From the thicket on the left a deadly fire blazed out, and the head of the column was almost swept away.

Hendrick's horse was shot, and the chief killed with a bayonet as he tried to gain his feet.
Colonel Williams, seeing rising ground on his right, made for it, calling his men to follow; but, as he climbed the slope, the enemy's fire flashed out from behind every tree, and he fell dead.

The men in the rear pressed forward to support their comrades, when the enemy in the bushes on the right flank also opened fire.
Then a panic began.

Some fled at once for the camp, and the whole column recoiled in confusion, as from all sides the enemy burst out, shouting and yelling.

Colonel Whiting, however, bravely rallied a portion of Williams' regiment, and, aided by some of the Mohawks, and by a detachment which Johnson sent out to his aid, covered the retreat, fighting behind the trees like the Indians, and falling back in good order with their faces to the enemy.
So stern and obstinate was their resistance that the French halted three-quarters of a mile from the camp.