d rocks,
trees and whatever came in their way, were quite secure against injury
from the carbines and revolvers of the whites, while, from their
side, came a deadly fire that fast diminished the numbers of their
adversaries. In vain did the dragoons charge them and cause the
foremost of the enemy to retreat to their friends in the rear.
Lieutenant Davidson soon found his party so much crippled in strength
that he saw he could no longer protect his horses and at the same time
carry on the combat against such great odds. When there was little
left that he could do except to offer himself and men as targets to be
shot at, Lieutenant Davidson reluctantly ordered his men to retreat.

In obeying this command, the soldiers had not more than wheeled about,
when down came the foe in full pursuit, making the very air ring
with their war-whoops and unearthly shouts. So bold did these Indians
become from the victory which they had achieved, that they charged
so hotly and so near the soldiers that the latter were compelled, in
self-defence, to turn and, in a hand to hand contest, beat them off.
After resisting a succession of these assaults, the command finally
gained the main road. Upon counting his men, Lieutenant Davidson found
that twenty of them were killed and left behind on the battle-field;
and that, out of the surviving forty, hardly one man had escaped being
wounded, thereby showing, considering the numbers engaged, how
bravely the fight had been maintained, and how gallantly each one had
endeavored to turn the tide of affairs to a more favorable result.

The course pursued by, and even the bravery of, Lieutenant Davidson in
this affair, has been unjustly assailed and questioned by some persons
who have probably been misinformed on the subject. Judging from the
evidence of his companions, there was not a more courageous man
on that ground than the officer in command. Kit Carson refutes the
accusation made against his friend in the following strain: "I am
intimately acquainted with Lieutenant Davidson and have been in
engagements with him where he has taken a prominent part and can
testify that he is as brave and discreet as it is possible for a man
to be. Nearly every person engaged in and who survived that day's
bloody battle has since told me that his commanding officer never once
sought shelter, but stood manfully exposed to the aim of the Indians,
encouraging his men and apparently entirely unmindful of his own
life.