rcement
under Captain Spalding, who had been ordered by General Washington to
his aid on the first intelligence of the danger which threatened the
settlement; but the militia generally, believing themselves
sufficiently strong to repel the invading force, urged an immediate
battle so earnestly, that Colonel Butler yielded to their
remonstrances, and on the 3d of July marched from Forty fort at the
head of near four hundred men to attack the enemy.

[Footnote 13: This gentleman is stated not to have been of the same
family with the leader of the invading army.]

The British and Indians were prepared to receive him. Their line was
formed a small distance in front of their camp, in a plain thinly
covered with pine, shrub oaks, and under growth, and extended from the
river about a mile to a marsh at the foot of the mountain. The
Americans advanced in a single column, without interruption, until
they approached the enemy, when they received a fire which did not
much mischief. The line of battle[14] was instantly formed, and the
action commenced with spirit. The Americans rather gained ground on
the right where Colonel Butler commanded, until a large body of
Indians passing through the skirt of the marsh turned their left
flank, which was composed of militia, and poured a heavy and most
destructive fire on their rear. The word "retreat" was pronounced by
some person, and the efforts of the officers to check it were
unavailing. The fate of the day was decided, and a flight commenced on
the left which was soon followed by the right. As soon as the line was
broken, the Indians, throwing down their rifles and rushing upon them
with the tomahawk, completed the confusion. The attempt of Colonel
Butler and of the officers to restore order were unavailing, and the
whole line broke and fled in confusion. The massacre was general, and
the cries for mercy were answered by the tomahawk. Rather less than
sixty men escaped, some to Forty fort, some by swimming the river, and
some to the mountain. A very few prisoners were made, only three of
whom were preserved alive, who were carried to Niagara.

[Footnote 14: The representation of this battle, and of the
circumstances attending the destruction of the Wyoming settlement,
have been materially varied from the statement made of them in the
first edition. The papers of General Washington furnished allusions to
the transaction, but no particular account of it. The author therefore
relied o