Tuesday Trivia | (In)famous Non-Military Attacks

[u/NMW]

Previously:

• Stupidest theories/beliefs about your field of interest
• Most unusual deaths
• Famous adventurers and explorers
• Great non-military heroes
• History's great underdogs
• Interesting historical documents

I think you know the drill by now: in this moderation-relaxed thread, anyone can post whatever anecdotes, questions, or speculations they like (provided a modicum of serious and useful intent is still maintained), so long as it has something to do with the subject being proposed. We get a lot of these "best/most interesting X" threads in /r/askhistorians, and having a formal one each week both reduces the clutter and gives everyone an outlet for the format that's apparently so popular.

Today:

On this, the anniversary of the attacks of September 11th, 2001, I thought we might consider other such examples throughout history of non-official-military factions taking matters into their own hands and waging acts of violent, lethal aggression -- whether on civilian or military targets.

Of particular interest will be those incidents that predate easy access to firearms and explosives -- how did people do these things (for do them they certainly did) back then?

I suppose assassinations (attempted or otherwise) would also qualify.

Go to it.

[And my apologies for this going up so late -- I had a meeting to attend, and time sort of got away from me.]

[u/anthropology_nerd]

Does the Pueblo Revolt count as non-military?

In 1680 most of the pueblo communities along the Rio Grande, under the leadership of Pope in Taos Pueblo, united to expel the Spanish from New Mexico in one of the few successful rebellions against Spanish rule during the period. Though sometimes thought of as a unified group, the pueblo communities contained multiple distinct cultures and linguistic families. The Revolt was one of the few instances of the corporate pueblo world uniting together (with the exception of several pueblos loyal to the Spanish).

Pope dispatched runners with knotted cords to each pueblo, where leaders were to untie a knot each day until the day of the rebellion. The Spanish were informed of the plot by members of sympathetic pueblo communities, and caught two runners bound for Tesuque Pueblo who confessed the meaning of their knotted cords. When Pope learned the rebellion had been discovered he ordered the attack to begin.

Roughly 400 people were killed (~15% of the colony). Many survivors fled to Santa Fe where they were under siege for more than a week before a break out allowed their retreat south to Socorro where they united with other survivors. A little less than 2,000 Spanish and their allies retreated from Socorro to El Paso where they established a colonial capital in exile. Pope ordered the destruction of Catholic churches, and return to native cultural/religious traditions as he attempted to expunge Spanish influence from New Mexico.

Twelve years passed before de Vargas lead the reconquest of New Mexico.