the opposite bank.

After the fight, as Brant traversed the blood-stained
field he bent over the wounded form of Gabriel Wisner,
who was a magistrate of Orange county. The fallen man,
though suffering excruciating pain, was still able to
speak, but the chieftain saw that he was dying. There
were wolves in the forest, and these would soon visit
the scene of carnage. To bear Wisner from the field would
avail nothing. For a moment the War Chief debated what
he should do. Then, turning the attention of the wounded
man in another direction, he poised his hatchet. In a
flash it had smitten the skull of the dying magistrate
and his misery was at an end. In this act as in others
Brant showed that his contact with civilization had not
freed him from the basic instincts of his savage nature.
Few white men could have performed such a deed even on
the field of battle with so much calmness.

Brant now returned to the border country and, together
with Sir John Johnson, drew up a plan of defence. It was
resolved that they should fortify a position on the
Chemung river, to resist the advance of the Americans
into the Indian country. The place selected was not far
from the village of Newtown. A breastwork was built, half
a mile in length, and this was protected on one side by
the river and on the other by two stretches of elevated
ground. Upon these ridges battalions were placed. But
the defenders were able to muster only a comparatively
small force, vastly inferior to the foe in numbers. In
all, the garrison consisted of about eight hundred men,
two-thirds of whom were Indians.

It was barely four weeks after the battle on the Delaware
that Generals Sullivan and Clinton joined forces at Tioga.
They had a very powerful army, consisting altogether of
some five thousand men, including a strong brigade of
experienced riflemen and an artillery corps with a number
of heavy guns. They had sent out corps of light infantry
in advance and were now moving slowly against the defences
occupied by the king's forces.

The War Chief was in charge of the Indians, and despite
the strength of the opposing force he had resolved to
make a determined stand. As the foe came on, he sent out
his men in small parties from the works to annoy them
and retard their advance. The Indians attacked the invaders
after the manner of bush-fighters, firing and then seeking
cover while they reloaded their muskets. The conflict
that ensued was desperate beyond