colony's governor [[John Carver (Plymouth Colony governor)|John Carver]] signed a treaty with Massasoit, declaring an alliance between the [[Pokanoket|Pokanokets]] and the Colonists and requiring the two parties to defend one another in times of need.<ref>Philbrick, p. 99.</ref> Governor Carver died the same year and the responsibility of upholding the treaty fell to his successor William Bradford. Bradford and Standish were frequently preoccupied with the complex task of reacting to threats against both the Pilgrims and the Pokanokets from tribes such as the [[Massachusett]]s and the [[Narragansett people|Narragansetts]].<ref name=Philbrick114/> As threats arose, Standish typically advocated intimidation to deter their rivals. Such behavior at times made Bradford uncomfortable, but he found it an expedient means of maintaining the treaty with the Pokanokets.<ref>Philbrick, p. 162.</ref>

===Nemasket raid===
[[File:MilesStandish byArmstrong 1873 NMAH2003-24306 (cropped).jpg|right|upright=1.4|thumb|alt=A group of nine 17th century militiamen carrying muskets and marching over a sandy path. A Native American man is leading them, with feathers in his hair and carrying a musket. The soldier at the front of the group is wearing a helmet and a breastplate. In the background is a beach.|An 1873 [[lithograph]] depicting the expedition against Nemasket led by Standish and guided by [[Hobbamock]]]]
The first challenge to the treaty came in August 1621 when a sachem named [[Corbitant]] began to undermine Massasoit's leadership. Corbitant worked to turn the people against Massasoit in the Pokanoket village of Nemasket, now the site of [[Middleborough, Massachusetts]], about {{convert|14|mi|km}} west of Plymouth.<ref name=Philbrick114/> Bradford sent two trusted interpreters to determine what was happening in Nemasket: Tisquantum (known to the English as [[Squanto]]) and [[Hobbamock]]. Tisquantum had been pivotal in providing counsel and aid to the Pilgrims, ensuring the survival of the colony. Hobbamock was another influential ally, a high-ranking advisor to Massasoit and a warrior who commanded particular respect and fear among the Indians. When Tisquantum and Hobbamock arrived in Nemasket, Corbitant took Tisquantum captive and threatened to kill him. Hobbamock escaped to warn Plymouth.<ref>Schmidt, p. 105.</ref>

Bradford and Standish agreed that this represented a dangerous threat to the Plymouth-Pokanoket alliance and decided to act quickly. On August 14, 1621, Standish led a group of 10 men to Nemasket, determined to kill Corbitant.<ref name=Philbrick114/> They were guided by Hobbamock who quickly befriended Standish, and the two men were close for the remainder of their lives. In his old age, Hobbamock became part of Standish's household in Duxbury.<ref name="Winsor33">Winsor, ''History of the Town of Duxbury'', p. 33.</ref>

Reaching Nemasket, Standish planned a night attack on the shelter in which Corbitant was believed to be sleeping. That night, he and Hobbamock burst into the shelter, shouting for Corbitant. As frightened Pokanokets attempted to escape, Standish's men outside fired their muskets, wounding a Pokanoket man and woman who were later taken to Plymouth to be treated. Standish soon learned that Corbitant had already fled the village and Tisquantum was unharmed.<ref>Philbrick, p. 115.</ref>

Standish had failed to capture Corbitant, but the raid had the desired effect. On September 13, 1621, nine sachems came to Plymouth, including Corbitant, to sign a treaty of loyalty to King James.<ref>Jenks, p. 124.</ref>

===Palisade===
[[File:Plimoth Plantation 2002.JPG|thumb|upright=1.5|right|alt=A modern-day photograph of a village consisting of small, primitive wooden houses.  Most of the houses have thatched roofs.  In the distance is a large expanse of ocean and a clear blue sky.  The village is surrounded by a wall consisting of tall, thick wooden planks.|[[Plimoth Patuxet]], a replica reconstruction of the original Pilgrim village in [[Plymouth, Massachusetts]], including the palisade surrounding the settlement]]
In November 1621, a Narragansett messenger arrived in Plymouth and delivered a bundle of arrows wrapped in a snakeskin. Tisquantum and Hobbamock told them that this was a threat and an insult from Narragansett sachem [[Canonicus]].<ref>Schmidt, p. 114.</ref> The Narragansetts lived west of [[Narragansett Bay]] in Rhode Island and were one of the more powerful tribes in the region. Bradford sent back the snakeskin filled with gunpowder and shot in an effort to show that they were not intimidated.<ref>Jenks, p. 151.</ref>

Standish took the threat seriously and urged that the colonists encircle their small village with a palisade made of tall, upright logs. The proposal would require a wall more than half a mile (or 0.8&nbsp;km) long.<ref>Philbrick, p. 127.</ref> In addition, he recommended the construction of strong gates and platforms for shooting over the wall. The colony had recently been reinforced by the arrival of new colonists from the ship ''Fortune'', but there were still only 50&nbsp;men to work on the task. Despite the challenges, the settlers constructed the palisade per Standish's recommendations in just three months, finishing in March 1622. Standish divided the militia into four companies, one to man each wall, and drilled them in defending the village in the event of attack.<ref>Philbrick, p. 129.</ref>

===Wessagusset===
A more serious threat came from the Massachusett tribe to the north and was precipitated by the arrival of a new group of English colonists. In April 1622, the vanguard of a new colony arrived in Plymouth. They had been sent by merchant [[Thomas Weston (merchant adventurer)|Thomas Weston]] to establish a new settlement somewhere near Plymouth. The men chose a site on the shore of the [[Fore River (Massachusetts)|Fore River]] in [[Weymouth, Massachusetts]], about {{convert|25|mi|km}} north of Plymouth, and they called their colony [[Wessagusset Colony|Wessagusset]]. The settlers of the poorly managed colony infuriated the Massachusett tribe through theft and recklessness.<ref>Jenks, p. 165.</ref> By March 1623, Massasoit had learned that a group of influential Massachusett warriors intended to destroy both the Wessagusset and Plymouth colonies. He warned Plymouth to strike first. One of the colonists of Wessagusset named Phineas Pratt verified that his settlement was in danger. He managed to escape to Plymouth and reported that the colonists in Wessagusset had been repeatedly threatened by the Massachusetts, that the settlement was in a state of constant watchfulness, and that men were dying at their posts from starvation.<ref>Philbrick, p. 147.</ref>

Bradford called a public meeting at which the Pilgrims decided to send Standish and a small group of eight, including Hobbamock, to Wessagusset to kill the leaders of the plot.<ref>Jenks, p. 174.</ref> The mission had a personal aspect for Standish. One of the warriors threatening Wessagusset was Wituwamat, a Neponset who had earlier insulted and threatened Standish.<ref>Philbrick, p. 149.</ref> Standish arrived at Wessagusset and found that many of the colonists had gone to live with the Massachusetts, and he ordered them to be called back to Wessagusset. [[Pecksuot]] was a Massachusett warrior and leader of the group threatening Wessagusset; he came to the settlement with Wituwamat and other warriors the day after Standish's arrival. Standish claimed simply to be in Wessagusset on a trading mission, but Pecksuot said to Hobbamock, "Let him begin when he dare; he shall not take us unawares."<ref>Jenks, p. 175.</ref> Later in the day, Pecksuot approached Standish, looking down on him, and said, "You are a great captain, yet you are but a little man. Though I be no sachem, yet I am of great strength and courage."<ref name="Philbrick151">Philbrick, p. 151.</ref>

The next day, Standish arranged to meet with Pecksuot over a meal in one of Wessagusset's one-room houses. Pecksuot brought Wituwamat, Wituwamat's adolescent brother, and several women. Standish had three men of Plymouth and Hobbamock with him in the house. On an arranged signal, they shut the door of the house and Standish attacked Pecksuot, stabbing him repeatedly with the man's own knife.<ref name=Philbrick151/> Wituwamat and the third warrior were also killed. Standish ordered two more Massachusett warriors to be put to death, then went outside the walls of Wessagusset in search of Obtakiest, a sachem of the Massachusett tribe. They soon encountered Obtakiest with a group of warriors, and a skirmish ensued during which Obtakiest escaped.<ref>Philbrick, p. 152.</ref>

Having accomplished his mission, Standish returned to Plymouth with Wituwamat's head.<ref>Jenks, p. 178.</ref> The leaders of the plot to destroy the settlements had been killed and the threat removed, but the action had unexpected consequences. The settlement of Wessagusset, which Standish had been trying to protect, was all but abandoned after the incident. Most of the settlers departed for an English fishing post on [[Monhegan Island]]. The attack also caused widespread panic among Indian tribes throughout the region. Villages were abandoned and the Pilgrims had difficulty reviving trade for some time.<ref>Philbrick, p. 154.</ref>

Pastor John Robinson was still in Leiden, but he criticized Standish for his brutality.<ref>Jenks, p. 179.</ref> Bradford, too, was uncomfortable with his methods, but he defended him in a letter: "As for Capten Standish, we leave him to answer for him selfe, but this we must say, he is as helpfull an instrument as any we have, and as carefull of the generall good."<ref>Stratton, p. 358.</ref>

===Dispersal of Merrymount settlers===
[[File:Aanwijzing 2 voor het hanteren van het musket - Marcheert ende draecht de furquet neffens de Musquet (Jacob de Gheyn, 1607).jpg|right|thumb|alt=A pen and ink drawing of a soldier with a large musket over his shoulder.  He wears elaborate 16th-century clothing including puffy knee breeches and a wide brimmed, tall hat with a plume. |From a 16th-century Dutch manual on the use of the [[arquebus]], a type of [[matchlock]] used by the Pilgrims]]
In 1625, another group of English settlers established an outpost not far from the site of Wessagusset, located in [[Quincy, Massachusetts]], about {{convert|27|mi|km}} north of Plymouth. The settlement was officially known as Mount Wollaston, but soon earned the nickname "Merrymount." Their leader [[Thomas Morton (colonist)|Thomas Morton]] encouraged behavior that the Pilgrims found objectionable and dangerous. The men of Merrymount built a [[maypole]], drank liberally, refused to observe the Sabbath, and sold weapons to the Indians.<ref>Philbrick, p. 163.</ref> Bradford found the weapons sales particularly disturbing and ordered Standish to lead an expedition to arrest Morton in 1628.<ref name="Schmidt161">Schmidt, p. 161.</ref>

Standish arrived with a group of men to find that the small band at Merrymount had barricaded themselves within a small building. Morton eventually decided to attack the men from Plymouth, but the Merrymount group were too drunk to handle their weapons.<ref name=Schmidt161/> Morton aimed a weapon at Standish, which the captain ripped from his hands. Standish and his men took Morton to Plymouth and eventually sent him back to England. Later, Morton wrote the book ''New English Canaan'' in which he referred to Standish as "Captain Shrimp" and added, "I have found the Massachusetts Indians more full of humanity than the Christians."<ref>Philbrick, p. 164.</ref>

===Penobscot expedition===
Standish's last significant known expedition was against the French<ref>Goodwin, pp. 224–225</ref> who had established a trading post in 1613 on the Penobscot River in [[Castine, Maine]]. English forces captured the settlement in 1628 and turned it over to Plymouth Colony. It was a valuable source of furs and timber for the Pilgrims for seven years. However, the French mounted a small expedition in 1635 and easily reclaimed the settlement.<ref name="Jenks224">Jenks, p. 224.</ref> Bradford ordered Standish to take action, determined that the post be reclaimed in Plymouth Colony's name. This was a significantly larger proposition than the small expeditions which Standish had previously led and, to accomplish the task, he chartered the ship ''Good Hope'' captained by a man named Girling.<ref name=Jenks224/> Standish's plan appears to have been to bring the ''Good Hope'' within cannon range of the trading post and to bombard the French into surrendering. Unfortunately, Girling ordered the bombardment before the ship was within range and quickly spent all the gunpowder on board. Standish gave up the effort.<ref name=Jenks224/>

By this time, the neighboring and more populous [[Massachusetts Bay Colony]] had been established. Bradford appealed to leaders of the colony in [[Boston]] for help in reclaiming the trading post, but the Bay Colony refused. The incident was indicative of the rivalry which persisted between Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay colonies.<ref name=Jenks224/> In 1691, the two were merged to become the royal [[Province of Massachusetts Bay]].