8 HISTORY OF THE COUNTY OF WESTCHESTER. 



that scoured Staten Island in the hope of meeting the tribes of that 

 region; but they found no Indians to contend with, and returned after 

 only a few days' absence, with no other booty than a few hundred sche- 

 pels of corn. 



A messenger from Stamford arrived at the fort, bearing the head of 

 the Indian chief Mayano, and reporting that a large body of hostile In- 

 dians was encamped near Greenwich. A detachment of one hundred 

 and twenty men was sent off by water. They landed at Greenwich and 

 after marching all night without meeting the enemy, halted at Stamford. 

 It was evident either that the Indians had been warned of the expedi- 

 tion, or that the story of the encampment was false. The troops had 

 been sent mainly on the representations of Captain Daniel Patrick, of 

 Greenwich, and to him the disappointed Dutchmen looked for an ex- 

 planation. On a Sunday afternoon, during the hour of service, a Dutch 

 soldier met the captain at Stamford, and, after stating that the troops 

 had been deluded, openly charged him with treachery. The captain 

 threw back the insult with some rough words, and spat in his accuser's 

 face; but as he turned on his heel the Dutchman drew a pistol and shot 

 him dead. 



Some Stamford men, who seemed nettled at the taunts of the Dutch, 

 volunteered to discover the place where the Indians lay concealed. 

 Four scouts went out, who soon returned, and conducted a party of 

 twenty-five to an Indian village, where about twenty savages were killed; 

 and an old man, two squaws, and some children made prisoners. The 

 old man offered to show the Dutch the way to Wetquescheck, an Indian 

 stronghold consisting of three castles constructed of plank five inches 

 thick, nine feet high, and braced all around by heavy timbers, pierced 

 for small arms. Sixty-five men, under the command of Lieutenant 

 Baxter and Sergeant Cock, following the old man's guidance, cautiously 

 approached the castles, expecting a formidable resistance; but, to their 

 surprise, they found the stronghold deserted. The over-prudent Indians 

 had retreated, leaving the Dutch to burn two of the castles, a small 

 quantity of stores, kill one or two men, and take a few women and 

 children prisoners. 



Meanwhile Pennewitz, of Long Island, one of the oldest and most 

 experienced chiefs in the country, and who, in the first war, had pro- 

 posed to slaughter the Dutch in a single night, was secretly acting a 

 hostile part, and had already killed a number of Christians and burnt 

 numerous barns. It was therefore resolved to send a force of one hun- 

 dred and twenty men towards Heemstede (Hempstead), the English 

 under command of Underhill, the Dutch under Peter Cock, and all 



