Page:The History of Oregon Bancroft 1888.djvu/608

 tion, where three shots were to be fired by the howitzers to announce a parley, and give Jack an opportunity to surrender.

But the accident of the previous afternoon having put the Modocs on their guard, hardly had the line formed when the Indians opened fire, and instead of surrounding them and demanding their surrender, the troops found that they must fight for every foot of ground between them and the fortress. The fog, too, now became an obstacle instead of an aid to success. Unable to discern their course, the troops were compelled to scramble over and amongst the rocks as best they could, at the risk any moment of falling into ambush, making the movement on the right painfully slow. Nevertheless it was steadily pushed forward, all caution being used, the men often lying flat and crawling over rocks within a few yards of the Indians, who could be heard but not seen. The howitzers, which had been relied upon to demoralize the Indians, proved useless so long as the enemy's position was concealed from view. The line, after advancing a mile and a half, was halted and a few shells thrown, causing the Indians some alarm, but through fear of hitting Bernard's command the firing was soon suspended. Again the line was pushed on another mile and a half by a series of short charges, jumping chasms and sounding the war-whoop.

About one o clock the extreme right of the line, which now enveloped the stronghold on the west and south, was brought to a halt by a deep, wide gorge in the lava, which could not be crossed without sacrifice of life, as it was strongly guarded, and in close neighborhood to the main citadel. On consultation with Wheaton and other officers, Green determined to move the west line by the left and connect with Bernard by the shore of the lake.

At this point some confusion occurred in the line.