hooting them down. It was
considered rare sport to shoot an Indian. A woman came to the door, bow
and arrow in hand. Fixing the arrow upon the string, she drew the bow
with all the strength of her muscular arm, and let the arrow fly into
the midst of the approaching foe. It nearly passed through the body of
Lieutenant Moore, killing him instantly. The woman made no attempt to
evade the penalty which she knew weald follow this act. In an instant
twenty bullets pierced her body, and she fell dead at the door of the
house.

The infuriate soldiers rushed in and shot the defenceless warriors
mercilessly, until every one was fatally wounded or dead. They then set
the house on fire and burned it up, with the forty-six warriors in it.
It mattered not to them whether the flames consumed the flesh of the
living or of the dead.

There was something very remarkable in the stoicism which the Indians
ever manifested. There was a bright-looking little Indian boy, not more
than twelve years of age, whose arm was shattered by one bullet and his
thigh-bone by another. Thus terribly wounded, the poor child crept from
the flames of the burning house. There was no pity in that awful hour
to come to his relief. The heat was so intense that his almost naked
body could be seen blistering and frying by the fire. The heroic boy,
striving in vain to crawl along, was literally roasted alive; and yet
he did not utter an audible groan.

The slaughter was awful. But five of the Americans were killed. One
hundred and eighty-six of the Indians were either killed or taken
prisoners. The party returned with their captives the same day to Fort
Strother. The army had so far consumed its food that it was placed on
half rations. The next day a party was sent back to the smouldering
town to see if any food could be found. Even these hardy pioneers were
shocked at the awful spectacle which was presented. The whole place was
in ruins. The half-burned bodies of the dead, in awful mutilation, were
scattered around. Demoniac war had performed one of its most fiend-like
deeds.

On this bloody field an Indian babe was found clinging to the bosom of
its dead mother. Jackson urged some of the Indian women who were
captives to give it nourishment. They replied:

"All the child's friends are killed. There is no one to care for the
helpless babe. It is much better that it should die."

Jackson took the child under his own care, ordered it to be conveyed to
his te