Late  in  the  evening  of  the  eighteenth,  Ferguson's  party
reached  the  spot  where  the  Whigs  had,  less  than  thirty  min-
utes before,  fed  their  weary  horses  ;  but  not  knowing  how
long  they  had  been  gone,  and  their  own  detachment  being
exhausted,  they  relinquished  further  pursuit.  Not  aware  of
this,  the  Americans  kept  on  their  tedious  retreat  all  night,
and  the  following  day,  passing  the  North  Tyger,  and  into
the  confines  of  North  Carolina — sixty  miles  from  the  battle-
field, and  one  hundred  from  Smith's  Ford,  from  which  they
had  started,  without  making  a  stop,  save  long  enough  to
defeat  the  enemy  at  Musgrove's.  It  was  a  remarkable
instance  of  unflagging  endurance,  in  the  heat  of  a  south-
ern summer,  and  encumbered,  as  they  were,  with  seventy
prisoners.  No  wonder,  that  after  forty-eight  hoiirs  of  such
excessive  fatigue,  nearly  all  the  officers  and  soldiers  became
so  exhausted,  that  their  faces  and  eyes  were  swollen  and
bloated  to  that  degree  that  they  were  scarcely  able  to  see.
Reaching  the  mountain  region  in  safety,  they  met  Colo-
nel McDowell's  party,  considerably  diminished  in  numbers,
as  we  may  well  suppose.  Colonel  Shelby,  with  the  appro-
bation of  Major  Robertson,  now  proposed  that  an  army  of
volunteers  be  raised  on  both  sides  of  the  mountains,  in  suffi-
cient numbers,  to  cope  with  Ferguson.  All  of  the  officers,
and  some  of  the  privates,  were  consulted,  and  all  heartily
united  in  the  propriety  and  feasibility  of  the  undertaking.
