to their own activity and bravery, as to the skill and energy of their officers.  The battle soon became general, and was maintained on both sides with signal and even desperate valor.  The Indians advanced and retreated by the aid of a rattling noise, made with deer hoofs, and persevered in their treacherous attack with an apparent determination to conquer or die upon the spot.  The battle raged with unabated fury and mutual slaughter, until daylight, when a gallant and successful charge by our troops, drove the enemy into the swamp, and put an end to the conflict.

Prior to the assault, the Prophet had given assurances to his followers, that in the coming contest, the Great Spirit would render the arms of the Americans unavailing; that their bullets would fall harmless at the feet of the Indians; that the latter should have light in abundance, while the former would be involved in thick darkness.  Availing himself of the privilege conferred by his peculiar office, and, perhaps, unwilling in his own person to attest at once the rival powers of a sham prophecy and a real American bullet, he prudently took a position on an adjacent eminence; and, when the action began, he entered upon the performance of certain mystic rites, at the same time singing a war-song.  In the course of the engagement, he was informed that his men were falling:  he told them to fight on,—­it would soon be as he had predicted; and then, in louder and wilder strains, his inspiring battle-song was heard commingling with the sharp crack of the rifle and the shrill war-whoop of his brave but deluded followers.

Throughout the action, the Indians manifested more boldness and perseverance than had, perhaps, ever been exhibited by them on any former occasion.  This was owing, it is supposd, to the influence of the Prophet, who by the aid of his incantations had inspired them with a belief that they would certainly overcome their enemy:  the supposition, likewise, that they had taken the governor’s army by surprise, doubtless contributed to the desperate character of their assaults.  They were commanded by some daring chiefs, and although their spiritual leader was not actually in the battle, he did much to encourage his followers in their gallant attack.  Of the force of the Indians engaged, there is no certain account.  The ordinary number at the Prophet’s town during the preceding summer, was four hundred and fifty; but a few days before the action, they had been joined by all the Kickapoos of the prairie, and by several bands of the Potawatamies, from the Illinois river, and the St. Joseph’s of lake Michigan.  Their number on the night of the engagement was probably between eight hundred and one thousand.  Some of the Indians who were in the action, subsequently informed the agent at fort Wayne, that there were more than a thousand warriors in the battle, and that the number of wounded was unusually great.  In the precipitation of their retreat, they left thirty-eight on the field; some were buried during the engagement in their town, others no doubt died subsequently of their wounds.  The whole number of their killed, was probably not less than fifty.