Estill advanced his men to within eighty yards of the Indians, who had each taken shelter behind a tree, and made a similar disposition of them. The Indians slightly outnumbered their adversaries and had somewhat the advantage of position. They also excelled in the matter of taking cover, but were inferior to the backwoodsmen in marksmanship. At the outset the whites gained an advantage by wounding the chief of the Wyandots. Seeing him fall, his men began to waver but he was almost instantly upon his feet again and, supporting himself against the trunk of a tree, he continued to encourage the warriors. The combat was carried on for upwards of an hour with the utmost determination on both sides. The whites had lost six or seven men and several more were wounded, the casualties among the Indians being about the same. But there was no sign of giving way in their ranks and Captain Estill began to be impatient to bring the affair to an issue. Considering how closely contested had been the fight, it is difficult to understand how Estill could have entertained the idea of weakening his line. He did, however, decide to detach six men and an officer in a flanking movement. The party was placed in charge of Lieutenant Miller, who was instructed to steal round under cover and take the enemy in flank or rear. Estill now faced the Indians with only twelve men, four of whom were wounded. His weakened condition became apparent to the enemy before Miller had had time to execute his movement. Urged on by their chief, the Wyandots rushed upon the whites and forced them to retreat. Pursuing closely, the savages killed eight of the backwoodsmen, and among them Captain Estill. Of Miller’s party but two escaped, including that officer, who was afterwards accused of failure to carry out his instructions. Whether or not Miller was remiss in his duty, Estill cannot be relieved of the prime responsibility for the disaster. The Indians were reported to have lost thirteen of their number. Shawnees would have retired after three or four men had fallen. The marked increase of immigration during the two years preceding this time had wrought the Indians up to a high pitch of resentment. Despite their successes, they saw that the whites were able to oppose fresh men to them without apparent abatement of numbers. They realized that unless the Long Knives were speedily driven from Kentucky they would become rooted to the soil. During the winter of 1782 the chiefs of the northwestern tribes held many councils and debated upon a concerted invasion of Kentucky. They made the usual appeal to the authorities at Detroit, but on this occasion found them unwontedly lukewarm. The surrender of Cornwallis in the previous October had taken the heart out of the British in Canada, and they were more disposed to think of defence than to consider aggression.