d
in these expeditions in killing two hundred and thirty-nine of the
enemy without incurring the loss of a single man. As most of the
inhabitants of the towns had found it necessary to take refuge in
garrison houses, prowling bands of Indians experienced but little
difficulty in setting fire to the abandoned dwellings and barns, and
the sky was every night illumined with conflagrations.

On the ninth of April a small party made an attack upon Bridgewater.
They plundered several houses, and were commencing the conflagration,
when the inhabitants sallied forth and put them to flight. It is said
that Philip had given orders that the town of Taunton should be spared
until all the other towns in the colony were destroyed. A family by
the name of Leonard resided in Taunton, where they had erected the
first forge which was established in the English colonies. Philip,
though his usual residence was at Mount Hope, had a favorite summer
resort at a place called Fowling Pond, then within the limits of
Taunton, but now included in the town of Raynham. In these excursions
he had become acquainted with the Leonards. They had treated him and
his followers with uniform kindness, repairing their guns, and
supplying them with such tools as the Indians highly prized. Philip
had become exceedingly attached to this family, and in gratitude, at
the commencement of the war, had given the strictest orders that the
Indians should never injure a Leonard. Apprehending that in a general
assault upon the town his friends the Leonards might be exposed to
danger, he spread the shield of his generous protection over the whole
place. This act certainly develops a character of more than ordinary
magnanimity.

[Illustration: THE DESTRUCTION OF SUDBURY.]

On the 18th of April an immense band of savages, five hundred in number,
made an impetuous assault upon Sudbury. The inhabitants, warned of their
approach, had abandoned their homes and taken refuge in their garrisons.
The savages set fire to several of the dwellings, and were dancing
exultingly around the flames, when a small band of soldiers from
Watertown came to the rescue, and the inmates of the garrison,
sallying forth, joined them, and drove the Indians across the river.

Captain Wadsworth, from Boston, chanced to be in the vicinity with
about seventy men. Hearing of the extreme peril of Sudbury, although
he had marched all the day and all the night before, and his men were
exhausted with fat