120 ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA 
position on the crest of the sand hills about a hundred yards to the right 
of the route by which the column must pass. Their actions seemed so 
menacing to Heald that he rashly ordered his small body of infantry to 
move against them and expel them at the point of the bayonet. As the 
Indians showed no disposition to retire the soldiers fired a volley and 
charged. The Indians gave way in front but closed in upon their 
flanks and rear, delivering a deliberate and effective fire from the cover 
of thickets and hollows. In the course of fifteen minutes two-thirds 
of Heald’s men were killed or wounded, his baggage train was captured, 
and the survivors forced to take refuge upon a mound in the adjacent 
prairie where they stood desperately at bay. They were not immed- 
iately pursued; but all the wounded men who were left behind and most 
of the women and children captured with the waggons were mercilessly 
slaughtered. Captain Wells was among the killed but his band of 
friendly Indians abstained from the contest and finally rode out of sight. 
Heald was badly wounded and the total destruction of his party could 
have been accomplished with ease. But instead of renewing the attack, 
the Indians assembled and held a consultation after which they signalled 
to him to come forward. Heald gallantly advanced alone and was 
met by Blackbird, a noted Ottawa chief, accompanied by a half-breed 
interpreter. After shaking hands Blackbird invited him to surrender 
promising that the prisoners should be well treated. As further resist- 
ance was evidently hopeless, Heald agreed to this proposal with little 
hesitation, although still doubtful of the Indians’ sincerity. Thirty- 
eight men, of whom twenty-six were regular soldiers, two women and 
twelve children had already perished. Mrs. Heald and several other 
persons were suffering from wounds. After being disarmed the prisoners 
were marched back to the Indian camp where they were apportioned 
among the different bands. Next day Fort Dearborn was burnt and 
the Indians dispersed to their respective villages. Heald and his wife 
were taken to the Ottawa village near the mouth of the River St. Joseph 
where they were allowed to reside at the house of Benoit, a French 
Canadian trader. A few days later many of the warriors marched 
away to besiege Fort Wayne and Heald took advantage of their absence 
to induce a Canadian to take them in his boat to Mackinac where they 
were kindly treated by Captain Roberts who supplied their wants and 
furnished them with a passage in the next vessel sailing for Detroit.! 
The earliest information received by Procter, about the 8th of September, 
led him to believe that only three persons had escaped death and made 
him tremble for the fate of the garrison of Fort Wayne, which was 
described as being closely invested and reduced to the last extremity. 
Until that moment he had no intimation that an attack upon Chicago 
1 Heald to Eustis, Oct. 23, 1812; A. B. Woodward to Procter, Oct. 8, 1812. 
