The Canadian Iroquois praised Léry only for his good luck in taking Fort Bull with so little loss, and pointedly said nothing about any skill on his part: in Iroquois terms praising a commander only for his good luck in conducting operations was an insult as luck was a random quality outside of the control of any individual. On the same day, the African-American teamster who had escaped the ambush, came racing into Fort Williams on his wagon with news of what happened. The commander of Fort Williams, Mercer, sent out a patrol of one sergeant and 15 privates plus one American civilian volunteer named Robert Eastburn out to investigate. Eastburn was a blacksmith from Philadelphia who went out unarmed on the patrol, which Chartrand noted makes one wonder just what was the precise reason for attaching him to the patrol. Eastburn had just arrived in Fort Williams and for reasons that remain unclear seemed to have thought he would be safer with the patrol instead of staying in the fort. The patrol was ambushed in a clearing in the forest by 73 Canadian Iroquois who opened fire on them, returned one volley before breaking, which led to the Iroquois setting off in hot pursuit of the retreating British in search of prisoners. Afterwards, the Iroquois rejoined the French, and Eastburn, who had been taken prisoner, wrote: "As soon as they got together, (having a Priest with them) they fell on their knees and returned thanks for their victory". MacLeod noted that the difference between French and Iroquois warfare can be seen in that the Iroquois during their ambush spared the lives of the men they captured and took them back to be adopted by Iroquois families while the French killed almost everyone at Fort Bull. The Iroquois always needed prisoners to increase the size of the tribe as they were keenly aware of their numerical inferiority while the French regarded the prisoners they had taken as an annoyance whose lives were worth nothing.