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214 Presque Isle, was stretched across the valley for two miles in a well-chosen position. A tornado had swept the forest here and the mass of fallen trees offered a particularly advantageous spot for the Indians' favorite method of fighting. Such spots were very common in the old Black Forest of the West and were generally known as "fallen timber" by the Indians and pioneers; in them cavalry was almost useless. Thus the mounted volunteers, the Indians believed, would be debarred from the fight.

At eleven o'clock the advanced lines met. At the first burst of sudden flame the American vanguard of volunteers was staggered, perhaps surprised at the fire from an unseen enemy lying beneath the tangled wind-rack of the forest. The guards on the right fell back through the regulars commanded by Cook and Steele. The