The battle had raged for three hours with a fierceness which no Indian but Black Hawk could precipitate, and there he was, directing a cause which was none of his own, he and his British band, notwithstanding his pledges and protestations, fighting the Americans with the ferocity of a wild beast. The casualties were two of the crew killed outright and four wounded, two mortally and two slightly, while the loss of the Indians was variously estimated at from seven to twelve killed and many wounded. The other boat, which had aboard William J. Snelling, son of Colonel Snelling, followed, but the darkness saved it from any damage, the volley which was fired passing harmlessly overhead. It has been said the Indian force numbered thirty-seven, but these figures appear ridiculous when parties at Prairie du Chien, present when the boat landed, reported over five hundred bullet holes in the craft, and Mr. Snelling reported 693, which would allow eighteen bullets to the Indian and leave no reckoning for the many which missed the boat entirely. As this conflict occurred on the same day which saw the Gagnier family murdered by Red Bird and his companions, it is not conceivable how Red Bird could have been present. In fact, he was not, as Black Hawk admitted after his acquittal. He was the leader and he said so.[62] It should be noted in this place that the miserable rumor mentioned by Reynolds in his “My Own Times” and by other writers, of the action of the crew upstream in debauching certain Winnebago squaws, had no foundation whatever. Black Hawk was subsequently arrested for this attack, but the lack of evidence allowed him to escape an indictment. When discharged he made no secret of his participation in the affair, but prior thereto he was the most discreet Indian the imagination can portray. The only reference to the court proceedings made by the newspapers at the time is to be found in the Miner’s Journal of Galena for Saturday, September 13, 1828, and is as follows: “A gentleman who was present at the time of the arraignment and trial of these Indians at Prairie du Chien has given us the following particulars: