The Boy Captives: An Incident of the Indian War of 1695
The Boy Captives: An Incident of the Indian War of 1695
In the summer of 1695, two boys working a field outside Haverhill, Massachusetts are seized by a war party and dragged into the northern wilderness. What follows is a harrowing test of nerve, wit, and the unbreakable bond between twelve-year-old Isaac Bradley and his companion Joseph Whittaker. Faced with the terror of being taken to Canada, where captive children rarely returned, the boys must rely on courage they hardly know they possess. Through storm-swollen rivers, trackless forest, and the constant threat of pursuit, they plot their escape and begin a desperate journey toward Saco Fort. John Greenleaf Whittier, the great Quaker poet of New England, crafted this narrative from historical records, preserving a story of frontier resilience that has echoed through centuries. The Boy Captives is adventure writing at its most elemental: two children against the wilderness and the odds, proving that heroism sometimes arrives before adulthood.
