But three companies of Morgan's riflemen, the pride of Wasbington, were in advance ;veterans of a hundred battles, and in no way inferior to the enemy in Indian craft ; and the ingenious device for drawing our forces into an ambush was thwarted. For hours the battle waged fiercely. By skillfully maneuvering his troops Sullivan had nearly succeeded in surrounding the enemy, when, admirably commanded, and wisely discreet, the signal for retreat was sounded just in time to escape. The entire loss to the Americans was three killed and thirty-nine wounded. Twelve Indians were found dead on the field, but the number of their wounded is unknown. The events of the succeeding days during which the expedition

86 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.

was prosecuting its errand of destruction, were a constant repetition of each other. The army was almost constantly on the move, searching out and destroying such settlements as could be found. The Indians skulked away like a pack of wolves at the approach of the hunter, turning now and then to snap at their pursuers, and then vanishing. Where once had stood their pleasant villages surrounded by fruitful fields, was only left heaps of smouldering ashes and masses of trampled grain and prostrate fruit trees. They needed no spies to keep them informed of the progress of the invaders. A trail of smoke by day and a ruddy glow on the sky at night told it too plainly. The scourge had fallen. Not only were the frontiers cleared but the doom of the Iroquoian Confederacy was sealed, and its dominion over the vast territory which it had so long ruled was destroyed forever. From the mountains of northern Pennsylvania, through the beautiful valley of the Susquehanna and the lake region of central New York to the fruitful valley of the Genesee, no Indian settlement of importance was left.