This work of butchery had commenced just as we were leaving the fort.

I well remembered a remark of Ensign Ronan, as the firing went on.

'Such,' turning to me, 'is to be our fate--to be shot down like brutes!' "'Well, sir,' said the commanding officer, who overheard him, 'are you afraid ?' "'No,' replied the high-spirited young man, 'I can march up to the enemy where you dare not show your face.' And his subsequent gallant behavior showed this to be no idle boast.
"As the noise of the firing grew gradually less and the stragglers from the victorious party came dropping in, I received confirmation of what my father had hurriedly communicated in our _rencontre_ on the lake shore; namely, that the whites had surrendered, after the loss of about two-thirds of their number.

They had stipulated, through the interpreter, Peresh Leclerc, for the preservation of their lives, and those of the remaining women and children, and for their delivery at some of the British posts, unless ransomed by traders in the Indian country.

It appears that the wounded prisoners were not considered as included in the stipulation, and a horrid scene ensued upon their being brought into camp.
"An old squaw, infuriated by the loss of friends, or excited by the sanguinary scenes around her, seemed possessed by a demoniac ferocity.
She seized a stable-fork and assaulted one miserable victim, who lay groaning and writhing in the agony of his wounds, aggravated by the scorching beams of the sun.