1763, Aug.] A HOT FIGHT. 99 



scoured the woods in front of the settlements, had 

 various skirmishes with the enemy, and discharged 

 their difficult task with such success that the inhabi- 

 tants of the neighborhood were not again driven 

 from their homes. 



The attacks on the Pennsylvania frontier were 

 known to proceed, in great measure, from several 

 Indian villages, situated high up the west branch 

 of the Susquehanna, and inhabited by a debauched 

 rabble composed of various tribes, of whom the 

 most conspicuous were Delawares. To root out 

 this nest of banditti would be the most effectual 

 means of protecting the settlements, and a hundred 

 and ten men offered themselves for the enterprise. 

 They marched about the end of August ; but on 

 their way along the banks of the Susquehanna, 

 they encountered fifty warriors, advancing against 

 the borders. The Indians had the fLrst fire, and 

 drove in the van-guard of the white men. A hot 

 fight ensued. The warriors fought naked, painted 

 black from head to foot ; so that, as they leaped 

 among the trees, they seemed to their opponents 

 like demons of the forest. They were driven 

 back with heavy loss ; and the volunteers returned 

 in triumph, though without accomplishing the 



and his adventures during sereral succeeding years. In the war of the 

 Revolution, he acted the part of a zealous patriot. He lived until the year 

 1812, about which time, the western Indians having broken out into hos- 

 tility, he gave his country the benefit of his ample experience, by pub- 

 lishing a treatise on the Indian mode of warfare. In Kentucky, where he 

 spent the latter part of his life, he was much respected, and several times 

 elected to the legislature. This narrative may be found in Drake's Trage- 

 dies of the Wilderness, and in several other similar collections. 



