t and
fortified and was far from the centre of the country of the warpath
Indians, for, with the exception of the Senecas, the Iroquois tribes
inhabiting Eastern Canada and New York did not participate in Pontiac's
conspiracy. The attack on Fort Niagara, therefore, was half-hearted, and
after a feeble effort the besiegers despaired of success or assistance
and abandoned the blockade, which only lasted a few days.

Fort Pitt was the British military head-quarters of the Western
frontier. It was the Gibraltar of defence, protecting the Eastern
colonies from invasion by the Western Indians. The consummation of
Pontiac's gigantic scheme depended upon the capture of Fort Pitt. It was
a strong fortification at the confluence of the Allegheny and
Monongahela Rivers. Its northern ramparts were faced with brick on the
side looking down the Ohio. Fort Pitt stood "far aloof in the forest,
and one might journey eastward full two hundred miles before the English
settlements began to thicken." The garrison consisted of three hundred
thirty soldiers, traders, and backwoodsmen, besides about one hundred
women and a greater number of children. Captain Simeon Ecuyer, a brave
Swiss officer, was in command. Every preparation was made for the
expected attack. All houses and cabins outside the palisade were
levelled to the ground. A rude fire-engine was constructed to extinguish
any flames that might be kindled by the burning arrows of the Indians.

In the latter part of May the hostile savages began to approach the
vicinity of the fort. On June 22d they opened fire "upon every side at
once." The garrison replied by a discharge of howitzers, the shells of
which, bursting in the midst of the Indians, greatly amazed and
disconcerted them. The Indians then boldly demanded a surrender of the
fort, saying vast numbers of braves were on the way to destroy it.
Ecuyer displayed equal bravado and replied that several thousand British
soldiers were on the way to punish the tribes for their uprising. The
fort was now in a state of siege. For about a month "nothing occurred
except a series of petty and futile attacks," in which the Indians,
mostly Ottawas, Ojibwas, and Delawares, did small damage. On July 26th,
under a flag of truce, the besiegers again demanded surrender. It was
refused and Ecuyer told the savages that if they again showed themselves
near the Fort he would throw "bombshells" among them and "blow them to
atoms." The assault was continu