That portion of the force which had been left behind with General Marion was in the saddle when we came up, and there they remained, as did we, while our officers, withdrawing to a clump of live oaks near at hand, entered into what proved to be a long, and certainly was a serious, consultation.
We knew full well that our future movements were being decided upon, and although there were more than two thousand armed men in the immediate vicinity searching for us, who would soon be joined by Tarleton's Legion, I believe there was not one of our brigade who did not hope most certainly that we would be pitted against them, desperate though the odds were.
Not until an hour before sunrise was the consultation come to an end, and then came the long expected order to advance.
"Ay; but in what direction?" Gavin Witherspoon, who was by my side, asked in a low tone, and the answer came later, when General Marion said:
"My men, it is the opinion of all in command that we return to Lynch's Creek, and I ask you to have confidence in us who have arrived at this decision, which is as painful to those who made it as to those who hear it. Nothing can be accomplished by staying here where capture or death must inevitably result; but so long as we remain at liberty, so long will the Cause live, and I promise you that however unpleasant and apparently disastrous may seem this move, you shall yet have many opportunities of striking at the British uniform. I ask that you follow, as you have done since I came among you, cheerfully and without question, believing that this step has not been decided upon without due deliberation."
"We are on the retreat," Gavin Witherspoon said to me as the general ceased speaking, and the words were no more than uttered before a groan was heard throughout the entire line.
I here set it down, repeating the words that these brave fellows, only an hundred and fifty strong, could not repress their sorrow because at this moment, when we were threatened by over two thousand armed men, one-half of them well-trained troops, the word had been given to fall back.
It is proof of the spirit of patriotism which animated the hearts of those in Williamsburg district, that they were saddened only because of not being brought immediately face to face with an enemy which could conquer them by sheer force of numbers.
If the cause of liberty was crushed out elsewhere, it yet lived and burned with an ardent flame in the hearts of those who had pledged themselves to follow General Marion, and among these patriots Percy Sumter and myself had the good fortune to be numbered.
Well, we set out on what can be called none other than a retreat, for once we left the enemy behind us there was no other name for the move. The old camp at Lynch's Creek was the direct road to North Carolina, and the king's forces were hunting for us in Williamsburg district.