On the 19th of October, Philip, at the head of eight hundred warriors,
boldly, but with Indian secrecy, approached the outposts of Hatfield.
He succeeded in cutting off several parties who were scouring the
woods in the vicinity, and then made an impetuous rush upon the town.
But every man sprang to his appointed post. Every avenue of approach
was valiantly defended. Major Appleton immediately crossed with his
force from Hadley, and fell furiously upon the assailants, every man
burning with the desire to avenge the destruction of Northfield,
Deerfield, and Springfield. Notwithstanding this determined defense,
the Indians, inspired by the energies of their indomitable leader,
fought a long time with great resolution. At length, repulsed at every
point, they retreated, bearing off with them all their dead and
wounded. They succeeded, however, in burning many houses, and in
driving off many cattle. The impression they made upon the English may
be inferred from the fact that they were not pursued. In this affair,
six of the English were killed and ten wounded. A bullet passed
through the bushy hair of Major Appleton, cutting a very smooth path
for itself, "by that whisper telling him," says Hubbard, "that death
was very near, but did him no other harm."

Winter was now approaching, and as Philip found that the remaining
settlements upon the Connecticut were so defended that he could not
hope to accomplish much, he scattered his forces into winter quarters.
Most of his warriors, who had accompanied him from the Atlantic coast
to the Connecticut, returned to Narraganset, and established their
rendezvous in an immense swamp in the region now incorporated into the
town of South Kingston, Rhode Island. Upon what might be called an
island in this immense swamp, they constructed five hundred wigwams,
and surrounded the whole with fortifications admirably adapted to
repel attack. Three thousand Indians were soon assembled upon this
spot.

There is some uncertainty respecting the movements of Philip during
the winter. It is generally supposed that he passed the winter very
actively engaged in endeavors to rouse all the distant tribes. It is
said that he crossed the Hudson, and endeavored to incite the Indians
in the valley of the Mohawk to fall upon the Dutch settlements on the
Hudson. It is also probable that he spent some time at the Narraganset
fort, and that he directed several assaults which, during this season
of comparative