New England retaliated for these raids by sending Major Benjamin Church to raid Acadia. During King William's War, Church led four New England raiding parties into Acadia (which included most of Maine) against the Acadians and members of the Wabanaki Confederacy. On the first expedition into Acadia, on September 21, 1689, Church and 250 troops defended a group of English settlers trying to establish themselves at Falmouth (present-day Portland, Maine). The tribes of the Wabanaki Confederacy killed 21 of his men, but Church's defense was successful and the natives retreated. Church then returned to Boston, leaving the small group of English settlers unprotected. The following spring over 400 French and native troops, under the leadership of Castin, destroyed Salmon Falls (present-day Berwick, Maine), then returned to Falmouth and massacred all the English settlers in the Battle of Fort Loyal. When Church returned to the village later that summer he buried the dead. The fall of Fort Loyal (Casco) led to the near depopulation of Maine. Native forces were then able to attack New Hampshire frontier without reprisal.