King William's War, first of four North American wars, waged by the English and French from 1689 to 1697, and part of a larger European war fought by the Grand Alliance against France over the succession to the throne of England.

The French and English colonists, aided by indigenous peoples, raided each other's settlements. Following a series of English raids in Canada, the French governor of Canada, Comte de Frontenac, planned counterattacks on New York City and Boston in 1690. As initial steps in his campaign, the French and their indigenous allies burned Schenectady, New York, laid waste Salmon Falls, New Hampshire, and destroyed Fort Loyal, Maine, while French privateers based in Nova Scotia harried New England shipping. The New England colonists raised an expeditionary force and placed it under the command of the new governor of Massachusetts, Sir William Phips. This force captured Port Royal in Nova Scotia and unsuccessfully attacked Québec. For the rest of the war the French and their indigenous allies ravaged the northern frontiers of the English colonies. The Treaty of Ryswick in 1697 restored Port Royal to the French but left the colonial problem unresolved. Warfare resumed in 1702 in Queen Anne's War.

"King William's War," Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2001 http://encarta.msn.com © 1997-2000 Microsoft Corporation. All Rights Reserved.