position in the Indian territory.

On June 22 a large body of Indians assembled in the forest
about the fort, and, creeping stealthily within range of
its walls, opened fire from every side. It was the
garrison's first experience of attack; some of the soldiers
proved a trifle overbold, and two of them were killed.
The firing, however, lasted but a short time. Ecuyer
selected a spot where the smoke of the muskets was
thickest, and threw shells from his howitzers into the
midst of the warriors, scattering them in hurried flight.
On the following day a party came within speaking distance,
and their leader, Turtle's Heart, a Delaware chief,
informed Ecuyer that all the western and northern forts
had been cut off, and that a host of warriors were coming
to destroy Fort Pitt and its garrison. He begged Ecuyer
to withdraw the inmates of the fort while there was yet
time. He would see to it that they were protected on
their way to the eastern settlements. He added that when
the Ottawas and their allies arrived, all hope for the
lives of the inhabitants of Fort Pitt would be at an end.
All this Turtle's Heart told Ecuyer out of 'love for the
British.' The British officer, with fine humour, thanked
him for his consideration for the garrison, but told him
that he could hold out against all the Indians in the
woods. He could be as generous as Turtle's Heart, and so
warned him that the British were coming to relieve Fort
Pitt with six thousand men; that an army of three thousand
was ascending the Great Lakes to punish the Ottawa
Confederacy; and that still another force of three thousand