General Court of the
Territory of Indiana, and afterwards a Senator of the United
States from Indiana (one of the General's aides), were
ordered to select a place for the encampment, which they
did. The army then marched to the ground selected about
sunset. A strong guard was placed around the encampment,
commanded by Captain James Bigger and three lieutenants. The
troops were ordered to sleep on their arms. The night being
cold, large fires were made along the lines of encampment
and each soldier retired to rest, sleeping on his arms.

"Having seen a number of squaws and children at the town I
thought the Indians were not disposed to fight. About ten
o'clock at night Joseph Warnock and myself retired to rest,
he taking one side of the fire and I the other, the other
members of our company being all asleep. My friend Warnock
had dreamed, the night before, a bad dream which foreboded
something fatal to him or to some of his family, as he told
me. Having myself no confidence in dreams, I thought but
little about the matter, although I observed that he never
smiled afterwards.

"I awoke about four o'clock the next morning, after a sound
and refreshing sleep, having heard in a dream the firing of
guns and the whistling of bullets just before I awoke from
my slumber. A drizzling rain was falling and all things were
still and quiet throughout the camp. I was engaged in making
a calculation when I should arrive home.

"In a few moments I heard the crack of a rifle in the
direction of the point where now stands the Battle Ground
House, which is occupied by Captain DuTiel as a tavern. I
had just time to think that some sentinel was alarmed and
fired his rifle without a real cause, when I heard the crack
of another rifle, followed by an awful Indian yell all
around the encampment. In less than a minute I saw the
Indians charging our line most furiously and shooting a
great many rifle balls into our camp fires, throwing the
live coals into the air three or four feet high.

"At this moment my friend Warnock was shot by a rifle ball
through his body. He ran a few yards and fell dead on the
ground. Our lines were broken and a few Indians were found
on the inside of the encampment. In a few moments