The hill was a natural fortress, its sides forested, its bald top
protected by rocks and bowlders. All the approaches led through
dense forest. An enemy force, passing through the immediate,
wooded territory, might easily fail to discover a small army
nesting sixty feet above the shrouding leafage. Word was
evidently brought to Ferguson here, telling him the now augmented
number of his foe, for he dispatched another emissary to
Cornwallis with a letter stating the number of his own troops and
urging full and immediate assistance.
Meanwhile the frontiersmen had halted at the Cowpens. There they
feasted royally off roasted cattle and corn belonging to the
loyalist who owned the Cowpens. It is said that they mowed his
fifty acres of corn in an hour. And here one of their spies, in
the assumed role of a Tory, learned Ferguson's plans, his
approximate force, his route, and his system of communication
with Cornwallis. The officers now held council and determined to
take a detachment of the hardiest and fleetest horsemen and sweep
down on the enemy before aid could reach him. About nine o'clock
that evening, according to Shelby's report, 910 mounted men set
off at full speed, leaving the main body of horse and foot to
follow after at their best pace.
Rain poured down on them all that night as they rode.
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