of terror; they cherished against him feelings
of the most phrenzied hatred, and there was not a Mingo or Wyandotte chief
before Fort Henry who would not have given the lives of twenty of his
warriors to secure to himself the living body of Major M'Culloch. When,
therefore, the man whom they had long marked out as the first object of
their vengeance, appeared in their midst, they made almost superhuman
efforts to acquire possession of his person. The fleetness of M'Culloch's
well-trained steed was scarcely greater than that of his enemies, who,
with flying strides, moved on in pursuit. At length the hunter reached the
top of the hill, and, turning to the left, darted along the ridge with the
intention of making the best of his way to Shor' creek. A ride of a few
hundred yards in that direction brought him suddenly in contact with a
party of Indians who were returning to their camp from a marauding
excursion to Mason's Bottom, on the eastern side of the hill. This party
being too formidable in numbers to encounter single-handed, the major
turned his horse about and rode over his own track, in the hope of
discovering some other avenue to escape. A few paces only of his
countermarch had been made, when he found himself confronted by his
original pursuers, who had, by this time, gained the top of the ridge, and
a third party was discovered pressing up the hill directly on his right.
He was now completely hemmed in on three sides, and the fourth was almost
a perpendicular precipice of one hundred and fifty feet descent, with
Wheeling creek at its base. The imminence of his danger allowed him but
little time to reflect upon his situation. In an instant he decided upon
his course. Supporting his rifle in his left hand and carefully adjusting
his reins with the other, he urged his horse to the brink of the bluff,
and then made the leap which decided his fate. In the next moment the
noble steed, still bearing his intrepid rider in safety, was at the foot
of the precipice. M'Culloch immediately dashed across the creek, and was
soon beyond reach of the Indians.

After the escape of the major, the Indians concentrated at the foot of the
hill, and soon after set fire to all the houses and fences outside of the
fort, and killed about three hundred cattle. They then raised the siege
and retired.

The whole loss sustained by the whites during this remarkable siege, was
twenty-six men killed and four or five wounded. The loss of the en