a few hours, and
spent his last breath in dictating a letter, expressing the warmest
affection for the officers and men of his division, and the most
exalted admiration of their courage and good conduct.[35]

[Footnote 35: Journal of Colonel Williams.]

Never was a victory more complete. Every corps was broken and
dispersed in the woods. The general officers were divided from their
men; and, except Rutherford of the North Carolina militia who was made
a prisoner, reached Charlotte at different times. Colonel Williams,
who witnessed the whole battle, and bore a conspicuous part in it,
concludes his very animated description of it, with the observation,
that "if in this affair the militia fled too soon, the regulars may be
thought almost as blameable for remaining too long on the field;
especially after all hope of victory must have been despaired of." He
censures freely the conduct of the brigadiers, who gave, he says, no
orders whatever to their brigades.

About two hundred wagons, with a great part of the baggage, military
stores, small arms, and all the artillery, fell into the hands of the
conqueror. The loss of men could never be accurately ascertained, as
no returns were received from the militia. Of the North Carolina
division, between three and four hundred were made prisoners, and
between sixty and one hundred were wounded. Of the Virginia militia,
three were wounded on the field; and, as they were the first to fly,
not many were taken.

For the numbers engaged, the loss sustained by the regulars was
considerable. It amounted to between three and four hundred men, of
whom a large portion were officers. The British accounts state the
loss of the American army at eight or nine hundred killed, and about
one thousand prisoners; while their own is said to be only three
hundred and twenty-five, of whom two hundred and forty-five were
wounded. Although many of the militia were killed during the flight,
this account is probably exaggerated. It would seem too, that while
the continental troops kept the field, the loss on both sides, in that
part of the action, must have been nearly equal.

On his retreat, the day of the battle, General Gates received
information of the complete success of Sumpter. That officer had, on
the evening that Lord Cornwallis marched from Camden, reduced the
redoubt on the Wateree, captured the guard, and intercepted the
escort with the stores.

This gleam of light cheered the dark gloom