The Indian warriors, over five hundred in number, were assembled in a strongly palisaded village in the vicinity of Stamford.
It was midnight in February, 1644, when the expedition approached the Indian village.

All the day long the men had toiled through the snow.
It was a wintry night, clear and cold, with a full moon whose rays, reflected by the dazzling surface of hill and valley, were so brilliant that "many winter days were not brighter." The Dutch, discharging a volley of bullets upon the doomed village, charged, sword in hand.

The savages, emboldened by their superior numbers, made a desperate resistance.

But in a conflict like this, arrows are comparatively powerless when opposed to muskets.

The Indians, unable to reach their foes with their arrows, made several very bold sallies, recklessly endeavoring to break the Dutch lines.
They were invariably driven back with great loss.