Boyd dispatched two more men to learn what had detained the army, when they discovered the dead corporal and at the same time the presence of Indians. They informed Lieutenant Boyd, who immediately assembled his party and gave chase, following the British and Tories to within less than three miles from the main army.
There they encountered a body of four or five hundred which lay in ambush, probably awaiting to surprise the main army, who immediately surrounded Boyd’s small party. Their defense against overwhelming odds was not less gallant than it was hopeless.
In their extremity they posted themselves in a small grove, with a considerable open space around it, and there they continued to fight. Some of the enemy were so near that the powder from their muskets burned the clothing and persons of the Americans, who fought bravely until the overwhelming superiority of the enemy obliged them to attempt a retreat, which they did, covering their movement with a deadly fire.
This small army of British and Indians was under the command of Colonel John Butler and the notorious Indian chieftain, Joseph Brant.
The Indians killed and in a most inhuman manner tomahawked and scalped six of Boyd’s soldiers, whose bodies were found the next day.
Nine of Boyd’s party escaped and reported the battle as soon as they had reached the main army.
As Lieutenant Boyd, the Indian guide, Chief Hanjost, Timothy Murphy and six others had not arrived safe in camp, there was much anxiety for their safety.
Timothy Murphy was from Northumberland, a personal friend of the Boyd brothers and one of the most famous marksmen in the service. It was his unerring aim which killed General Frazer, the British commander at the second battle of Stillwater, October 7, 1777.
Colonel Adam Hubley, in the journal which he kept during the Sullivan expedition, writes of him:
“This Murphy is a noted marksman and a great soldier, he having killed and scalped that morning in the Town they were at an Indian, which makes the three & thirtieth man of the Enemy he has killed (as is well known to his officers) in this War.”