patches to Governor Meigs,
as well as several officers of his army who avail themselves of the
general express to write to their friends in Chillicothe, in most of
their letters give the details of the battle, _but seem to be ignorant
as regards the greatest part of that 'Massacre_,' as it has been
gravely termed. It is gathered from these despatches and letters by a
Chillicothe journal of the 2nd of February, 1813, that '_those who
surrendered themselves on the field of battle were taken prisoners by
the British, while those who attempted to escape were pursued,
tomahawked, and scalped_.' Now, even this account, in part, is
incorrect; for the Indians, by whom they were assailed, were posted
there for the express purpose of cutting off their retreat; and _those
who surrendered to the Indians were safely conducted to the British
camp_; but such was the panic with which these unfortunate fugitives
were seized, that no persuasions on the part of the Indian chiefs, _who
were fully disposed to comply with the orders of Colonel Proctor_, could
prevail on them to surrender until they were either wounded and taken,
or overtaken in the chase by their pursuers, when no efforts of the
chiefs could save them from their fury.

"In a letter containing copies of despatches from General Harrison,
dated 24th January, 1813, it is stated that 'when the attack commenced,
General Winchester ordered a retreat, but from the utter confusion which
prevailed, this could not be effected; and he then told them that every
man must take care of himself, and attempted to make his own escape on
horseback, but was overtaken by the Indians before he had gone a mile,
and killed and scalped. His body was cut up and mangled in a most
shocking manner, and one of his hands cut off.'

"Now, here is an awful Indian tale, manufactured, as many others have
been of like description, which turns out to be a mere fabrication; for
when General Winchester found himself pursued in his attempt to escape,
he with a few others surrendered themselves to a chief of the Wyandot
nation, and not a hair of their heads was hurt, _except the injury
received from the fight_.

"It is also stated in the same letter that Colonels Allen and Lewis were
among the slain; in contradiction of which, in General Harrison's letter
to Governor Meigs, dated 29th January, it is stated that General
Winchester and Colonel and Brigade-Major Gerrard are among the
prisoners.

"The conclusion is