He was a staunch member of the Protestant Separatist movement and had moved between England and Holland to avoid religious persecution. Myles Standish Fact 6. Myles Standish settled in Leiden in Holland with his wife Rose. Myles Standish Fact 7. Myles Standish was part of the Puritan congregation in Leiden, Holland.
Myles Standish Fact 8. A group of the dissenting Puritans, Separatists, had met in the north of England and shared a meeting place at Scrooby Manor but left England for Holland also escaping religious prosecution. Myles Standish Fact 9. Myles Standish shared the same beliefs and religion of the Scrooby Separatists and became involved with their community and shared their aspirations to travel to the New World.
Myles Standish Fact The Scrooby Puritans made the decision to move to America after reading about the travels and experiences of John Smith. The Scrooby Puritans tried to hire the services of John Smith but he wanted too much money. They turned to a member of their own congregation and asked Myles Standish to accompany them on the arduous voyage and act as military leader when they reached America.
By , 2 ships called the Mayflower and Speedwell, were leased to take the Leiden separatists, including Myles Standish, to North America. There were passengers on board, living in cold, and dark conditions. The voyage on the crowded Mayflower would take 66 days. The passengers were not all Puritans and the voyagers fell into 2 groups referred to as the "Strangers" and the "Saints". The "Saints" and the "Strangers" realised that if they did not work together, they could all die in the wilderness so they came to an agreement on how they would live in the new colony - the document was signed by the men and was called the Mayflower Compact.
Myles Standish was the fourth to sign the compact. The signers of the Mayflower Compact served as the initial government of the colony by electing a governor, enacting laws and ensuring that there would be law and order in the colony. John Carver, was elected the first governor of the Plymouth Settlement.
The conditions in the New World were terrible and the colonists had to find a way to survive. One of the other colonists was William Bradford who became a life-long friend to Myles Standish. The first expedition brought about casualties - William Bradford caught his leg in an Indian deer trap.
Myles Standish led the next two expeditions outside the colony by boat, hoping to find a more suitable location. December 6, The explorers, led by Myles Standish, located present day Plymouth Bay on the third expedition and found some land that had been previously cleared by Native Indians.
They later discovered that it was the Pokanoket Indian village of Patuxet that had been wiped out by an epidemic. He was one of the few who did not get sick at all the first winter, and is recorded as having greatly helped and cared for those who were sick. He organized the deployment of the colony's cannons and the construction of the fort at Plymouth. He led both trading expeditions and military expeditions to the various Indian groups in the region. He led the party that went in pursuit of the alleged killers of Squanto who was later discovered to be safe.
He led the revenge attacks on the Indians in the Massachusetts Bay after they were caught in a conspiracy planning to attack and destroy the Plymouth and Wessagussett colonies; several Indians were killed or executed, for which Standish received some criticism, even from his friends, for being too heavy-handed.
Standish was heavily involved in numerous aspects of Plymouth Colony, from defense to keeping the law. He was on the receiving end of John Billington's verbal wrath in Billington refused to follow the captain's orders , and was called a "silly boy" in a letter that was sent out during the Oldham-Lyford scandal of , and was noted for his short stature and for his quick temper.
He was sent to arrest Thomas Morton in , for which he received the nickname "Captain Shrimp" from Morton. They wrote the Mayflower Compact , which made rules on how they would live and treat each other. While the Mayflower was anchored off Cape Cod, Standish took some men ashore to find a good place for all to live.
William Bradford wrote of one of the exploration missions. Hopkins was the most experienced because he had seen Native Americans during his time at Jamestown. Bradford said they set off in below freezing temperatures. Many of the men were ill, and when they left the salt spray froze on their coats.
During their trip they saw Native Americans who appeared to be cutting up a whale which was very large. When they saw the men approaching the Indians fled. At night they tried to protect themselves from the cold and the Indians. After more trips in late December they picked a place to live. Standish gave good advice and they built a small fort and placed cannon for protection against any who might try to harm them. Standish's wife, Rose, died in January. Many passengers were sick but Standish stayed healthy.
Standish was a source of great comfort and strength to those who suffered. Standish helped to care Bradford when he was sick and they became good friends. Bradford held the position of governor for most of his life and worked closely with Standish. In March of , a Native American named Samoset came to the colony and spoke to the people in English. He stayed one day and talked with the leaders about many things.
When he returned he brought the tribe leader Massasoit to meet with the Pilgrims. Governor John Carver , signed a treaty with this chief and they became friends. They all promised to help and defend each other.
In August a leader named Corbitant tried to turn the people of Nemasket against Massasoit. Standish led a group of ten men to kill Corbitant. His experience made him an attractive candidate, but the Pilgrims ultimately decided against Smith: His price was too high and the Pilgrims feared his fame and bold character might lead him to become a dictator. Standish, having lived in Leiden with his wife Rose, was apparently already known to the Pilgrims. The Mayflower departed Plymouth, England on September 6, with passengers and about 30 crew members in a small foot ship.
The first month in the Atlantic, the seas were not severe, but by the second month the ship was being hit by strong north-Atlantic winter gales causing the ship to be badly shaken with water leaks from structural damage. There were two deaths, but this was just a precursor of what happened after their Cape Cod arrival, when almost half the company would die in the first winter.
On November 9, , after a month of delays off the English coast and about two months at sea, they spotted land which was Cape Cod. After several days of trying to get south to their planned destination of the Colony of Virginia, strong winter seas forced them to return to Cape Cod and the harbor that is now the site of Provincetown, Massachusetts. When it became apparent that, due to a shortage of provisions, they would have to settle on or near Cape Cod, the leaders of the colony decided to draw up the Mayflower Compact to ensure a degree of law and order in this place where they had no legal rights to settle.
Myles Standish was the fourth to sign the compact. While the Mayflower was anchored off Cape Cod, Standish urged the colony's leaders to allow him to take a party ashore to find a suitable place for settlement. At first the Englishmen panicked, but Standish calmed them, urging the settlers not to fire their matchlock muskets unnecessarily. After further exploration, in late December the Pilgrims chose a location in present-day Plymouth Bay as the site for their settlement.
Standish provided important counsel on the placement of a small fort in which cannon were mounted, and on the layout of the first houses for maximum defensibility. Of the roughly who first arrived, only 50 survived the first winter.
Standish himself was one of the very few who did not fall ill and William Bradford soon to be governor of Plymouth Colony credited Standish with comforting many and being a source of strength to those who suffered. In terms of character, the two men were opposites—Bradford was patient and slow to judgment while Standish was well known for his fiery temper. By February , the colonists had sighted Native Americans several times, but there had been no communication. Anxious to prepare themselves in the event of hostilities, on February 17, , the men of the colony met to form a militia consisting of all able-bodied men and elected Standish their commander.
Although the leaders of Plymouth Colony had already hired him for that role, this vote ratified the decision by democratic process. As captain of the militia, Standish regularly drilled his men in the use of pikes and muskets. Contact with the Native Americans came in March through Samoset , an English-speaking Abenaki who arranged for the Pilgrims to meet with Massasoit , the sachem of the nearby Pokanoket tribe. On March 22, the first governor of Plymouth Colony, John Carver , signed a treaty with Massasoit, declaring an alliance between the Pokanoket and the Englishmen and requiring the two parties to defend each other in times of need.
As depicted by historian Nathaniel Philbrick , Bradford and Standish were frequently preoccupied with the complex task of reacting to threats against both the Pilgrims and the Pokanokets from tribes such as the Massachusett and the Narragansett. Although such behavior at times made Bradford uncomfortable, he found it an expedient means of maintaining the treaty with the Pokanoket. Standish's raid had done irreparable damage to the human condition of the entire area.
Not only had the Pilgrims proved violent and revengeful, but Indian leader Massasoit had betrayed his former Indian compatriots. These events had initiated a new and terrifying era for New England and it took a long time before balance came back to the region. The raid had ruined their ability to trade with the Indians, and without furs as a source of income, the Pilgrims were forced to rely on cod fishing, which had poor results.
An lithograph depicting the expedition against Nemasket led by Standish and guided by Hobbamock. Nemasket raid The first challenge to the treaty came in August when a sachem named Corbitant began to undermine Massasoit's leadership. In the Pokanoket village of Nemasket, now the site of Middleborough, Massachusetts, about 14 miles 23 km west of Plymouth, Corbitant worked to turn the people of Nemasket against Massasoit. Tisquantum had been pivotal in providing counsel and aid to the Pilgrims, ensuring the survival of the colony.
Hobbamock, another influential ally, was a pniese —a high-ranking advisor to Massasoit—and a warrior who commanded particular respect and fear among Native Americans. When Tisquantum and Hobbamock arrived in Nemasket, Corbitant took Tisquantum captive and threatened to kill him. Hobbamock escaped to warn Plymouth. Bradford and Standish agreed that this represented a dangerous threat to the English-Pokanoket alliance and decided to act quickly. On August 14, , Standish led a group of 10 men to Nemasket, determined to kill Corbitant.
The two men would be close for the remainder of their lives. In his old age, Hobbamock became part of Standish's household in Duxbury.
Reaching Nemasket, Standish planned a night attack on the wigwam in which Corbitant was believed to be sleeping. That night, Standish and Hobbamock burst into the shelter, shouting for Corbitant. As frightened Pokanokets attempted to escape, Englishmen outside the wigwam fired their muskets, wounding a Pokanoket man and woman who were later taken to Plymouth to be treated.
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