In this detailed account written only a few days after the events described in it, William Whiting of the Connecticut colonial forces informs Governor John (commonly known as "Fitz-John") Winthrop of Connecticut of the devastating attack by French and Indian forces on the Massachusetts frontier settlement of Deerfield on the night of 29 February 1703/4.

In the hours before dawn, traveling across a winter landscape covered by deep snow, a large and diverse force of French and Canadian soldiers, together with Native American allies drawn from many tribes, fell upon sleeping Deerfield. The attackers managed to enter the stockade that protected the settlement (here referred to as "the garrison") by the aid of snow drifted up against the wall, and a wild and confused house-to-house battle followed. As Whiting informs Winthrop, reinforcements from Massachusetts settlements further south were ambushed when they came to the aid of the beleaguered town, and without snowshoes they were unable to pursue the retreating attackers through three feet of snow.

Although often referred to by later generations as the "Deerfield Massacre," this term is not used in Whiting's account and apparently was not used to describe the raid until the 19th century. Of most concern to contemporaries who described the assault as "the destruction of Deerfield" or here as "the mischeif at Deerefield" was the very large number of captives taken--more than 100 men, women, and children--of whom only about half ever returned to New England.

In a postscript, Major Whiting notes: "Mr. Williams his wife and Sev[e]n children Carryd away." Here he refers to the Reverend John Williams, who after his return from captivity would write the most famous account of the attack, The Redeemed Captive Returned to Zion, published in 1707.