sent upon the second express
returned with an account of their having seen the enemy within four
miles of the camp at the Carrying-place, which they scarcely doubted
their having by that time attacked. Important as the defence of this
place was for the safety of the whole army, and imminent as the danger
seemed to be, it does not appear that the general then called any
council of war, or resolved upon any thing for its relief; but early the
next morning he called a council, wherein it was unadvisedly resolved
to detach a thousand men, with a number of Indians, to intercept, or, as
the general's expression was in his letter, to catch the enemy in
their retreat, either as victors, or as defeated in their design. This
expedient was resolved on, though no one knew the number of the enemy,
nor could obtain any information in that respect from the Indian scouts,
because the Indians have no words or signs for expressing any large
number, which, when it exceeds their reckoning, they signify by pointing
to the stars in the firmament, or to the hair of their head; and this
they often do to denote a number less than a thousand, as well as to
signify ten thousand, or any greater number.

Between eight and nine o'clock in the morning a thousand men, with two
hundred Indians, were detached under the command of colonel Williams;
but they had not been gone two hours when those in the camp began to
hear a close firing, at about three or four miles' distance, as they
judged; as it approached nearer and nearer, they rightly supposed that
the detachment was overpowered, and retreating towards the camp; which
was soon confirmed by some fugitives, and presently after by whole
companies, who fled back in great confusion. In a very short time after,
the enemy appeared marching in regular order up to the centre of the
camp, where the consternation was so great, that, if they had attacked
the breastwork directly, they might probably have thrown all into
confusion, and obtained an easy victory; but fortunately for the
English, they halted for some time at about an hundred and fifty yards'
distance, and from thence began their attack with platoon firing, too
far off to do much hurt, especially against troops who were defended by
a strong breastwork. On the contrary, this ineffectual fire served only
to raise the spirits of these last, who, having prepared their artillery
during the time that the French halted, began to play it so briskly
upon the