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TEXAS INDIAN PAPERS, 1825-1843
58
centre of the village, the men throwing open the doors of the wigwams or pulling them down and slaughtering the enemy in their beds. It was now discovered that the opposite side which had been supposed to have opened to the level prairie was bor- dered by a meander of the bayou which formed a deep rut and a secure place of retreat into which the savages had fled and in which they had already rallied and formed for defence At this time the darkness which previously had been such as barely to permit us to aim with tolerable accuracy became greater in con- sequence of the smoke, and all our fire arms having been dis- charged, it became necessary to retire for a moment to reload and wait for the darkness to be dispelled to enable us to renew the attack. The disorder which had resulted from the eager- ness of the men was another cause which rendered this move- ment necessary we had barely time to form and reload when the enemy charged us in front and on both flanks to within a few steps which attacks were repeated at short intervals until 10 o'clock a. m. after which the firing from the enemy continued but from a considerable distance. Ten men were now dis- patched by way of the bayou to reconnoitre who returned soon after and reported the enemy very numerous, we continued 'in our position until half after eleven o'clock, when the enemy ceased firing, at which time having abandoned the hope of being able with so few men to force them from the strong position they occupied in their rear, I ordered litters to be prepared for our wounded, and soon after returned to the place at which we had left our horses, in 15 or 20 moments after our arrival at this place we were surrounded by a large body of the enemy, who I believe were between 300 and 500 in number who im- mediately opened a fire upon us which was soon silenced, and a white flag (the same presented to them last summer at the seat of Government by the President Sam Houston) approached carried by a woman accompanied by a man. A parley ensued in which she stated that they had 5 white prisoners, one a wom- an about middle age understood to have been captured on the Brazos river, a Girl about 15 years of age, supposed to be the daughter of one of our company Andrew Lockhart, captured on the Guadalupe, the other three were children captured at the same place a short time since. This information I believe was given because they were under the impression that we had some of their prisoners which they wished to exchange for, as some prisoners had been taken by the Lipan which they Killed or
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