ght to a stand. Cornwallis had broken down the bridge
by which he had crossed; and further pursuit for the present was
impossible. The constancy of the militia now gave way. They had been
continually on the march with little to eat, less to drink, and
obliged to sleep in the woods in the midst of smoke. Every step had
led them from their homes and increased their privations. They were
now in want of everything, for the retreating enemy left a famished
country behind him. The term for which most of them had enlisted was
expired, and they now demanded their discharge. The demand was just
and reasonable, and, after striving in vain to shake their
determination, Greene felt compelled to comply with it. His force thus
reduced, it would be impossible to pursue the enemy further.

In this situation, remote from reinforcements, inferior to the enemy
in numbers, and without hope of support, what was to be done? "If the
enemy falls down toward Wilmington," said he, "they will be in a
position where it would be impossible for us to injure them if we had
a force." Suddenly he determined to change his course, and carry the
war into South Carolina. This would oblige the enemy either to follow
him, and thus abandon North Carolina, or to sacrifice all his posts in
the upper part of North Carolina and Georgia. To Washington, to whom
he considered himself accountable for his policy, and from whose
council he derived confidence and strength, he writes on the present
occasion: "All things considered, I think the movement is warranted by
the soundest reasons, both political and military...."

He apprised Sumter, Pickens, and Marion, by letter, of his intentions,
and called upon them to be ready to co-operate. On the 30th of March
he discharged all his militia, with many thanks for the courage and
fortitude with which they had followed him through so many scenes of
peril and hardship. Then, after giving his army a short taste of the
repose they needed, and having collected a few days' provisions, he
set forward on the 5th of April toward Camden, where Lord Rawdon had
his head-quarters.

Cornwallis, in the meantime, was grievously disappointed in the hopes
he had formed of obtaining ample provisions and forage at Cross Creek,
and strong reinforcements from the royalists in the neighborhood.
Neither could he open a communication by Cape Fear River for the
conveyance of his troops to Wilmington. The distance by water was
upwards of a hundred