Were witch judges to blame for the destruction of English settlements in Maine?

2026-02-21

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We look back to May 1690, two years before the Salem witch trials, to examine the fall of Falmouth and Fort Loyal and how it helped fuel an atmosphere of fear in New England. We trace Boston’s wartime strategy in King William’s War, including plans for offensives against Port Royal and Montreal, and the council’s tendency to blame frontier settlers for raids. We follow John Hathorne and Jonathan Corwin’s inspection of Maine’s defenses and the decision that led to Captain Simon Willard’s 60 soldiers being withdrawn from Fort Loyal—just before a large Wabanaki and French force attacked, besieged the settlement, and devastated the captives after surrender. We also cover the shockwaves that followed, the refugee crisis and abandoned settlements, and the stark contrast between frontier catastrophe and Boston’s celebration of Phips’ successful raid, setting a grim prelude to 1692.

00:00 Welcome & Why 1690 Matters Before Salem

00:54 Boston’s Big Offensive Plans in King William’s War

01:24 Victim-Blaming the Frontier: ‘Negligence’ as Policy

01:59 New York Talks: Promising Troops for Montreal

02:32 Hathorne & Corwin Inspect Maine—and Make a Fateful Call

03:39 Fort Loyal Emptied: The Catastrophic Withdrawal

03:54 The Fall of Falmouth: Siege, Surrender, and Massacre

04:39 Shockwaves Across New England—and Boston’s Mixed Reaction

05:16 From Falmouth to 1692: How Trauma Followed Salem

⁠Mary Beth Norton, In the Devil’s Snare: The Salem Witchcraft Crisis of 1692

Bernard Rosenthal, ed., Records of the Salem Witch-Hunt

The Thing About Witch Hunts / About Salem YouTube channel