At daybreak
they crossed the Broad at Cherokee Ford and dashed on in the
drenching rain all the forenoon. They kept their firearms and
powder dry by wrapping them in their knapsacks, blankets, and
hunting shirts. The downpour had so churned up the soil that many
of the horses mired, but they were pulled out and whipped forward
again. The wild horsemen made no halt for food or rest. Within
two miles of King's Mountain they captured Ferguson's messenger
with the letter that told of his desperate situation. They asked
this man how they should know Ferguson. He told them that
Ferguson was in full uniform but wore a checkered shirt or dust
cloak over it. This was not the only messenger of Ferguson's who
failed to carry through. The men he had sent out previously had
been followed and, to escape capture or death, they had been
obliged to lie in hiding, so that they did not reach Cornwallis
until the day of the battle.
At three o'clock on the afternoon of the 7th of October, the
overmountain men were in the forest at the base of the hill. The
rain had ceased and the sun was shining. They dismounted and
tethered their steaming horses. Orders were given that every man
was to "throw the priming out of his pan, pick his touchhole,
prime anew, examine bullets and see that everything was in
readiness for battle.
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