Wheeler's Surprise

Wheeler's Surprise and Siege of Brookfield
Part of King Philip's War
Date August 2–4, 1675 Location Brookfield, Massachusetts (present-day West Brookfield and probably New Braintree) Result Successful ambush by the Nipmuc. Siege unsuccessful. Follow up battle fought to a draw.
Belligerents
Nipmuc	Massachusetts Bay Praying Indians Mohegan
Commanders and leaders
Muttawmp Matoonas	Cpt. Thomas Wheeler Cpt. Edward Hutchinson Maj. Simon Willard
Strength
Unknown, but at least a hundred	Originally 35-40 men were ambushed, remains plus about 70 civilian colonists were besieged. Relief force numbered 350 colonial militia plus an unknown number of Mohegan Indians.

Wheeler's Surprise, and the ensuing Siege of Brookfield, was a battle between Nipmuc Indians under Muttawmp, and the English colonists of the Massachusetts Bay Colony under the command of Thomas Wheeler and Captain Edward Hutchinson, in August 1675 during King Philip's War.^[1] The battle consisted of an initial ambush by the Nipmucs on Wheeler's unsuspecting party, followed by an attack on Brookfield, Massachusetts, and the consequent besieging of the remains of the colonial force. While the place where the siege part of the battle took place has always been known (at Ayers' Garrison in West Brookfield), the location of the initial ambush was a subject of extensive controversy among historians in the late nineteenth century.^[2]