After being forced to flee their stronghold, the Modoc took cover among the craggy lava features in this area, where a group under Scarface Charley watched from the Schonchin Flow as Army troops marched from Gillems Camp toward their concealed position. Officers Thomas and Wright led an artillery reconnaissance patrol to Hardin Butte, but the soldiers were unenthusiastic and ill-prepared for an encounter. When the patrol stopped for lunch in the depression before you, only a few scouts were sent out while most of the soldiers rested. Fearing discovery by a force twice their size, the Modoc opened fire from high, protected places such as this outcropping. About two-thirds of the patrol was killed or wounded, while the Modoc suffered no casualties. A soldier not involved in the battle said that at the first fire the troops were so demoralized that the officers could do nothing with them, Wright was severely wounded, and his company, with one or two exceptions, deserted him and fled, after which the slaughter began. Scarface Charley then halted the battle and showed mercy to the few surviving soldiers, telling them that those who were not dead had better go home because the Modoc did not want to kill them all in one day. The battle was the last Modoc victory. Their way of life was inseparable from this land, and although they adopted some elements of white culture and sometimes got along with settlers who recognized their right to remain on their homeland, disputes often escalated into serious conflict and war. Scarface Charley's mercy reflected that many Modoc were not interested in indiscriminate killing but were determined to defend their land and culture, and after this battle they were never again successful in doing so.