hundred and a thousand. Fleming's division was
likewise attacked on the bank of the river. In a short time Colonel
Charles Lewis was mortally wounded; this gallant and estimable officer,
when struck by the bullet, fell at the foot of a tree, when he was,
against his own wish, carried back to his tent by Captain Morrow and a
private, and he died in a few hours, deeply lamented. Colonel Fleming
also was severely wounded, two balls passing through his arm and one
through his breast. After cheering on the officers and soldiers, he
retired to the camp. The Augusta troops, upon the fall of their leader,
Colonel Lewis, and several of the men, gave way, and retreated toward
the camp, but being met by a re-enforcement of about two hundred and
fifty, under Colonel Field, they rallied and drove back the enemy, and
at this juncture this officer was killed. His place was taken by Captain
Shelby. At length the Indians formed a line behind logs and trees, at
right angles to the Ohio, through the woods to Crooked Creek, which
empties into the Great Kanawha a little above its mouth. The engagement
now became general, and was obstinately sustained in the bush-fighting
manner on both sides. The Virginia troops being hemmed in between the
two rivers, with the Indians in front, General Lewis employed the troops
from the more eastern part of the colony (who were less experienced in
Indian fighting) in throwing up a breastwork of the boughs and trunks of
trees, across the delta between the Kanawha and Ohio. About twelve
o'clock the Indian fire began to slacken, and the enemy slowly and
reluctantly gave way, being driven back less than two miles during six
or seven hours. A desultory fire was still kept up from behind trees,
and the whites as they pressed on the savages were repeatedly
ambuscaded. At length General Lewis detached three companies, commanded
by Captains Shelby, Matthews, and Stuart, with orders to move secretly
along the banks of the Kanawha and Crooked Creek, so as to gain the
enemy's rear. This manoeuvre being successfully executed, the Indians,
as some report, at four o'clock P.M., fled; according to other accounts,
the firing continued until sunset. During the night they recrossed the
Ohio. The loss of the Virginians in this action has been variously
estimated at from forty to seventy-five killed and one hundred and forty
wounded--a large proportion of the number of the troops actually
engaged, who did not exceed five hundred