In the winter of 1704, a group of about 300 French soldiers and Native American warriors of various tribes attacked the English settlement of Deerfield. Around 50 colonists were killed, half of which were children, and more than 100 were taken captive and forced to march 300 miles through the New England winter to Quebec, Canada. Many died on the way.

Those who were killed in the settlement were all buried in a mass grave that can be found in the corner of a small cemetery at the end of Albany Road in Deerfield that is sometimes called “Deerfield Cemetery” and other times “Old Albany Cemetery”. At the top of a small hump of grave land there is a squat, pointed monument with inscriptions on two of its four sides. On one side it states, “The Dead of 1704.” On the opposite side, it states, “The grave of 48 men women and children, victims of the French and Indian raid on Deerfield. February 29, 1704.”

Adapted with Permission from: The New England Grimpendium by J.W. Ocker