The Woodsman's Journal Online

Sunday, September 6, 2026

The Battle of Kingsbridge, and the Stockbridge Indian Massacre, Part Four ©

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The road home

Estimates of the Stockbridge battle dead vary widely, some saying 17, others 37, some as many as 48 dead. In part the confusion is because there was no certain tally of the number of warrior-soldiers in Ninham’s command, some sources say 60, others just 44 men. This is in line with the average Patriot militia company of the American Revolutionary War, which typically enlisted between 50 to 90 men. Also, while some members of the Stockbridge Indian Company died on the battlefield, and were easy to count, others died after fleeing the immediate battlefield, dying of their wounds with their remains not discovered in the thick woods until later, or refused quarter and being cut down out of hand, far from the main battlefield. Some of the wounded survived the battle only to die of their wound’s days or weeks after the battle, none of these were counted among the battle dead. Generally the higher estimates are probably the most accurate.

“Several of the rebel Light Infantry and nineteen Indians were killed on the field refusing quarter, and many are supposed to have perished in the woods of their wounds. Ninham’s son was killed...” A Genuine account of the late affair at Kingsbridge.

“Refusing quarter”, this is an old term meaning to refuse to surrender. From this phrase, one would think that the surrounded Stockbridge warriors and American light infantrymen chose to fight to the death rather than surrender. However, in the brutal style of warfare favored by commanders like Lt. Col. Banastre, “Bloody Ban”, Tarleton, who commanded British Legion cavalry at Kingsbridge, surrender was not frequently offered, instead the cavalry cut down all those who tried to surrender. Often “Refusing quarter”, meant simply that surrender was not offered and the cavalry killed all they could ride down, this was also known as “Tarleton’s Quarter”.

“Tarleton’s Quarter”, and the British Cavalry’s tendency to not taking prisoners was evident after the Battle of Kingsbridge, when some survivors of the Stockbridge Company ran down a ridge and across a small bridge over Tippet’s Brook, half a mile distant from the main battlefield. Once on the other side, a few of them hid among the rocks and bushes of the western bank. According to Bolton, “The cavalry being unable to scale the rocks, called upon the fugitives to surrender, promising them as a condition for so doing life and protection. Upon this three ventured to throw themselves upon the mercy of the British Soldiers, and were immediately drawn out by the bridge and there cut to pieces”. Because of this, well into the 19^th century, this bridge was known as the “Indian Bridge”. Four of the fleeing Stockbridge, those who didn’t try to surrender, were able to hide in the rocks and later escape back to the American lines, beyond the Croton.

Daniel Ninham called out to his people to fly “...that he himself was old and would die there...” Lt. Colonel Simcoe’s account.

Outnumbered five to one, surrounded and ridden down by cavalry, cavalry that was not inclined to accept surrender from foot soldiers, especially when the foot soldiers were Native Americans; the Stockbridge, according to Lt. Col. Simcoe, “fought most gallantly”.

The Stockbridge pulled more than one cavalryman from their horses and Daniel Ninham even wounded Lt. Col, Simcoe, before being cut down by cavalryman Edward Wright, Simcoe’s Huzzar orderly.

According to Captain Johann Ewald, “The Indians as well as the Americans defended themselves like brave men against all sides...however, most of the enemy were killed, partly shot dead, partly cut down by the cavalry. No Indians, especially, received quarter, including their chief called Nimham and his son, save a few”.

“...the Indians were killed, or desperately wounded...” Lt. Colonel Simcoe’s account.

According to Thomas DeVoe’s account, from The Magazine of American History with Notes and Queries, the wounded from the battle were carried to the houses of Frederick and Daniel Devoe, to have their wounds dressed and to be cared for, including “one poor Indian...having one side of his head or face cleaved down by a sabre cut almost to the chin; here [at Daniel DeVoe’s house] he was nursed several weeks, when he was able to get away to some of his comrades north, where he finally got well, but with a face frightfully disfigured”.

For us Moderns, unaware of the damage sword strikes can cause, to read of an individual surviving a severe sabre cut to the face seems positively unlikely; especially given the time, the lack of antibiotics, and a lack of modern medicine.

However, it is interesting to note that both period and modern doctors note that wounds caused by edged weapons, even on the head and face heal quickly and generally without problems. As an example, the skull in the sidebar, is from a young French cavalryman, who died during 1812, and whose body, was found in a mass grave in Kaliningrad in 2006. He’d survived a heavy sword cut to the face, which had sheared off part of his upper jaw below his nose, breaking all his front teeth and cleaving his right lower jaw in two. Incredibly he survived anywhere from six weeks to three months, before eventually succumbing to starvation, hypothermia, typhus, or some combination of the three, during Napolean’s Retreat from Russia.

Many of the Stockbridge died on the battlefield, according to Thomas DeVoes account, “Others were afterwards found maimed; the old Chief Ninham, was so badly wounded that he must have soon after died; yet before his death he was able to crawl down the hill to a running brook, towards Jesse Husted’s house”. Daniel Ninham’s body was found after the battle, when someone followed the house dogs towards the creek, to discover Ninham’s nearly devoured remains, along with the mutilated bodies of two or three more of the fallen Stockbridge. They were buried in the ‘Indian Field’ and large stones placed on their graves, initially not as a monument, but to prevent the local dogs from digging up and further desecrating their bodies.

A month after the battle, the four remaining Stockbridge in service with the Continental Army, were released from service and returned to their families. This battle wiped out an entire generation of warriors, severely weakening the Stockbridge tribe; eventually causing them lose control over their homeland unscrupulous land speculators, and were forced west, first to central New York state and the lands of the Oneida, were they formed New Stockbridge, and finally, starting in 1818, when New York State began pressuring all Native Americans to leave the state, all the way to Wisconsin, where they are today.

And this ends our sad chapter on The Battle of Kingsbridge, and the Stockbridge Indian Massacre, a defeat for the Patriots, a compte disaster for the Stockbridge.

I hope that you enjoy learning from this resource! To help me to continue to provide valuable free content, please consider showing your appreciation by leaving a donation HERE. Thank you and Happy Trails!

I hope that you continue to enjoy The Woodsman’s Journal Online and look for me on YouTube at BandanaMan Productions for other related videos, HERE. Don’t forget to follow me on both The Woodsman’s Journal Online, HERE, and subscribe to BandanaMan Productions on YouTube. If you have questions, as always, feel free to leave a comment on either site. I announce new articles on Facebook at Eric Reynolds, on Instagram at bandanamanaproductions, and on VK at Eric Reynolds, so watch for me.

That is all for now, and as always, until next time, Happy Trails!

Sources

Bolton, Robert, Rev.; The Several Towns, Manors, and Patents of the County of Westchester, Vol II, [Chas. F. Roper, New York, 1888], page 623, https://dn790000.ca.archive.org/0/items/historyofseveral22bolt/historyofseveral22bolt.pdf, accessed August 31, 2026

Ewald, Johann, Captain; “A Diary of the American War: A Hession Journal”, edited and translated by Joseph P. Tustin, [Yale University, New Haven, CN, 1979], https://lindsaylegion.com/reference/library/books/1775/Ewalds%20Diary%20of%20the%20American%20War.pdf, accessed August 15, 2026

Hauptman, Laurence M.; “The Road to Kingsbridge: Daniel Nimham and the Stockbridge Indian Company in the American Revolution”, American Indian Magazine, Fall 2017 / Vol. 18 No. 3, https://www.americanindianmagazine.org/story/road-kingsbridge-daniel-nimham-and-stockbridge-indian-company-american-revolution, accessed August 22, 2026

National Park Service; “The Stockbridge Militia and the Battle of Van Cortlandt’s Woods”, https://www.nps.gov/mava/learn/historyculture/the-stockbridge-militia-and-the-battle-of-van-cortlandt-s-woods.htm, accessed August 12, 2026

New York City Cemetery Project; “Stockbridge Indian Burial Ground”, March 1, 2022, https://nycemetery.wordpress.com/tag/native-american-cemeteries/, accessed August 12, 2026

Rees, John U; “ ‘On command with Nimham Indian Capt.’: Jabez Pottage, Indigenous Connecticut Soldier”, https://www.academia.edu/143455426/_On_command_with_Nimham_Indian_Capt_Jabez_Pottage_Indigenous_Connecticut_Soldier_?auto=download, accessed August 31, 2026

Rees, John U; “Richard Walling, ‘Patriots Blood The Indian Company of 1778’ ”, https://www.academia.edu/125746909/Richard_Walling_Patriots_Blood_The_Indian_Company_of_1778_, accessed August 31, 2026

Rees, John U; “ ‘The bones of those who have been killed in the war’: Biography of Jehoiakim Mtohksin, Stockbridge War Chief”, https://www.academia.edu/125518736/_The_bones_of_those_who_have_been_killed_in_the_war_Biography_of_Jehoiakim_Mtohksin_Stockbridge_War_Chief_, accessed August 31, 2026

Rindfleisch, Bryan; “The Stockbridge-Mohican Community, 1775-1783”, February 3, 2016, February 3, 2016, https://allthingsliberty.com/2016/02/the-stockbridge-mohican-community-1775-1783/, accessed August 15, 2026

The Magazine of American History with Notes and Queries, Volume V, “The Massacre of the Stockbridge Indians 1778”, [A.S. Barnes and Co., New York and Chicago, 1880], page 185 to 195, https://books.google.com/books?id=EFkbYbpRHDcC&pg=PA195&source=gbs_toc_r&cad=2#v=onepage&q&f=false, accessed August 22, 2026

Vergano, Dan; “A French Soldier Died After A Saber Wound In 1812. Scientists Have Now Rebuilt His Face”, Buzzfeed, January 21, 2019, https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/danvergano/war-of-1812-soldier-face-reconstruction, accessed September 4, 2026

Sunday, August 30, 2026

The Battle of Kingsbridge, and the Stockbridge Indian Massacre, Part Three ©

The Battle of Kingsbridge and the Massacre of the Stockbridge

In what is today called the Bronx and what was then a rural area outside of New York City, American Light Infantry, elite forces, were tasked with disrupting and preventing British troops from making incursions into New Jersey and attacking American supply lines. One of these elite American units was the Stockbridge Infantry Company.

During 1756-1763 and the 7-Years War, known in North America as the French and Indian War, the Stockbridge-Munsee had served as British Scouts and Rangers under the famed Robert Rogers. This experience, plus their experience fighting against the British Forces combined with their service at Bunker Hill, meant that the Company by August of 1778 was extensively battle hardened and some of the best troops of the Continental Army

On August 31st, 1778, the Stockbridge were operating near Van Cortlandt’s Ridge, an area of important high ground between New York City and White Plains and were moving against what they believed was a small unit of Hessian Cavalry. Unfortunately the Stockbridge Infantry Company were unknowingly marching into a trap.

The massacre of the Stockbridge Indians was a part of the large Battle of Kingsbridge, and it took place north of Daniel DeVoe’s house on Mile Square road. This battle took place between the Col. Gist’s Light Infantry and the Stockbridge Company, who were in advance, and British forces commanded by Lt. Col. Simcoe, Emmerick and Tarleton. The patriot forces were advancing north along the road and were comprised of 60 of Gist’s Light Infantry and 48 of the Stockbridge Company. British troops out-numbered them nearly or quite nearly five to one.

The ambuscade took place along road near the second field north of the De Voe homestead, on the “De Veaux’s Heights” along the on Mile Square Road (today’s Mt. Vernon Ave, North or the intersection of E. 233^rd Street) At the time of the battle, the almost square cleared opening, lying on the left-hand side of the road, containing two or three acres of land, and was surrounded on three sides by large trees, and a dense forest, covering several hundred acres, known then as “Cortlandt’s Woods”.

The Stockbridge were along the fence on Mile Square Road, exchanging fire with the Lt. Col. Andreas Emmerick’s Hessians, as the trap was sprung, with the Queens Rangers moving rapidly to gain the heights that had kept them hidden from the Stockbridge. Lt. Col, Tarleton’s Hussars and the Legion cavalry charged, but were unable to pass the fences that lined the road to his front, they circled back and to the North to come at Stockbridge again from the right (this is from The British forces viewpoint, who were advancing towards the West). Lt. Col. Simcoe broke from the column of Rangers and advanced to the road with the Grenadier Company, getting to within 10 yards (about 10 meters) of the Stockbridge position without being seen. on the Stockbridge gave a yell and discharged their muskets upon the Grenadiers, wounding four of them and Lt. Col. Simcoe, but were driven back from the fence into the fields on the other side of the lane. This is where Tarleton’s forces crashed into them on their left flank.

There are several versions of this brutal affair, made principally by those on the British side. According to a “A Genuine account of the late affair at Kingsbridge. The British Troops fell in with a party of 60 Light Infantry of the Rebels , and 48 Stockbridge Indians under the command of the son of Ninham, about a mile from our lines, when Colonel Tarleton, with the Cavalry of the Legion (late Pennsylvania Dragoons) and part of the Queen's Rangers, charged and pursued them a considerable distance. Several of the rebel Light Infantry and nineteen Indians were killed on the field refusing quarter, and many are supposed to have perished in the woods of their wounds. Ninham's son was killed and ten prisoners taken, among them a rebel Captain and two Indians”.

And according to a lieutenant of Colonel Emmerick’s corps

“Detachments from the Queen's Rangers, Chasseurs, De Lancey's Second Battalion, and Legion Dragoons, under the Command of Lieut. – Colonels Simcoe, Emmerick and Tarleton, marched the road to Mile Square for four miles, about 10 o'clock they took their several posts, viz ., the Rangers and Legion Dragoons in a wood on the right, the Chasseurs, Light Infantry and Riflemen on the left, Lt. Col. Emmerick, with Dragoons and some Light Infantry, in the centre; at 12 o'clock Lt. Col. Emmerick discovered a body of rebel Infantry of between 50 and 60 Indians coming down the road directly for him, he immediately made an attack on them, and then kept retreating by degrees, in order to draw them through the right and left wings, which as soon as he found ,

by the warm firing of his Light Infantry and Riflemen and the Grenadiers of the Rangers, was accomplished, he immediately faced about and ordered a charge by his own Dragoons, accompanied by those of the Legion, which, by their activity and spirited behaviour, together with that of the Infantry then engaged, very soon put a period to the existence of 37 Indians and a number of Rebels ; there were 10 prisoners taken, amongst them one Captain and two Indians of the Stockbridge tribe. Our loss was two killed of the Legion, two of the Chasseurs, and three of the Queen's Rangers wounded; amongst the slain was the young Indian Chief Ninham. The old Sachem, Ninham, has since been found dead of his wounds in Col. Cortlandt's Fields”.

The Stockbridge put up a determined resistance, but the infantry and cavalry surrounded and broke them up in detail. The Stockbridge Indian Company didn’t have bayonets to fight back against cavalry, and had never trained to do so, and in any case their muskets had been discharged and they had no time to reload. The surrounded Stockbridge Infantry Company, using standard ranger tactics, broke apart and attempted to escape through nearby woods, hoping to use the trees and rough terrain to slow the cavalry and avoid death or capture. But many that tried to escape across the battlefield were cut off, ridden down and killed without getting a chance to surrender.

Don’t forget to come back next week and read “The Battle of Kingsbridge, and the Stockbridge Indian Massacre Part Four ©”, where we will talk about the after math of the Battle of Kingsbridge, a defeat for the Patriots, a total disaster for the Stockbridge.

That is all for now, and as always, until next time, Happy Trails!

Sources

New York City Cemetery Project; “Stockbridge Indian Burial Ground”, March 1, 2022, https://nycemetery.wordpress.com/tag/native-american-cemeteries/, accessed August 12, 2026

Sunday, August 23, 2026

The Battle of Kingsbridge, and the Stockbridge Indian Massacre, Part Two ©

The Battle of Kingsbridge was a defeat for the Patriots, and a total disaster for the Stockbridge Indians. The ‘Indian Company’, the regiment commanded by sachem Daniel Nimham and his son Abraham, Captain of the regiment, was was effectively wiped out, losing between 17 and 40, and maybe as many as 48 Stockbridge warrior-soldiers killed.

But what led to this disaster for the Stockbridge, and how did they get here?

The road to Kingsbridge

Partly because the Stockbridge missionary, John Sargent, Jr., had strong pro-American leanings, but mostly due to the lingering bitterness over the dismissal of their land claim case, and a lack of support by royal officials, such as Sir William Johnson, the powerful British Superintendent of Indian Affairs for the Northern Department, to support what was determined by the Royal Board of Trade to be patently illegal land grab, these once loyal warriors of the British felt that they had been abandoned by the British authorities. The March 11^th, 1767, decision by a New York City court saw 205,000 acres stretching from the Hudson eastward to the Connecticut border (which today includes southern Dutchess County, parts of Putnam County) taken from the Stockbridge and given to the heirs of Adolphe Philipse. Stockbridge bitterness toward British authorities intensified every year thereafter right up to the outbreak of the hostilities at Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775.

Early in 1775, Daniel Nimham offered his services to the Provincial Congress, who employed him as diplomate, bearing messages and dispatches to other tribes of Native Americans further west; tribes such as the Six Nations, the Shawnee and the Kahnawake/Mohawk Indian community of Canada.

According to the Provincial Commissioner of Indian affairs, in a letter to General George Washington, the Stockbridge had stated that they were “anxious to take part in our favour”¹ Subsequently, the Stockbridge Indian Company entered Provincial service on August 21, 1777.

A journal kept by the Hessian officer Johann Van Ewald of the Schleswig Jagr Corps, contains the best description of the warriors in the Stockbridge Indian Company. Van Ewald wrote,

“I was struck with astonishment over their sinewy and muscular bodies. Their strong and well-made and healthy bodies were strikingly distinguished among the European bodies, with whom they lay mingled on the ground...Their costume was a shirt of coarse linen down to the knees, long trousers also of linen down to the feet, on which they wore shoes of deerskin, and the head was covered with a hat made of bast [which is defined in historical notes of his journal as “matting or cordage made from the inner bark of the basswood tree”]. Their weapons were a rifle or musket, a quiver with some twenty arrows, and a short battle-axe, which they know how to throw very skillfully. Through the nose and in the ears they wore rings, and on their heads only the hair of the crown remained standing in a circle the size of a dollar-piece, the remainder being shaved off bare. They pull out with pincers all the hairs of the beard, as well as those on all other parts of the body”.

Because of their skill as hunters, the Stockbridge were natural scouts, and were often employed as scouts and rangers, to spy on opposition forces, gather information and capture enemy soldiers for interrogation, by the Continental commanders. This put them between the lines or in advance of the other larger, more heavily armed Continental forces. Since they were a lightly armed Milita unit, they would not have had extensive military drill on what formations were best to use when attacked by cavalry, and they would not have had bayonets. This would put them at a distinct disadvantage if they were confronted by larger, regular British forces, something that they would learn the hard way at the Battle of Kingsbridge.

Don’t forget to come back next week and read “The Battle of Kingsbridge, and the Stockbridge Indian Massacre Part Three ©”, where we will talk about details of the Battle of Kingsbridge, which was a defeat for the Patriots and a complete disaster for the Stockbridge.

That is all for now, and as always, until next time, Happy Trails!

Sources

New York City Cemetery Project; “Stockbridge Indian Burial Ground”, March 1, 2022, https://nycemetery.wordpress.com/tag/native-american-cemeteries/, accessed August 12, 2026

Sunday, August 16, 2026

Have you ever heard of the Battle of Kingsbridge? It is also known as the Stockbridge Indian Massacre or the Battle of Van Cortlandt’s Woods and took place on August 31, 1778, in present-day Bronx, New York, almost 250 years ago.

Daniel Nimham’s company of the Stockbridge Indian Company, consisting of approximately 60 Stockbridge Native American militiamen and scouts, who were allied with the Continental Army, were ambushed and overwhelmed by a larger force of British and Loyalist cavalry, including Lieut. Col. John Graves Simcoe’s Queen’s Rangers and Banastre Tarleton’s dragoons.

The outnumbered Stockbridge Indians, warriors from the Mohican, Wappinger, and Munsee tribes were essentially wiped out. The number killed has been variously reported from 14 to 40 individuals, with many contemporary accounts and modern markers noting around 30 to 48 killed after being taken by surprise by the larger British and Loyalist forces.

But who were the Stockbridge-Mohican? First, they are not to be confused with the modern Mohegan Tribe of Connecticut

the Mohegan. They are the ‘Muh-he-con-neok’, the ‘People of the Waters that are Never Still’, and pronounced ‘Muhheakun’nuk’, which was shortened into English as Mahican or Mohican. Historically the Stockbridge were the remnants of the Mahican, Housatonic, Wappinger, Tunxis, Shawnee, and other ‘River Indians’, Native Americans who lived along the shores of Hudson River, all of whom congregated at the town of Stockbridge, Massachusetts, one of several Mahican communities in New England and New York, in the mid eighteenth century, known as ‘Praying Towns’. Praying Towns were settlements of assorted Native Americans who embraced Christianity and lived in the English colonies alongside white inhabitants, these settlements offered several key advantages to both white settlers and Native Americans.

The Stockbridge-Mohican were pro-independence and immediately after shots being fired at Lexington and Concord in April 1775, rushed to the aid of the New England minutemen. In what would later become known as ‘Battle Road’, Mohican and American soldiers lined the path connecting Concord, Lexington, and Boston, Massachusetts, and poured a relentless fire upon the marching British infantry, inflicting heavy casualties upon them. And afterwards ‘Stockbridge Indian Company’ marched to Cambridge, Massachusetts, along with thousands of colonial militiamen to besiege the British army encamped within Boston.

During the siege, the Stockbridge constructed fortifications, patrolled the outer defenses, and conducted periodic ambushes of British forces, like the one June 21 when as described in Bryan Rindfleisch’s article, the Stockbridge on June 25, 1775 “killed more of the British guard”, and the next day “Two Indians went down near Bunker Hill and killed a sentry”. In addition, “some British barges sounding the waters near the mouth of the Charles River were put into a retreat by a shower of arrows that killed one redcoat and wounded three. The arrows were aimed by Stockbridges … who were encamped near that place”. The Stockbridge Indian Company also fought at Bunker Hill, driving back the British attack, fighting that cost them one of their own, Abraham Naumanmpputaunky.

Leading up to the Battle of Kingsbridge, The Stockbridge Indians who had served alongside Rogers's Rangers in the French and Indian War, did great service for the American army during the Revolution serving as advanced scouts, raiding behind enemy lines and taking prisoners.

Don’t forget to come back next week and read “The Battle of Kingsbridge, and the Stockbridge Indian Massacre Part Two ©”, where we will talk about the Battle of Kingsbridge, which was a defeat for the Patriots and a disaster for the Stockbridge.

That is all for now, and as always, until next time, Happy Trails!

Sources

New York City Cemetery Project; “Stockbridge Indian Burial Ground”, March 1, 2022, https://nycemetery.wordpress.com/tag/native-american-cemeteries/, accessed August 12, 2026

About Me

I live near Buffalo, New York and have more than 25 years of experience in the outdoors. I enjoy being in the wilderness, paddling a canoe or exploring the woods, when I am not researching survival, woodcraft, camping skills or life on the Old Northwest Frontier of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. I am a published author and I have been a guide for Birchbark Expeditions and an Outdoor Skills trainer for the Boy Scouts since 2014. I am also a martial artist, having studied several different combat arts over the past 30 years. Currently, I am the author of The Woodsman’s Journal Online and BandanaMan Productions on YouTube.

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Sunday, September 6, 2026

The Battle of Kingsbridge, and the Stockbridge Indian Massacre, Part Four ©

Sunday, August 30, 2026

The Battle of Kingsbridge, and the Stockbridge Indian Massacre, Part Three ©

Sunday, August 23, 2026

The Battle of Kingsbridge, and the Stockbridge Indian Massacre, Part Two ©

Sunday, August 16, 2026

The Battle of Kingsbridge, and the Stockbridge Indian Massacre, Part One ©

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