"The negro guides, recently of the band, represented it as his favorite resort from its seclusion, where he held his green corn dances and councils. Measures were at once adopted to follow it up. Colonel Worth, with one hundred men of the 2d Infantry, accompanied by Lieutenant Colonel Riley and Major Plympton, together with Captain B. L. Beall's company 2d Dragoons, and forty men of the 8th Infantry, in command of First Lieutenant J. H. Harvil, moved from Fort King for Fort McClure or Warm Spring; thence, under the guidance of Indian negroes, to the neighborhood of the lake. At midnight, on the night of the tenth, the swamp was reached; the troops having marched forty-four miles. To surprise the Indian camp just at break of day, was the only chance of success. The guides represented it to be on the opposite side of the swamp, five or six miles through. The horses were picketed, and the baggage left with a small guard on the margin of the swamp. The soldier carried only a musket and his ammunition; the officers a rifle or sword. Quietly and resolutely the command moved, confident of success. The water became colder and deeper at every step; halts were frequently made to extricate the officers and soldiers from the mud. The night was dark, which added to the dismal gloomy shadows of a cypress swamp. The command could only follow by the splashing of water, and the calm but firm intonations of the word of command. The negroes in advance, followed closely by the most hardy and active, guided these two hundred men to what was believed to be the stronghold of the enemy. Every hour and step confirmed this conviction. The advance reached the opposite side just before the break of day. Anxiously they awaited and greeted every officer and soldier as he emerged from the swamp, covered with mud and water. Day broke; when silently the command was given--'Fall in!' Eleven officers and thirty-five privates were present. Occasionally a straggler would arrive, and report those in the rear as coming. The Indian huts, by the gray dawn of morning (twenty-four in number), could be discerned through the scrub, which separated the white and red man, three hundred yards distant. At this hour the Indian around his camp fire feels secure. From the number of huts, and their location, they outnumbered the assailants. To await the arrival of the entire force, the day would be far advanced; and discovery was a total defeat. It was determined with the number present to make a vigorous assault, and, if outnumbered, to rely upon those in the rear. Each man reprimed his musket, and cautiously, on his hands and knees, worked his way through the dense undergrowth to within a few yards of the cluster of huts and temporary sheds. Not a word was uttered. Eagerly each man grasped his musket, anxious for the first whoop, when he would be rewarded for his toil. A musket was discharged to arouse the inmates, and meet them on their retreat.