he Senecas
held the right; the Ottawas, the Potawatomis, the Shawnees, and others,
held the left.

They were ready. They could hear the challenges of the alert sentries,
at the gray-hair's camp. Two hours before day-break they heard the
drums beating the reveille. The soldiers of the gray-hair were on the
watch.

The light in the east broadened. Securely hidden, the Little Turtle
army waited. They might see the dim tents of the militia
advance-guard, camped a quarter of a mile this side of the creek.

Beyond, where the main camp was under arms, the smoke of the fires
began to thicken.

Toward the time of sunrise the soldiers grew tired of standing in
ranks. The dawn-hour for surprise by Indians had passed. Trumpet and
drum-roll sounded for "Break ranks." Having stacked their guns the
soldiers gladly made for their tents, or squatted around the breakfast
fires.

Another day had begun, without event.

Little Turtle allowed fifteen minutes or so, for the soldiers to settle
and doze. Then he gave the signal, a half hour before sunrise.

General Saint Clair was lying sick in his tent. There burst a distant
rifle shot; it was instantly followed by a crackling volley, as from
half a thousand rifles--and an answering heavier volley from the
muskets of the militia.

Struggling to don his blanket-coat he limped out, his gray queue
ragged. The camp sprang to arms, for officers and men knew their
business; but here came the militia like a drove of stampeded cattle,
legging frantically for shelter from a horde of whooping, darting
Indians. The militia dived through the lines of the regulars, into the
very center of the camp, and for a short period all was chaos.

It was a furious fight. Re-forming their lines, the regulars stood
well. They checked the charge by a thunderous volley from the
long-barreled flint-lock muskets--the same as used at Brandywine,
Princeton and Yorktown.

The strategy of Little Turtle and his chiefs was excellent. They
shifted the attack from point to point. They attacked both lines at
once. They took advantage of every cover, and constantly appeared
closer. They killed every horse and every gunner of the artillery
posted in the center.

Of the Second Infantry, all the officers fell except two. General
Butler hastened bravely up and down the one line, encouraging the
troops; General Saint Clair limped heroically up and down the other
line. Eight bullets pierced his clothin