idence now before him, that Sumter was _in three days_ at
the head of a very respectable force. This was not obtained
by any communication from the general, but by an
investigation of dates.

Tarleton, as usual, sent an account of his victory, much exaggerated, to
Lord Cornwallis, who writes to him on the 22d of the same month: "I most
heartily wish you joy of your success, but wish it had not cost you so
much." And again, on the next day: "I shall be very glad to hear that
Sumter is in a condition to give us no further trouble; he certainly has
been our greatest plague in this country." The inhabitants of the New
Acquisition, now York district, were among the warm friends of Gen.
Sumter; it was among these people he generally recruited his forces.
They never submitted to the British nor took protection. The most
distinguished leaders, under Sumter, were Colonels Niel, Hill, Lacey,
Winn, Bratton, Brandon, and Majors Davie and Winn. Davie commanded a
corps of cavalry, which was never surprised nor dispersed during the
war.

In the summer of 1780, Col. Ferguson, of the British 71st, had
undertaken to visit the tory settlements in the upper country, and train
up the young men to arms. Among these several unprincipled people had
joined him, and acted with their usual propensity for rapine and murder.
Many Americans, fleeing before them, passed over into the state of
Tennessee, then beginning to be settled. By their warm representations,
they roused the spirit of the people of that country, which has since
become so often conspicuous. Although safe from any enemy but the
savages of their cane brakes, they left their families, and generously
marched to the assistance of their friends. Nine hundred of them
mounted, under the command of Col. Campbell, poured down from the
Allegany, like the torrents from its summit. Gunpowder they had already
learnt to prepare from the saltpetre in their caves, and lead they dug
out of their mines. Dried venison satisfied their hunger, pure water
slaked their thirst, and at the side of a rock they enjoyed comfortable
repose. Armed with rifles, sure to the white speck on the target, at the
distance of one hundred paces, or to decapitate the wild turkey on the
top of the tallest pine--these were indeed a formidable band. Their
other leaders were Shelby, Sevier, Williams and Cleveland, all inured to
the pursuit of the savage or the wild beast of the forest. Thus equipped
and com