ence of the Rivers St. Joseph and St. Mary, which unite to form
the Maumee. The fort at this time was in charge of Ensign Holmes. On May
27th the commander was decoyed from the Fort by the story of an Indian
girl, that a squaw lay dangerously ill in a wigwam near the stockade,
and needed medical assistance. The humane Holmes, forgetting his caution
on an errand of mercy, walked without the gate and was instantly shot
dead. The soldiers in the palisades, seeing the corpse of their leader
and hearing the yells and whoopings of the exultant Indians, offered no
resistance, admitted the red men and gladly surrendered on promise of
having their lives spared.

Fort Presqu'ile stood on the southern shore of Lake Erie at the site of
the present town of Erie. The block-house, an unusually strong and
commodious one, was in command of Ensign Christie, with a courageous and
skilful garrison of twenty-seven men. Christie, learning of the attack
on the other posts, "braced up" for his "visit from the hell-hounds" as
he appropriately called the enemy. He had not long to wait. On June 15th
about two hundred of them put in an appearance from Detroit. They sprang
into the ditch around the fort, and with reckless audacity approached to
the very walls and threw fire-balls of pitch upon the roof and sides of
the fortress. Again and again the wooden retreat was on fire, but amid
showers of bullets and arrows the flames were extinguished by the
fearless soldiers.

The savages rolled logs before the fort and erected strong breastworks,
from behind which they could discharge their shots and throw their
fire-balls. For nearly three days a terrific contest ensued. The savages
finally undermined the palisades to the house of Christie, which was at
once set on fire, nearly stifling the garrison with the smoke and heat,
for Christie's quarters were close to the block-house. Longer resistance
was vain, "the soldiers, pale and haggard, like men who had passed
through a fiery furnace, now issued from their scorched and
bullet-pierced stronghold." The surrendering soldiers were taken to
Pontiac's quarters on the Detroit River.

Three days after the attack on Presqu'ile, Fort le Boeuf, twelve miles
south on Le Boeuf Creek, one of the head sources of the Allegheny
River, was surrounded and burned. Ensign Price and a garrison of
thirteen men miraculously escaped the flames and the encircling savages
and endeavored to reach Fort Pitt. About half of them su