I may take it into my head to send for some of our bereaved women to witness my terrible work and see that it is well done, if you insist upon the worst." Major Hay, who was Hamilton's Indian agent, now, with some difficulty clearing his throat, spoke up.
"Pray, sir," said he, "who is it that you call Indian partisans ?" "Sir," replied Clark, seeing that his words had gone solidly home, "I take Major Hay to be one of the principals." This seemed to strike Hay with deadly force.

Clark's report says that he was "pale and trembling, scarcely able to stand," and that "Hamilton blushed, and, I observed, was much affected at his behavior.
"Doubtless, if the doughty American commander had known more about the Governor's feelings just then, he would have added that an awful fear, even greater than the Indian agent's, did more than anything else to congest the veins in his face." The parties separated without reaching an agreement; but the end had come.

The terror in Hamilton's soul was doubled by a wild scene enacted under the walls of his fort; a scene which, having no proper place in this story, strong as its historical interest unquestionably is, must be but outlined.

A party of Indians returning from a scalping expedition in Kentucky and along the Ohio, was captured on the outskirts of the town by some of Clark's men, who proceeded to kill and scalp them within full view of the beleaguered garrison, after which their mangled bodies were flung into the river.
If the British commander needed further wine of dread to fill his cup withal, it was furnished by ostentatious marshaling of the American forces for a general assault.

His spirit broke completely, so that it looked like a godsend to him when Clark finally offered terms of honorable surrender, the consummation of which was to be postponed until the following morning.