 One of Standish's last military actions on behalf of Plymouth Colony was the botched Penobscot expedition in 1635. By the 1640s, Standish relinquished his role as an active soldier and settled into a quieter life on his Duxbury farm. He was still nominally the commander of the Pilgrim military forces in the growing Plymouth Colony, although he seems to have preferred to act in an advisory capacity. He died in his home in Duxbury in 1656 at age 72. He supported and defended the Pilgrims' colony for much of his life, though there is no evidence to suggest that Standish ever joined their church.
