d.

"It rained heavily while the necessary preparations were going on in the
fort, but the moment it ceased Willett and his men hastened out and
attacked the enemy furiously.

"The advanced guard were driven in, and so sudden and impetuous was the
charge that Sir John Johnson had no time to put on his coat. He tried to
bring his troops into order, but they were so panic stricken that they
fled, and he with them. They crossed the river to St. Leger's camp and
the Indians concealed themselves in the deep forest.

"The Americans took much plunder; all Sir John's baggage and his papers,
as well as those of other officers, giving valuable information to the
garrison of Fort Schuyler; also the British colors, all of which--there
were five--the Americans presently raised upon their flagstaff, beneath
their own rude flag--fashioned, as I have already told some of you, out
of strips of red and white obtained by tearing up men's shirts for the
one, and joining bits of scarlet cloth for the other; while a blue cloak
belonging to Captain Abraham Swartwout, of Dutchess County, then in the
fort, was used to form the ground for the white stars, and the staff
upon which all these hung was in full view of the enemy. Then the whole
garrison mounted the parapets and made the forest ring with three loud
cheers.

"While all this was going on in and around the fort, General Herkimer
and his men were coming toward it through the woods. It was a dark,
sultry morning. The troops were chiefly militia regiments and marched in
an irregular, careless way, neglecting proper precautions.

"Brant and his Tories took advantage of this carelessness, hid
themselves in a ravine which crossed Herkimer's path, and had a thick
growth of underwood along its margin, which made it easy for them to
conceal themselves, and when all except the rear-guard of the
unsuspecting Americans had entered the ravine, where the ground was
marshy and crossed by a causeway of earth and logs, Brant gave a signal,
immediately followed by a warwhoop, and the savages fell upon our poor
men with spear, hatchet, and rifle-ball; as Lossing says, 'like hail
from the clouds that hovered over them.'

"The rear-guard fled and left the others to their fate, yet perhaps
suffered more from the pursuing Indians than they would if they had
stood their ground, helping their fellows. The attack had been so sudden
that there was great confusion in the ranks; but they presently
recovered a