Wisconsin tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1847-1854, 1852-12-09

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had full view of them as they passed. and
was confident that they could not exceed
! four hundred men. He soon learned that
it was detached against Braddock. who
was now within few miles of the fort :
! but from their great inferiority IN num-
/ 6ers, he regarded their destruction as GER
tain, and looked joyfully to the arrival of
I Braddock in the evening, as the hour
which was to deliver him from the
power of the Indians In the afternoon.
/ however, an Indian runner arrived with
( far different intelligence. The battle had
not yet ended when he left the field but
/ he announced that the English had been
surrounded and were shot down in heaps
/ by an invisible enemy that instead of
/ flying at once or rushing upon their con-
cealed foe, they appeared completely be
wildered, huddled together in the center
/ of the ring, and before sundown there
would not be a man Of them alive This
( intelligence fell like thunderbolt upon
Smith. who now saw himself irretrievably
in the power of the savages, and could look
I forward to nothing but torture or endless
captivity He waited snxiously for fur
ther intelligence, still hoping that the for
tune of the day might change. But about
/ sunset. he heard at distance the we'll
I known scalp halloo, followed by wild.
quick, joyful shrieks and accompanied by
1 long continued firing. This too surely an
nounced the fate of the day. About dusk,
/ the party returned to the fort driving be
/ fore them twelve British regulars. strip
/ ed naked and with their faces painted
black an evidence that the unhappy
wrctches were doomed to death. Next
came the Indians displaying their bloody
scalps, of which they had immense num-
bers, and dressed in the scarlet coats
sashes, and military hats of the officers
and soldiers Behind all came a train of
baggage horses, laden with piles Of scalps,
/ canteens, and all the accoutrements Of the
British soldiers. The savages appeared
frantic with JOY and when Smith beheld
them entering the fort. dancing. Yelling
brandishing their red tomahawks and
waving their scalps In the air, while the
great guns of the fort replied to the in
cessant discharge of rifles without, he
says, that it looked as if the lower regions
had given a holiday, and tnrned loose its
inhabitants on the upper world.
The most melancholy spectacle was the
band Of prisoners. They appeared de-
iected and anxious Poor fellows They
( had but a few months before left London
at the command of their superiors, and
we may easily imagine their feelings, of
the strange and dreadful spectacle around
them. The yells Of delight and congrat-
ulation were scarcely over, when those Of
vengeance began The devoted prisoners
81, To- lol
the fort to the bank of the Allegheny, and
to the eternal disgrace Of the French com
nlandant, were burnt to death one after
another, with the most awful tormcuts
Smith stood upon the battlements and
witnessed the shocking spectacle.
The prisoner was tied to a stake with
his hands raised above his head, stripped
naked, and surrounded by Indians. They
would touch him with red hot irons, and
stick his body fall of pine splinters and
set them on fre-drowning the shrieks
of the victim In the yells of delight with
which they danced around him His
companions in the meantime stood in a
group near the stake, and had a foretaste
Of what was in reserve for each of them
As fast as one prisoner died under his
tortures, another filed his place, until the
whole perished All this took place so
near the fort, that every scream of the
victims must have rung in the ears Of the
French commandant
Two or three days after this shocking
spectacle. most Of the Indian tribes dis
Ipersed and returned to their homes, as is
usual with them after great and deci-
sive battle. Young Smith was demanded
Of the French by the tribe to whom he
belonged, and was Immediately surrender
ed into their hands
The party embarked in canoes, aud as
cended the Allegheny river, as far as a
small Indian town about forty miles above
fort du Quesne. There they abandoned
their canoes, and striking into the woods
travelled in a western direction until
they arrived at a considerable Indian
town. in what is now the State of Ohio
This village was called TUlhhas-and was
situated upon the western branch of the
Muskingum. During the whole of this
period, Smith suffered much anxiety from
the uncertainty of his future fate, but al
this town all doubt was removed.
On the morning of his arrival, the prin
cipal members of the tribe gathered
aFOuuu Illn--auu SOOu .Ui4G oti hi&t
with deep gravity, began to pluck out
his hair by the roots, while the Others
looked on ir silence, smoking their pipe.
with great deliberation, Smith did not
understand the design Of this singular
/ ceremony, but submitted very patiently tc
the mans labors, who performed the oper
alton of picking" him with great dexter
ity, dipping his fingers IN the ashes occa
sionally, in order to take better hold
In a very few moments Smiths head was
bald with the exception of single long
tuft upon the centre Of his crown, called
the scalp lock" This was carefully
plated in such manner as to stand up
right. and was ornamented with several
silver brooches. His ears and nose were
bored with equal gravity, and ornament
ed with earrings and nosejewels. He
was then ordered to strip-which being
done, his naked body was painted in vari
Gus fantastic colors, and breech cloth