Colonial Warfare Quotes

They [the English] have not, it is true, taken into their own hands the hatchet and the knife, devoted to indiscriminate massacre, but they have let loose the savages armed with these cruel instruments; have allured them into their service, and carried them to battle by their sides, eager to glut their savage thirst with the blood of the vanquished and to finish the work of torture and death on maimed and defenseless captives.

We shall drive the British from our Continent. They will no longer have an opportunity of intriguing with our Indian neighbors and setting on the ruthless savage to tomahawk our women and children.

These Savages may indeed be a formidable Enemy to your raw American Militia but upon the King’s regular and disciplin’d Troops, Sir, it is impossible they should make any impression

Colonel Marion had so wrought the minds of the people, partly by the terror of his threats and cruelty of his punishments, and partly by the promise of plunder, that there was scarcely an inhabitant between the Santee and the Peedee that was not in arms against us.

A phrase often used is that "war is war", but when one comes to ask about it, one is told that no war is going on, that it is not war. When is a war not a war? When it is carried on by methods of barbarism in South Africa.

What booty you take or prisoners, whether men, women or children, you may send to Seabrook fort, to be kept and improved for the advantage of the colonies

Native Americans had only stone and wooden weapons and no animals that could be ridden. Those military advantages repeatedly enabled troops of a few dozen mounted Spaniards to defeat Indian armies numbering in the thousands.

We go out on a hike, catch a negro and ask him if he has a gun; he will give us a polite bow and say 'No sabby,' and then we take hold of him and give him the 'water cure,' after which he can get us two or three guns. Now, this is the way we give them the water cure: lay them on their backs, a man standing on each hand and each foot, then put a round stick in the mouth and pour a pail of water in the mouth and nose, and if they don't give up, pour in another pail. They swell up like toads. I'll tell you it is a terrible torture.

In Natal our chief difficulty had not been to kill the rebellious natives, but to prevent our Colonists (who so thoroughly understood native wars) from killing too many of them.

This Scalping Business hath been encouraged, in the Colonies, for more than a Century past. Premiums have been given, frequently, by the Massachusetts Assemblies, for the Scalps of Indians, even when they boasted loudest of their Sanctity; & I have seen a Vessel enter the Harbor of Boston, with a long String of hairy Indian Scalps strung to the rigging, & waving in the wind;

It is far from my inclination to join in a war of extermination, but you must be aware that the numerous body of Indians who have attached themselves [to the English forces] will be beyond my control the moment the contest commences.

You will, this night, set out with the detachment, as ordered yesterday, viz., of two hundred men, which you will take under your command and proceed to Missisqui Bay. From thence you will proceed in such a manner as shall most effectually disgrace and injure the enemy, and redound to the honor and success of His Majesty's arms. Remember the barbarities committed by the enemy's Indian scoundrels on every occasion, where they have had opportunities of showing their famous cruelties towards His Majesty's subjects. Take your revenge; but remember that although the villains have promiscuously murdered women and children of all ages, it is my order that no women or children should be hurt. When you have performed this service, you will again join the army, wherever it may be.