[3] At sunrise on February 10, 1676,[note 2] during King Philip's War, Lancaster came under attack by Narragansett, Wampanoag, and Nashaway–Nipmuc groups led by Monoco.

For more than 11 weeks,[4] Rowlandson and her remaining children were forced to accompany the Native Americans as they travelled through the wilderness to carry out other raids and to elude the English militia.

On May 2, 1676, Rowlandson was ransomed for £20, raised by the women of Boston in a public subscription and paid by John Hoar of Concord at Redemption Rock in Princeton, Massachusetts.

Finally, in its use of autobiography, Biblical typology, and similarity to the "Jeremiad", A Narrative of the Captivity offers valuable insight into the mind and lifestyle of a Puritan citizen.

[citation needed] Scholars such as Gary Ebersole and Kathryn Derounian-Stodola have noted the similarities between Rowlandson's narrative and the Puritan Jeremiad and have considered the editorial influence that Increase Mather might have had on the text.

In recent scholarship, Billy J. Stratton has further elaborated on this line of thought, claiming that Mather may have had a much more extensive involvement in the book's production than has been previously believed.

Throughout the narrative of Rowlandson's captivity, the central influence of Puritan philosophy is displayed through the use of Biblical quotations that function to reinforce her descriptions of a world of stark dichotomies: punishment and retribution, darkness and light, and good and evil.

The lessons and meaning conveyed also acted to demonstrate her Puritan faith and belief that God's grace and Divine providence shape the events of the world.

I repaired under these thoughts to my Bible (my great comfort in that time) and that scripture came to my hand, 'Cast thy burden on the Lord, and He shall sustain thee' (Psalm 55.22)."