The Occaneechee Campaign
Bacon's rebellion began in May of 1676 when Nathaniel Bacon and a band of poor black and white farmers marched south against the orders of Governor Berkeley with the intent of attacking Indian villages. Bacon's raiding party continued south until they reached the village of the Occaneechee tribe who gave them food and shelter (Bacon's 1900). Bacon and the Occaneechee discussed another tribe the Susquehannocks who had relocated south after their original village had been attacked by the English. Bacon learned that the Susquehannocks were currently living in two forts which were close by. Bacon spoke about how he planned to attack the nearest fort but the Occaneechee agreed to do it. The Occaneechee attacked the Susquehannocks with great success. The Occaneechee brought several prisoners from the Susquehannocks tribe back to Bacon who tortured and killed them. What followed next is not entirely sure as there are several accounts of what happened. What all the reports agree on is that Bacon and his men attacked the Occaneechee. Some people claim that Bacon's plan was to take the large quantity of beaver pelts that the Occaneechee had stored. Another claim was that Bacon had requested that the Occaneechee give him more of the spoils from the raid. Another claim states that Bacon simply felt that he needed to be aggressive against the natives or he would risk losing the support of his men. A fact that is common among the different accounts and that most scholars agree on is that Bacon and his men attacked first and against unsuspecting victims. This has been determined because of how easily Bacon's men were able to kill the majority of the Indian fort's occupants. Had Bacon attacked from outside the fort, the warriors would have been much more able to defend against Bacon's attacks. As a result Bacon killed most of the Occaneechee people. Throughout Bacon's first attack against the natives, he only attacked a tribe which was considered friendly to the English settlers (Washburn 1957).
Returning to Jamestown
When Bacon returned to Henrico he found that the governor of Virginia, William Berkeley had returned to Jamestown for an assembly meeting of the House of Burgesses. At this meeting they discussed how to best deal with the Native Americans. Berkeley wanted Bacon to cease his unauthorized campaign against the natives and told him that if he stopped they would not punish him. Berkeley also proposed that if Bacon could show one time in history where actions such as his were ever approved that he would speak to the king and request a full pardon for his crimes. Bacon refused to end his campaign against the natives and Berkeley labeled him a rebel. Bacon and his men requested a commission in order to build a volunteer army to attack the natives. Berkeley refused to grant Bacon this commission and Bacon told his men to aim their guns at the governor. Berkeley eventually agreed to allow Bacon to build a volunteer army but Bacon refused this offer saying that he now wanted to use all of the forces in Virginia against the Indians. After much brinkmanship and many threats Bacon gave up with Berkeley and told his men to aim at the members of the house of burgesses who quickly gave in and told Bacon that he would get his commission. All of Bacon's requests were related to allowing them to wage war against the Indians without opposition from the Virginian government despite Bacon getting many of his followers under the promise of forcing Berkeley to reform many of his laws which did not favor poorer farmers (Washburn 1957).
The Declaration of the People
Bacon then left Jamestown to begin preparing for war and Berkeley returned to his plantation to recover from the strain of the preceding weeks. On July 30, 1676 Bacon delivered the Declaration of the People which harshly criticized William Berkeley for several policies such as having high taxes. The declaration ended with Bacon demanding that Berkeley and several other high ranking people turn themselves over to Bacon within 4 days or he would declare them rebels. Berkeley fled and managed to evade capture by Bacon and his men. Bacon ordered his men to capture several ships in the James River in order to prevent news of his actions from reaching England while also believing that Berkeley was on one of the ships. Bacon's men successfully captured several ships but once again Berkeley managed to evade capture (Washburn 1957).
War against the Pamunkey
Soon after Bacon launched his campaign against the natives intending to go south against the Susquehannocks but changed his mind and headed north towards the Pamunkey river. Once there his troops combined with another group which was being led by Colonel Giles Brent. The two armies went in search of the Pamunkey village which they eventually found. Bacon attacked the Pamunkey village but the Pamunkey did not retaliate at the request of their queen (Berry, Moryson 1896). Many of the Indians tried to flee but in the end 8 were killed and 45 were captured by Bacon's army. As with his previous "victory" against the natives, Bacon only killed Indians who were considered friendly to the English colonists (Washburn 1957).
The Burning of Jamestown and the end of the rebellion
Bacon then returned to Jamestown where he ran into Berkeley who had raised an army to defend against Bacon's troops. For a while Berkeley did not want to fight because he had hoped to end the confrontation without more bloodshed. However after Bacon sent out several small parties to shoot at the palisade where Berkeley's Loyalist army was waiting they decided to attack. On September 15 Berkeley's troops attacked Bacon's rebels without success and had to retreat to their palisade again. Bacon attempted to break through the palisade by using cannons but he was unsuccessful, however he did manage to break the spirits of many of Berkeley and many of his men who fled from Jamestown. On the night of September 19th Bacon and his men entered Jamestown and burnt many of the buildings to the ground. Nathaniel Bacon held Jamestown for a little over a month but he died on October 26 of dysentery. Joseph Ingram became the leader of the rebels after Bacon's death but it was short lived. Many of the rebels left the cause after Bacon's death and Berkley managed to defeat the rebels and regain control of what remained of Jamestown. Berkeley sentenced several rebel leaders to death by hanging.