Kieft's War

Kieft's War
Part of the American Indian Wars

Massacre of Native Americans by Dutch settlers
DateFebruary 23, 1643 – August 1645
Location
Vicinity of present-day New York, Staten Island, and Hackensack, New Jersey
Result Dutch victory[1]
Belligerents
New Netherland
Mohawk people
Main tribes:
Algonquian
Mohicans
Raritans
Wappinger
Lenape
Other Indians of the northern Atlantic seacoast
Commanders and leaders
Willem Kieft Shawanórõckquot
Strength
Unknown Around 1,500 Indian warriors
Casualties and losses
Fewer then 100 dead 1,600 dead

Kieft's War (1643–1645), also known as the Wappinger War, was a conflict between the colonial province of New Netherland and the Wappinger and Lenape Indians in what is now New York and New Jersey. It is named for Director-General of New Netherland Willem Kieft, who had ordered an attack without the approval of his advisory council and against the wishes of the colonists.[2] Dutch colonists attacked Lenape camps and massacred the inhabitants, which encouraged unification among the regional Algonquian tribes against the Dutch and precipitated waves of attacks on both sides. This was one of the earliest conflicts between settlers and Indians in the region. The Dutch West India Company was displeased with Kieft and recalled him, but he died in a shipwreck while returning to the Netherlands; Peter Stuyvesant succeeded him in New Netherland. Numerous Dutch settlers returned to the Netherlands because of the continuing threat from the Algonquians, and growth slowed in the colony.

  1. ^ Britannica Inc., Encyclopaedia (2014). Britannica Student Encyclopedia (E-book ed.). Encyclopaedia Britannica, Incorporated. p. 8. ISBN 9781625131720.
  2. ^ Walter Giersbach, Governor Kieft's Personal War, (published online, 26 Aug 2006)