THE NEWLY COMMISSIONED CAPTAIN
Captain BENJAMIN SWETT came to this new land when he was a boy, settling in Newbury, Massachusetts, with his family. He was well educated and forthright. In his twenties, he married Esther Weare and entered military life. Swett was his own man and on more than one occasion (with dutiful respect) signed petitions to the Council in Boston regarding military affairs. As were many of his contemporaries, he was a strong advocate of self-determination and the ability to petition the government without retribution. Swett and his family left Newbury to settle in Hampton, New Hampshire, where he and his wife raised ten children. Here Swett grew in prominence among its citizenry. He became a leader of the community, holding a variety of offices. With the coming of the war, Swett would have many challenges; utmost was to protect his own town of Hampton. Chroniclers tell of the few skirmishes that occurred in his town, which was not visited by the wholesale slaughter or destruction shared by many towns of that time. Whether by Swett’s diligence or the Indians’ indifference, Hampton was spared for the most part until 13 June 1677 when four men were killed outside of town.6
Swett was not always there to help protect his town. During the war he had already served as an ensign in the Essex regiment under Captain Gardiner and fought at the famous Great Narragansett Fort Fight in December 1675. The ensign was soon promoted to lieutenant after Gardiner died during the battle. He probably took part in "The Hungry March" in the attempt to attack the Indians in the heart of the winter the month after, the soldiers in such need that they had to eat their horses. There must have been such a feeling of safety in Hampton that in the Spring of 1677, towards the end of the war, Swett was requested to go to Wells to bolster the garrison there.7
It may have passed through Swett’s mind as he marched with his men at Black Point that exactly two months earlier, while at Wells, he had experienced Indian tactics of stealth over outright attack. Espying an Indian in the distance, Swett dispatched eleven men to pursue him whereupon they fell into ambush. Two were killed immediately and one was mortally wounded. Reinforcements were sent out, which resulted in the death of six Indians.8 Some satisfaction could be gained from this but it was a lesson hard learned.
Swett was a very competent soldier but he knew that many men left home and hearth never to return. No doubt this was a concern when he took friends aside before his departure from Hampton. If he were to die, he wished it to be known that he wanted his wife to live in comfort and to receive a double portion of his estate, a decision that was not common at that time.9
The new captain must have felt very confident as he led his troops. All of his men might not have the experience of hardened soldiers but he had men in numbers. These were not a few soldiers garrisoned at Wells where the posture was defense. He now had a small army at his command of English and Indians, the latter skilled at discrete warfare, reputations unimpeachable when fighting alongside the English, while in the distance lay a small band of the retreating enemy.
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