General Lewis became intensely anxious. He was distressed at the sight of the number of his men who fell at every rush. He saw that the Indians must be routed before night, or the Virginians were almost sure to suffer disastrous defeat. He sent three companies, who, favored by the forest, reached the rear of the enemy unobserved. Then they dashed to the attack. The warriors did not believe they were a part of the force they had been fighting for hours, but thought they were reinforcements and that the Indians' only safety lay in instant flight. Just as the sun was setting they retreated across the Ohio and made for their towns along that river. The loss of the soldiers included nine officers and about fifty privates, with nearly a hundred wounded. That of the Indians is not known, but it is not likely it exceeded that of the whites. Judging by those who were killed and wounded, the circumstances, and the length of the conflict, the battle of Point Pleasant, in the autumn of 1774, seems to justify the claim that it was the hardest fought one that ever took place between the American and Caucasian races. [Illustration: A BLOODY MASSACRE] It has been said that grave suspicion was caused by the course of Governor Dunmore. He set out with the purpose of attacking the rear of the Indians and coöperating with General Lewis, and yet such could not have been his real intention, for he was seventy-five miles distant, and coöperation was out of the question. In the many attempts to explain his course, it was said he meant to sacrifice General Lewis and his men in order to add to his own reputation. Such a theory is absurd, however, for he would have been denounced for his treachery, instead of being praised. Others have thought that he felt the justice of the Indians' cause, and tried to bring peace with the least destruction and harm to them. To us, the more reasonable theory is, that Governor Dunmore saw, as every one else saw, that the colonies were on the verge of rebellion against England, and he was very anxious to keep the goodwill of the Indians, with a view to bringing them to the side of the mother country. You know he did all he could to befriend England, and was rebuked by Patrick Henry and other patriots for too much activity against their interests, when war was about to open. After burying his dead, General Lewis withdrew agreeably to the commands of Governor Dunmore. The latter advanced to within a few miles of the leading Indian town on the Chillicothe, for the purpose of treating with the tribes, from whom he had already received requests to do so. The meetings were marked with distrust on both sides. Cornstalk, in an indignant speech, laid the whole blame of the war upon the whites, due mainly to the murder of Logan's family. Governor Dunmore showed much tact, and, in the end, secured the pledges of the leading chiefs to the peace he sought.