the violence of his nature has been admirably enhanced. As his name
indicates, he is a ferocious fish, and has fought duels enough to
qualify himself to be a leader of savages. We suppose that upon
the recent occasion, he got himself up in good style, war-paint,
nose-ring, and all. This new Pontiac is also a poet, and wrote 'Hymns
to the Gods' in _Blackwood_; but he has left Jupiter, Juno, and
the rest, and betaken himself to the culture of the Great Spirit, or
rather of two great spirits, whisky being the second."]

[Footnote 66: Van Dorn did not make his detailed official report of
this battle until the news had leaked out that the Indians had mangled
the bodies of the dead and committed other atrocities. He was probably
then desirous of being as silent as he dared be concerning Indian
participation, since he, in virtue of his being chief in command, was
the person mainly responsible for it. In October of the preceding
year, McCulloch had favored using the Indians against Kansas
[_Official Records_, vol. iii, 719, 721]. Cooper objected
strongly to their being kept "at home" [Ibid., 614] and one
of the leading chiefs insisted that they did not intend to use the
scalping knife [Ibid., 625].]

McCulloch's broken army and with it to join Van Dorn. On the eighth,
Colonel Watie's men under orders from Van Dorn took position on the
high ridges where they could watch the movements of the enemy and
give timely notice of any attempt to turn the Confederate left flank.
Colonel Drew's regiment, meanwhile, not having received the word
passed along the line to move forward, remained in the woods near
Leetown, the last in the field. Subsequently, finding themselves
deserted, they drew back towards Camp Stephens, where they were soon
joined by "General Cooper, with his regiment and battalion of Choctaws