between eight and nine hundred missing; but Lord Cornwallis states in
his despatches, that between two and three hundred of the Americans
were found dead on the field of battle. The loss sustained by his
lordship, even if numerically less, was far more fatal; for, in the
circumstances in which he was placed, it was not to be supplied, and
it completely maimed him. Of his small army, ninety-three had fallen,
four hundred and thirteen were wounded, and twenty-six missing. Among
the killed and wounded were several officers of note. Thus, one-fourth
of his army was either killed or disabled; his troops were exhausted
by fatigue and hunger; his camp was encumbered by the wounded. His
victory, in fact, was almost as ruinous as a defeat.

Greene lay for two days within ten miles of him, near the Iron Works
on Troublesome Creek, gathering up his scattered troops. He had
imbibed the spirit of Washington, and remained undismayed by hardships
or reverses. Cornwallis, so far from being able to advance in the
career of victory, could not even hold the ground he had so bravely
won, but was obliged to retreat from the scene of triumph to some
secure position where he might obtain supplies for his famished army.

Leaving, therefore, about seventy of his officers and men, who were
too severely wounded to bear travelling, together with a number of
wounded Americans, under the protection of a flag of truce, he set
out, on the third day after the action, by easy marches, for Cross
Creek, an eastern branch of Cape Fear River, where was a settlement of
Scottish Highlanders, stout adherents, as he was led to believe, to
the royal cause. Here he expected to be plentifully supplied with
provisions, and to have his sick and wounded well taken care of.
Hence, too, he could open a communication by Cape Fear River, with
Wilmington.

No sooner did Greene learn that Cornwallis was retreating, than he set
out to follow him, determined to bring him again to action; and
presenting the singular spectacle of the vanquished pursuing the
victor. His troops, however, suffered greatly in this pursuit from
wintry weather, deep, wet, clayey roads, and scarcity of provisions.
On the 28th, Greene arrived at Ramsey's Mills, on Deep River, hard on
the traces of Cornwallis, who had left the place a few hours
previously with such precipitation, that several of his wounded, who
had died while on the march, were left behind unburied. At Deep River,
Greene was brou