Nescambious

Nescambious (c. 1660–1727, many variant spellings, including Escumbuit and Nescambiouit), was a Native American leader of the Pequawket tribe of the Abenaki who was knighted by Louis XIV of France in 1706.

During King William's War, he was first associated with the French in the siege of Fort St. John led by Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville in 1695 during the Avalon Peninsula Campaign. Even after the war was officially ended, Abenaki raids on the English colonists continued. On March 4, 1698 Pigwacket Abenaki Chief, Escumbuit led a group of 30 Indians in a raid on Andover, Massachusetts, the last and most severe Indian raid on this town.

During Queen Anne's War, he participated in the Northeast Coast Campaign (1703). In early 1705 he was again in Newfoundland, where he participated in the Siege of St. John's and other French and Indian raids against English holdings. Later that year he was invited to France as part of France's bid for an alliance with his tribe. He returned to America in 1706. He fought in Raid on Haverhill (1708).

His reputation among the French and the English of New England was notorious—the latter called him a "bloody devil", and accused him of killing many women and children.

Texts

 * Alfred E. Kayworth. Abenaki Warrior: The Life and Times of Chief Escumbuit. 1998.