In the Current of the Revolution 279 



began to waver, but were rallied by Fleming, whose 

 division had been attacked almost simultaneously, un- 

 til he too was struck down by a bullet. The line then 

 gave way, except that some of Fleming's men still 

 held their own on the left in a patch of rugged 

 ground near the Ohio. At this moment, however, 

 Colonel Field came up and restored the battle, 

 while the backwoodsmen who had been left in camp 

 also began to hurry up to take part in the fight. 

 General Lewis at last, fully awake to the danger, 

 began to fortify the camp by felling timber so as to 

 form a breastwork running across the point from 

 the Ohio to the Kanawha. This work should have 

 been done before ; and through attending to it Lewis 

 was unable to take any personal part in the battle. 

 Meanwhile the frontiersmen began to push back 

 their foes, led by Col. Field. The latter himself, 

 however, was soon slain ; he was at the time behind 

 a great tree, and was shot by two Indians on his 

 right, while he was trying to get a shot at another 

 on his left, who was distracting his attention by 

 mocking and jeering at him. 32 The command then 

 fell on Captain Evan Shelby, who turned his com- 

 pany over to the charge of his son, Isaac. The 

 troops fought on steadily, undaunted by the fall of 

 their leaders, while the Indians attacked with the 

 utmost skill, caution, and bravery. The fight was 

 a succession of single combats, each man sheltering 

 himself behind a stump, or rock, or tree-trunk, the 

 superiority of the backwoodsmen in the use of the 



32 Campbell MSS. Preston's letter. 



