Next moment they turned and fled, in spite of the frantic efforts of their chiefs to rally them.
Another volley was poured into them as they ran, and they fell all around the fort by dozens.
The colonel hastily gave orders for a sortie and a charge, with the idea of cutting them up as they fled and keeping them on the run.
The horses were at hand, all saddled, for this purpose, and in less than two minutes three hundred men were speeding from the fort, headed by Buffalo Bill.
But by this time the Indians had reached their own horses and were galloping away in all directions. Many of them were shot before they could escape, and the rest were chased for two or three miles, until they began to bunch together in strong parties and return the fire of the white men.
Then Buffalo Bill, who had been placed in charge of the pursuing party by the colonel, ordered a retreat to the fort.
He did not wish to get too far away in the darkness and risk spoiling the great victory by a subsequent reverse.
The Indians still greatly outnumbered the band under his command, and if they turned on him they would be able to do serious damage. He, therefore, gave them a parting volley and rode back at the head of his men.
“I reckon we must have killed at least two hundred of them around the walls of the fort,” said the colonel, clasping him warmly by the hand. “How many did you get in the pursuit?”