[2] By the summer of 1676, English colonists had gained the upper hand in King Philip's War, and the opposing American Indian tribes were generally in retreat.

Many Narragansetts, based in southern Rhode Island, had fled to the Connecticut River valley after the Great Swamp Fight, a devastating assault on their central village by a combined English and Indian force in December 1675.

In the summer of 1676, a band of approximately 100 Narragansetts led by female sachem Quaiapen returned to northern Rhode Island, apparently seeking to recover cached seed corn for planting.

The Narragansetts were attacked by a force of 400 led by John Talcott, composed of 300 Connecticut colonial militia and about 100 Mohegan and Pequot warriors.

Archaeological investigation by the National Park Service of the site has yielded Narragansett domestic objects as well as lead shot, musket balls, a horseshoe, a bridle rosette, and other military artifacts.