The first Anglo-Powhatan war
The forced return of the surviving settlers and the additional settlers under Lord Delaware began to restore the fort and the settlement, and Powhatan, concerned over their increasing numbers and encroachment on his lands, decided to destroy the English once and for all. At the same time Lord Delaware decided to eliminate the threat from the natives and ordered Powhatan to return any captured English property and prisoners he held. When Powhatan failed to answer, Lord Delaware dispatched a party of 70 men to attack and destroy a native village occupied by the Paspehegh.
The opening salvo of the war was a success for the English, who killed about 75 natives, including men, women, and children, and burned most of the settlement. During the first Anglo-Powhatan War the English expanded the colony by establishing new settlements, and an expedition led by Captain Samuel Argall captured Powhatan’s daughter, Pocahontas. A forced peace was imposed, followed by the marriage of Pocahontas to the English settler John Rolfe, who had established a crop of what would become the economic backbone of the Virginia colony, tobacco. Powhatan agreed to the marriage because under native tradition, Rolfe became his son, beholden to his father.