After the severe repulse which the French had met, nothing remained but for them to retreat. Bienville saw that he could not depend upon the Choctaws, and the fortifications of the Chickasaws were too strong to be carried without cannon and mortars. On the 22d of May, the day following that of the battle of Ackia, Bienville had litters made to transport the wounded; and at one in the afternoon, the army formed itself into two columns, which had been the order of marching in coming, it began its retrogade movement. The troops were much worn out with the fatigue they had undergone, and the labor of transporting the baggage and wounded was difficult. Slow marching disgusted the Choctaws, and one portion of them, headed by the chief Red Shoe, wished to abandon the French. But the more numerous part, aided by the eloquence of Bienville, succeeded in inducing them to remain. On the 29th, the French reached the place where they had left their boats. They found the river falling fast, and they hastened to embark the same day. After a laborious passage, they arrived at Tombigbee on the 2d of June, and from, thence returned to New Orleans. The expedition had been well planned, and vigorously executed, but unforseen circumstances defeated it. The Chickasaws had proven much better warriors than they had been thought to be, and had defended themselves with an obstinacy as unexpected as it was successful. The English supported that tribe in their war with the French, and they were thus enabled to main-themselves against all the expeditions sent against them. [Illustration: 0406] End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Indian: On the Battle-Field and in the Wigwam, by John Frost