In short, the position of Dudley was completely
turned; and the stumps and angles of the fences, which secreted his men,
were likely to become of no further use. The emergency demanded decision.
Collecting his yeomen, ere the enemy had time to profit by his advantage,
the Ensign ordered a rapid retreat towards the fort. In this movement he
was favored by the formation of the ground, a circumstance that had been
well considered on the advance; and in a very few minutes, the party found
itself safely posted under the protection of a scattering fire from the
palisadoes, which immediately checked the pursuit of the whooping and
exulting foe. The wounded men, after a stern or rather sullen halt, that
was intended to exhibit the unconquerable determination of the whites,
withdrew into the works for succor, leaving the command of Dudley reduced
by nearly one-half of its numbers. With this diminished force, however, he
promptly turned his attention towards the assistance of those who combated
at the opposite extremity of the village.
Allusion has already been made to the manner in which the houses of a new
settlement were clustered near each other, at the commencement of the
colonial establishments.
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