with a
trial by court-martial for disobedience of orders in attempting to
embody the Loyalists before the time appointed by Lord Cornwallis.

As there was no perfect organization by either party, nor regular
returns made after the action, the loss could not be accurately
ascertained. Fifty-six men lay dead on the side of the ridge, and near
the present brick enclosure, where the hottest part of the fight
occurred. Many of the dead were found on the flanks and over the ridge
toward the Mill. It is believed that about seventy were killed
altogether, and that the loss on either side was nearly equal. About
one hundred were wounded, and fifty Tories made prisoners. The men had
no uniform, and it could not be told to which party many of the dead
belonged. Most of the Whigs wore a white piece of paper on their hats
in front, which served as a mark at which the Tories frequently aimed,
and consequently, several of the Whigs, after the battle, were found
to be shot in the head. In this battle, neighbors, near relatives and
personal friends were engaged in hostile array against each other.
After the action commenced, scarcely any orders were given by the
commanding officers. They all fought like common soldiers, and
animated each other by their example, as in the battle of King's
Mountain, a little over three months after. In no battle of the
Revolution, where a band of patriots, less than four hundred in
number, engaged against an enemy, at least twelve hundred strong, was
there an equal loss of officers, showing the leading part they
performed, and the severity of the conflict. They were all

"Patriots, who perished for their country's right,
Or nobly triumphed on the field of fight."

Of the Whig officers, Captains Falls, Knox, Dobson, Smith, Bowman,
Sloan, and Armstrong were killed. Captain William Falls, who commanded
one of the cavalry companies, was shot in the breast in the first
spirited charge, as previously stated, and riding a short distance in
the rear, fell dead from his horse. His body, after the battle was
over, was wrapped in a blanket procured from Mrs. Reinhardt and
conveyed to Iredell (then a part of Rowan) for burial. Captain Falls
lived in Iredell county, not far from Sherrill's Ford, on the Catawba.
There is a reliable tradition which states that when Captain Falls was
killed a Tory ran up to rob the body, and had taken his watch, when a
young son of Falls, though only fourteen years old, ran up