| Royalton raid | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of theAmerican Revolutionary War | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 Great BritainMohawks |  Vermont Republic | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| LieutenantRichard Houghton | unknown | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 6 members of the53rd Regiment of Foot 1grenadier 300Kanien’kehá:ka (Mohawk Indians) warriors fromKahnawà:ke,Quebec | At Randolph: 300 members of theRepublic of Vermont militia | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| None | 4 killed 26prisoners | ||||||
TheRoyalton raid was a British-ledIndian raid in 1780 against various towns along theWhite River Valley in theVermont Republic during theAmerican Revolutionary War. It was the last major Indian raid inNew England.[1]
Lieutenant Richard Houghton of the53rd Regiment of Foot led 300Mohawk warriors from theKahnawake Reserve in the Britishprovince of Quebec in October 1780. On October 16, they attacked and burned the towns ofRoyalton,Sharon, andTunbridge along the White River in eastern Vermont.[2] This raid was launched in conjunction with other raids led by MajorChristopher Carleton of the29th Regiment of Foot along the shores ofLake Champlain andLake George, andSir John Johnson of theKing's Royal Regiment of New York in theMohawk River valley. Four Vermont settlers were killed and 26 were taken prisoner to Quebec.[3]
Houghton and his command were already on their way back north by the time that the local militia could assemble. The militia caught up with them nearRandolph, Vermont, and a few volleys were fired back and forth, but Houghton said that the remaining captives might be killed by the Mohawks if fighting continued, so the local militia let the raiders slip away. A plaque at the East Randolph cemetery marks the site of this event.[4]
The Hannah Handy (Hendee) monument on theSouth Royalton town green is a granite arch honoring a young mother who lost her son in the raid. She crossed the river and successfully begged for the return of several children. She then caught up with Houghton's raiding party and begged him to release the young boys being held by the Mohawks, arguing that they would not survive the trip to Canada and their deaths would be on his hands. Houghton ordered the boys to be released to the woman for safe return to their families. The names of the boys were: Michael Hendee, Roswell Parkhurst (son of Capt. Ebenezer Parkhurst), Andrew and Sheldon Durkee, Joseph Rix, Rufus and ___ Fish, Nathaniel Evans, and Daniel Downer.[5]
