On 18 April 1644 the Powhatan Confederacy launched a coordinated attack on the settlements in Virginia killing around 400 colonists. This attack was the beginning of the Third Anglo-Powhatan War that lasted until a peace treaty was signed and ratified in October 1646. That treaty gave the land north of the York River to the Indians and made it a felony for any Englishman to go north of the York River contrary to the terms of the treaty.