On the dark and threatening night of May 18, 1676, Captains William Turner and Samuel Holyoke set out from Hatfield and Northampton with roughly 150 men, mostly young farmers from the Connecticut River Valley. They headed north through the burned-down town of Pocumtuck, the village now known as Deerfield. They were headed for the falls at Peskeompskut, sometimes known as Deerfield Falls. Turner, at 63, was sickly and feeble after spending 5 years in a Puritan prison for being a Baptist. He had asked to be relieved of this command. Massachusetts Bay Colony refused. He didn’t know, but likely suspected, that he was to meet his destiny the following day.
