to cheer his
troops. He wears no uniform, and out from under his great three cornered
hat flows his long gray hair. A ball grazes the side of his face and
cuts away a lock. The weight of the savage fire is now falling on the
artillery in the center. The gunners sink beneath their guns. The
herculean lieutenant-colonel, William Darke, who has fought at
Yorktown, is ordered to charge on the right front. The troops rush
forward with levelled bayonets, the savages are routed from their
coverts, are visible a moment, and then disappear. As the levies advance
the savages close in behind. Darke is surrounded on all sides--his three
hundred men become thirty, and he falls back.

In the absence of Darke, the left flank of the army is now pressed in.
Guns and artillery fall into the hands of the foe. Every artillery-man
is killed but one, and he is badly wounded. The gunners are being
scalped. St. Clair leads another charge on foot. The savages skip before
the steel, disappear in the smoke and underbrush, and fire on the
soldiers from every point as they make retreat. Charge after charge is
made, but all are fruitless. The regulars and the levies, out in the
open, unable to see the enemy, die by scores. The carnage is fearful.

The troops have fought for about three hours, and the remnants of the
army are huddled in the center. The officers are about all down, for the
savages have made it a point to single them out. Butler is fatally
wounded and leaning against a tree. The men are stupefied and give up in
despair. Shouts of command are given, officers' pistols are drawn, but
the men refuse to fight. The wounded are lying in heaps, and the
crossfire of the Indians, now centering from all points, threatens utter
extermination. There is only one hope left--a desperate dash through the
savage lines, and escape. "It was past nine o'clock," says Denny, "when
repeated orders were given to charge towards the road. * * * Both
officers and men seemed confounded, incapable of doing anything; they
could not move until it was told that a retreat was intended. A few
officers put themselves in front, the men followed, the enemy gave way,
and perhaps not being aware of the design, we were for a few moments
left undisturbed."

[Illustration: Another view of the Wabash, a land of great beauty.
Photo by Heaton]

In after years it was learned that Captain William Wells was in charge
of a party of about three hundred young Indian warriors, who w