soon as
possible. He hastened to obey. Lee with his legion was in the saddle
before daybreak; but Tarleton's troops were already on the march.
Before sunrise, he had forded the Haw, and "Light-horse Harry" gave
over the pursuit.

The re-appearance of Greene and his army in North Carolina, heralded
by the scourings of Lee and Pickens, disconcerted the schemes of Lord
Cornwallis. The recruiting service was interrupted. Many royalists,
who were on the way to his camp, returned home. Forage and provisions
became scarce in the neighborhood. He found himself, he said, "amongst
timid friends and adjoining to inveterate rebels." On the 26th,
therefore, he abandoned Hillsborough, threw himself across the Haw,
and encamped near Alamance Creek, one of its principal tributaries, in
a country favorable to supplies and with a tory population. His
position was commanding, at the point of concurrence of roads from
Salisbury, Guilford, High Rockford, Cross Creek, and Hillsborough. It
covered also the communication with Wilmington, where a depot of
military stores, so important to his half-destitute army, had recently
been established.

Greene with his main army took post about fifteen miles above him, on
the heights between Troublesome Creek and Reedy Fork, one of the
tributaries of the Haw. His plan was to cut the enemy off from the
upper counties; to harass him by skirmishes, but to avoid a general
battle; thus gaining time for the arrival of reinforcements daily
expected.

On the 6th of March, Cornwallis, learning that the light troops under
Williams were very carelessly posted, put his army suddenly in motion,
and crossed the Alamance in a thick fog; with the design to beat up
their quarters, drive them in upon the main army, and bring Greene to
action should he come to their assistance. His movement was discovered
by the American patrols, and the alarm given. Williams hastily called
in his detachments, and retreated with his light troops across Reedy
Fork, while Lee with his legion manoeuvred in front of the enemy. A
stand was made by the Americans at Wetzell's Mill, but they were
obliged to retire with the loss of fifty killed and wounded.
Cornwallis did not pursue; evening was approaching, and he had failed
in his main object; that of bringing Greene to action. The latter,
fixed in his resolve of avoiding a conflict, had retreated across the
Haw.

Greene's long-expected reinforcements now arrived, having been hurried
on by