The cruel and barbarous proclamation of Lord Clinton aroused their anger rather than fear, and within half an hour after it had been circulated among us, I heard my uncle, the major, say that no document could have been put in a style better calculated to drive recruits into our ranks than that which was written evidently for the purpose of frightening the colony into submission.
There is, perhaps, a good word to be spoken for those men, who, having been released from captivity by us, were willing to serve under General Marion.
They had been whipped at the very moment victory seemed certain, and it is little wonder that the faint-hearted should have begun to despair, when, after four years of desperate struggling, the "rebellion" was well-nigh crushed out.
At the moment, we of Williamsburg could have no sympathy for such cowards, as we called them, and had any of the men begged us for food I question if we would have supplied their wants, so angered were we by the refusal to enlist.
It was evident to every man among us that it was not safe to remain on this road over which the British soldiers were continually passing, and particularly since those whom we had defeated would speedily give information to all the king's officers in the colony.
From this hour our little brigade would be hunted down without mercy, and there could be no question but that the chase would be a lively one since the Britishers in this section had no other "rebels" with whom to occupy their attention.
Therefore it was that every man in the command felt a certain sense of relief, when, after a halt of no more than four hours, word was given to remount the tired horses.
We rode four hours or more, and then were come to the forest round about Hope Mountain, when the word was given that we would have an opportunity to indulge in a long rest.
During this march it can well be imagined that Gavin Witherspoon, Percy and myself kept a sharp lookout for Sam Lee. The greatest desire in my heart at that moment was to make a prisoner of the young Tory, for he, knowing well every man in the brigade, would be able to give the Britishers many valuable hints regarding our probable whereabouts, and so long as he remained at liberty we had a dangerous enemy afoot, even though that enemy was a coward.
Every man, including officers, brought away with him from this last encounter a goodly store of provisions, and there was no fear of suffering from lack of food, even though we remained a week in this encampment at the foot of the mountain.