But in this they failed, leaving one dead and twelve prisoners in the hands of the assailants, who now kept up such a hrisk fire that it was impossihle for any of the besieged to escape. After a desperate conflict of an hour, one hundred and eighty Indians lay dead on the snow outside their dwellings. Not one of the survivors durst now show his face. They remained under cover, discharging their arrows from behind, to the. great annoyance of the Dutch troops. Underbill, now seeing no other way to overcome the obstinate resistance of the foe, gave orders to Are their huts. The order was forthwith obeyed; the wretched inmates endeavoring in every way to escape from the horrid dames, but mostly without success. The moment they made their appearance they rushed or were driven precipitately back into their burning hovels, preferring to be consumed by fire than to fall by our weapons. In this merciless manner were butchered, as some of the Indians afterward reported, five hundred human beings. Others carry the number to seven hundred; " the Lord having collected most of our enemies there to celebrate some peculiar festival." Of the whole party, no more than eight men escaped this terrible slaughter by fire and sword. Three of these were badly wounded. Throughout the entire carnage not one of the sufferers -- man, woman, or child -- was heard to utter a shriek or moan.

This battle, if battle it may be called, was by far the most sanguinary ever fought on Westchester soil. At White Plains, the most considerable Westchester engagement of the devolution, the combined losses of both sides in killed, wounded, and missing did not reach four hundred. The site of the exterminated Indian village has been exactly located by Bolton. It was called Xanichiestawack, and was in the Town (township) of Bedford, not far from the present Bedford village.