A famous chief of the Wampanoag Indians, son of Massasoit. While known as Metacom to his tribesmen, the British named him Philip of Pokanket, or King Philip.
King Philip undoubtedly was the most remarkable of the New England chiefs. Historians have said that had he succeeded in driving the colonists from the shores of America, he would have established himself as a powerful ruler.
He is best known as the leader of King Philip's War which raged during the years 1675 and 1676. It was the most destructive war in history of the New England colonists and the most disastrous to the Indians. The decisive battle was fought August 12, 1676, when the Indians attacked a swamp fortress in Rhode Island. The Indians were defeated and King Philip was slain.
Like such later chiefs as Pontiac, Tecumseh, Black Hawk, and Sitting Bull, King Philip vainly sought to federate the tribes to resist the inroads of the white man.
Related Information within this Site
[ Black Hawk ][ Narraganset
][ Orators ][ Pontiac ][ Praying
Indians ][ Sitting Bull ][ Tecumseh
]