228 HISTORY OF OHIO. 



same sergeant, and his six men. Late in the evening when 

 all was enveloped in smoke, the enemy proceeded to make the 

 assault. Two feints were made on Hunter's lines, but in the 

 meantime three hundred and fifty men of the enemy, advan- 

 ced in the smoke, to within sixty feet of the northwestern 

 ano-le. A severe fire of musketry from the fort, put them in 

 confusion for a moment, when lieutenant colonel Short, who 

 headed this column of the enemy, urged forward his men to 

 the edge of the ditch, calling on them to follow him, and 

 " to give no quarters" he leaped into the ditch. The masked 

 port hole was now opened, and the sixpounder within thirty 

 feet of the assailants, was fired on them. The lieutenant 

 colonel Short, and fifty others, were instantly killed or wound- 

 ed. Death and desolation filled the ditch. Captain Hunter 

 repelled Warburton and Chambers v/ith a constant stream of 

 lead from his rifles. They were assailing his line, but now 

 ceased to do so, and drew off. During the assault which last- 

 ed thirty minutes, the enemy constantly fired his mortar and 

 five of his sixpounders. Immediately after this assault the 

 enemy drew off out of the reach of our guns. It was now 

 dark. The wounded in the ditch were in a desperate condi- 

 tion. They called for " water, water, water." The enemy 

 dare not undertake to relieve them — so Croghan, and his 

 brave men handed over water to them, in buckets, to relieve 

 their thirst. Our men dug a hole through, and under the pick- 

 ets, and encouraged as many as were able to crawl, to creep 

 into the fort. Compare this treatment, reader, with Proctor's 

 SLEDS at the river Raisin, on Washington's birth day, in this 

 same year! 



At three o'clock this night, the enemy made a most disorder- 

 ly and shameful retreat, down the bay. In tKeir hurry, ter- 

 ror and confusion, they left a sail boat full of the most valua- 

 ble property. They left strewed around our fort, seventy 

 stands of arms and several valuable braces of pistols. They 

 anticipated a visit from general Harrison with his artillery 

 early next morning; so they were off in a hurry. 



