Kieft's War

Timeline

1. 1640–1642New Amsterdam · ManhattanKieft demanded tribute from neighboring natives to cut company expenses, but chiefs refused. After livestock were stolen from a Staten Island farm, colonial authorities attacked a Raritan village—later found the pigs had been taken by other colonists. In 1641 the tavern keeper at Turtle Bay in Manhattan was killed, and a trading post on the Hackensack River saw a fatal dispute over a coat; Kieft sought a punitive expedition. He convened a Council of Twelve, but it opposed war and demanded a standing representative body, so it was dissolved.
2. 1643Pavonia · Hudson CountyWecquaesgeek, Tappan, and others who had fled south to escape Mohawk and Mahican pressure and camped at Pavonia and Corlears Hook were surprised at night by West India Company soldiers and armed colonists. Dutch records give about 80 to 120 dead, including women and children. De Vries and other eyewitnesses left bloody accounts. The massacre shattered refugees' expectations of Dutch protection and became the trigger for full-scale war.
3. 1643–1645New Netherland countryside · New JerseyLenape, Wappinger, and neighboring tribes jointly attacked scattered farms, forcing colonists to retreat toward Fort Amsterdam. Company forces were limited and natives could not organize a decisive siege, resulting in two years of attrition. In 1643 Anne Hutchinson's family was killed near Pelham Bay. Some colonists wrote home demanding the governor's removal; migration reversed and colonial expansion slowed markedly.
4. 1645–1647Fort Amsterdam · ManhattanOn August 30, 1645, Dutch authorities concluded a treaty in the open field of Fort Amsterdam with chiefs of the Hackensack, Tappan, Wappinger, Mahican, and others, in the presence of Mohawk emissaries. The authorities declared September 6 a day of thanksgiving. The West India Company, dissatisfied with the war's costs under Kieft, recalled him; Peter Stuyvesant succeeded him in 1647. The war long damaged New Netherland's population and its relations with surrounding peoples.