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Opechancanough

Type Figure Region Virginia Time c. 1554–1646 Also known as Opechancanough、奥佩昌卡诺、Mangopeesomon、奥佩尚卡诺

Opechancanough (birth year unknown, d. 1646) was a Pamunkey chief and military leader of the Powhatan Confederacy in the Chesapeake Bay, described by…

Timeline

  1. 1607–1618Pamunkey / Werowocomoco · Powhatan ConfederacyOpechancanough based himself in the Pamunkey Valley, defending against Monacan incursions and controlling granaries. In December 1607 he captured John Smith on the upper Chickahominy River, held divination, and sent him to Powhatan. At the end of the First Anglo-Powhatan War, Ralph Hamor felt he had 'secretly the rule of all the people,' and he managed the resolution of the Pocahontas ransom standoff.
  2. 1618–1632Settlements along the James River · James RiverAfter Powhatan's death the paramount chiefdom nominally passed to Opitchapam, but English dealings mostly went through Opechancanough. In 1621 he took the name Mangopeesomon and feigned willingness to be baptized. On the morning of March 22, 1622, warriors entered colonists' homes in a coordinated assault, killing about 347. The war continued until peace in 1632; in 1623 the English poisoned and shot at a peace banquet on the Pamunkey River, and he was badly wounded, fading from records for several years before formally succeeding as paramount chief around 1630.
  3. 1632–1644Pamunkey River basin · PamunkeyAfter the peace, tobacco-headright expansion pushed the English north to the Rappahannock and Potomac, again squeezing the valley towns. The aging Opechancanough reorganized forces from the Nansemond, Chickahominy, and Wayanoke, launching the second great war on April 18, 1644, killing about 400 colonists—though this was now only a small fraction of the English population. The warriors quickly withdrew and the English counterattacked.
  4. 1644–1646Jamestown · JamestownGovernor William Berkeley led a force up the Pamunkey River, capturing the nearly blind Opechancanough alive and ordering him kept alive for transport to Jamestown. According to Beverly's 1705 account, colonists gathered to view his prison cell; within about two weeks an English guard disobeyed orders and shot him in the back. His successor Necotowance immediately made peace, and the confederacy lost its independent status.

Sources