Bars Fight by Lucy Terry Prince

Bars Fight

by Lucy Terry Prince

August, twas the twenty-fifth,

Seventeen houndred forty-six,

The Indians did in ambush lay,

Some very valiant men to slay

Twas nigh unto Sam Dickinson's mill,

The Indians there five men did kill.

The names of whom I'll not leave out,

Samuel Allen like a hero foute,

And though he was so brave and bold,

His face no more shall we behold.

Eleazer Hawks was killed outright,

Before he had time to fight,

Before he did the Indians see,

Was shot and killed immediately.

Oliver Amsden he was slain,

Which caused his friends much grief pain.

Simeon Amsden they found dead

Not many rods from Oliver's head.

Adonijah Gillett, we do hear,

Did lose his life which was so dear.

John Sadler fled across the water,

And thus escaped the dreadful slaughter.

Eunice Allen see the Indians comeing

And hoped to save herself by running:

And had not her petticoats stopt her,

The awful creatures had not cotched her,

Not tommyhawked her on the head,

And left her on the ground for dead.

Young Samuel Allen, Oh! lack-a-day!

Was taken and carried to Canada.

Lucy Terry was a slave to the Wells family in Massachusetts when the massacre she writes of in this poem took place. She was about 22 when she wrote this poem. The poem was recited for many years before finally being published in the mid-1800s, about 100 years after it was written.

For clarification: bars means a meadow, a rod equals 16 1/2 feet, and the Native tribe involved would have been the Abenaki.

This poem recounts the events of August 25, 1746 in Deerfield, Massachusetts, and is considered to be "the most accurate account of what happened that day. Five colonists died, one was badly wounded, and another was taken captive." (Mass Moments) Even more noteworthy, this is the first published/known poem written by an African-American.

Before going on to look at the life of this fascinating woman, I do want to point out these horrifying lines:

Eunice Allen see the Indians comeing

And hoped to save herself by running:

And had not her petticoats stopt her,

The one woman involved in the day's events was severely injured because of her clothing. I see this as comparable to the horror movie trope of the woman running from a killer/monster and getting caught because she trips on her high heels. Karen Bowman discusses the misogyny in fashion throughout history in her book, Corsets and Codpieces: A History of Outrageous Fashion, from Roman Times to the Modern Era. There are other books on this topic, and Bowman's book is not focused on the political aspects of fashion, particularly gender, but I recently read it and so it came to mind. Eunice Allen is an example of how women's clothing has often been a means of literally and physically restricting women.

Terry married Abijah Prince in 1756; it is believed he, as a free Black man, was able to purchase her freedom. The couple had 6 children, including 2 boys who fought in the Revolutionary War. They moved to Vermont in 1785.

Besides being a poet (it is believed she wrote many poems, although Bars Fight is the only one that has survived), this amazing woman also successfully argued a case in front of the Supreme Court. In the late 1700s, "Colonel Eli Bronson attempted to steal land owned by the Princes, the case eventually made its way to the Supreme Court. Lucy argued against two of the leading lawyers in the state, one of whom later became chief justice of Vermont -- and she won. Samuel Chase, the presiding justice of the Court, said that her argument was better than he'd heard from any Vermont lawyer." (Africans in America, PBS)

When she died, in 1821 at the age of 97, Lucy Terry Prince's obituary was carried in numerous papers throughout New England. This was highly unusual for a woman and a person of color. Many of the obituaries noted her skill at public speaking; she was known at the time not only for her arguments to a variety of courts (both successful and unsuccessful), but also for her poems and stories.

When I first encountered this poem in the late 1970s, there was not much available about Lucy Terry Prince. Although we still do not have a complete picture of her life, there is a lot out there, in books, doctoral dissertations, TV documentaries, and websites. Writers and scholars in both Women's history and African-American history are interested in her and will continue to research her; I would think lawyers and legal scholars would be eager to research her as well.