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

 

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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.

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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