officer with one exception was wounded, and most of the non-
commissioned officers were killed or wounded. Only four men of that
portion of the regiment were untouched.

With this ruinous beginning, the battle continued for three hours
and ended with the natives having been driven from the field into the
dense growth surrounding. The Indians had lost only 13 killed and 19
wounded, while 27 had killed and ill wounded of the American forces.

Meanwhile, the Indians had vanished completely. The sad task
of carrying the dead and wounded back across the slough began and
continued into the following day. The dead were buried among the
pines. Litters of poles and dry hides had had to be made for the
wounded, before the 150-mile journey back to headquarters could be
attempted.

This battle was the forerunner of frequent scouting parties into the
Everglades. Soldiers on active campaign in the Indian territory often
experienced almost unendurable hardships. Unaccustomed to the climate,
there were faced with pursuing the enemy into an unexplored wilderness,
in places nearly impassable. It was the first instance in authentic history of
a nation employing an army to explore a country; "---for," wrote Major
General Thomas S. Jesup, "we can do little more than explore it---."