All of the books we've found so far except two only mention a "Captain Shackford" without giving a first name. However the book The History of New Hampshire, Vol 1 includes a footnote identifying the Captain as William Shackford of Dover, the immigrant ancestor and Rosemary Melville's From Trickey to Thorpe: a History of the Trickey, Shackfords, Seawards, Callahans identifies the Captain as William, the immigrant ancestor. We believe this would be true as William would have been 55 at the time of this event and the only other Shackfords documented to be in the area would have been his sons Joshua, Samuel or John who were in their early twenties at the time.
Here's a transcription of the description of this event from Jeremy Belknap's History of New Hampshire, Vol I which was published in 1831.
swamp and got to their canoes. Another party, under another commander, Gerrish, was then sent out in shallops to intercept them as they should cross over to the eastward by night. The captain ranged his boats in a line, and ordered his men to reserve their fire till he gave the watchword. It being a calm night, the Indians were heard as they advanced; but the captain, unhappily giving the word before they had come within gun-shot, they tacked about to the southword, and going round the Isles of Shoals, by
the favor of their light canoes escaped. The watch-word was Cranbo, which the captain ever bore as an appendage to his title. 1. (Judge Parker.)
* [William Shackford was of Dover, and one of the grand jury in 1682]
REFERENCES mentioning this attack
Adams Nathaniel, Annals of Portsmouth: comprising a period of two hundred years from the First Settlement of the Town; with Biographical Sketches of a Few of the Most Respectable Inhabitants (Portsmouth: Nathaniel Adams, 1825), page 102-103; digital images, Google Books (http://books.google.com : accessed 26 March 2014
An Historical calendar of Portsmouth (Portsmouth, N.H.: Box Club of the North Church, 1907), page 32; digital images, Hathi Trust (http://www.hathitrust.com : accessed 26 March 2014
Belknap Jeremy, D. D., The History of New-Hampshire. Vol I (Dover: S. C. Stevens and Ela & Wadleigh, 1831), page 141-2; digital images, Google Books (http://books.google.com : accessed 24 March 2014
Brewster Charles W., Rambles about Portsmouth : first series : sketches of persons, localities, and incidents of two centuries : principally from tradition and unpublished documents 2nd ed, 2nd edition (Portsmouth. N. H.: L. W. Brewster, 1873), page 71-75; digital images, HathitTrust (http://www.hathitrust.com : accessed 25 March 2014
Frost John, Remarkable Events in the History of America, From the Earliest Times to the Year 1848. Compiled from the Best Authorities. Vol I (Philadelphia: G. B. Zieber and Co, 1848), page 353; digital images, Google Books (http://books.google.com : accessed 26 March 2014
Gurney C. S., Portsmouth, historic and picturesque, a volume (Portsmouth, New Hampshire: 1902), page 62; digital images, FamilySearch, http://www.familysearch.org (: accessed 26 March 2014
Hoyt E, Esq, Antiquarian Researchers or Indian Wars (Greenfield Mass: Annel Phelpe, 1824), page 158; digital images, Google Books (http://books.google.com : accessed 26 March 2014
Lawson Russell M., Portsmouth An Old Town by the Sea (Charlestown, SC: Arcadia Publishing, 2003), page 42; digital images, Google Books (http://books. google.com : accessed 26 March 2014
Melville Rosemary, From Trickey to Thorpe: a History of the Trickey, Shackfords, Seawards, Callahans (about 1993), page 43; digital image, FamilySearch.org (http://familysearch.org : accessed 24 March 2014
Parsons Langdon Brown, History of the Town of Rye, New Hampshire: From its Discovery and Settlement to December 31, 1903 (Concord, N. H.: Rumford Printing Company, 1905), page 248-9; digital images, Google Books (http://books.google.com : accessed 26 March 2014
Sylvester Herbert Milton, Indian wars of New England Vol II (Boston: W. B. Clarke Company, 1910), page 483; digital images, Hathi Trust (http://www.hathitrust.org : accessed 26 March 2014
Varell William M., Rye on the rocks : the tale of a town : a Yankee saga told by a Yankee (Boston, Mass: The Marcus Press, 1962), page 22; digital images, Hathi Trust (http://www.hathitrust.com : accessed 26 March 2014
Copyright 2014 Joanne Shackford Parkes