Battle Site: Battle of Turner's Falls - Gill, MA

Battle Site

Battle of Turner's Falls

Gill, MA

N 42° 36.751 W 072° 32.918

Short Description: 

A large granite historical marker identifies the site of Captain William Turner's attack on encamped Indians is located on the south side of Route 2, The Mohawk Trail, and Riverview Drive in Gill, MA.

Long Description:

The settlement at Deerfield was abandoned during King Philip's War after the Battle of Bloody Brook, on September 18, 1675. The fighting continued in the area as Captain William Turner led a counter offensive against the native Indians following the defeat of Captain Thomas Lathrop by Nipmuc warriors at the Battle of Bloody Brook. It what is known as The Battle of Turner's Falls, or the Peskeompscut massacre, he engaged and killed a large group of Indians fishing at the Great Falls of the Connecticut River in Gill, MA on May 19, 1676.

The large granite monument is inscribed:

CAPTAIN WILLIAM TURNER 

WITH 145 MEN SURPRISED AND 

DESTROYED OVER 300 INDIANS 

ENCAMPED AT THIS PLACE 

MAY 19, 1676.