“This only confirms what I’ve been telling you. Our position is invulnerable to attack.” The general turned away from Ethan and Kindred, ending the conversation. They watched him reenter his tent, and then they watered and fed their horses, and lay down for the night, wrapped in blankets that they always carried lashed behind their saddles.

They were up at dawn, soaked with falling rain, and decided to share some breakfast with the Carolina troops before heading back up the previous day’s trail. As they put bridles on their horses and prepared to saddle them, they heard drums beating in the forest upstream from their position. Both they and the troops looked around in wonder, and the general and other officers emerged from their tents.

“Who in hell is that?” shouted a colonel. There was no answer, as everyone looked up the trail. Soon a flash of red clothing could be seen, then another and another.

“It’s the British!” someone screamed.

There was a mad scramble, first toward their stacked guns and the cannon, and then, with the realization that it was too late to defend themselves, toward the forest and swamp away from the charging troops. With their horses saddled and ready, Ethan and Kindred waited to see if they could be of help, but soon realized that the situation was hopeless. The general and other officers made no attempt to rally the men to face the Redcoats, but joined in the completely disorganized rout. The commanders had a decided advantage, in that they were familiar with the rudimentary maps they had studied in their earlier planning of the campsite.

A hail of bullets whistled by Ethan and Kindred as they leaped on their barebacked horses and dashed toward the thick forest, leaving their blankets and rifles behind. Ethan shouted for Kindred to stay away from the nearby creek, where most of the escaping troops were heading. They were soon alone, several hundred yards from the campsite, but close enough to hear a constant volley of gunshots behind them and the shouts of the exuberant British. They also heard the screams of those struck by saber strokes and musket balls or carried away by the stream in which many of the Americans sought safety. The two men soon reached what seemed to be deep and still water far from the creek channel and saw that they could go no farther on their horses, which they released. Both men were strong swimmers, and Ethan began to wade out into the water to swim to some higher ground that he could see in the distance. He could hear the British coming toward them but noticed that Kindred did not follow. He turned to urge his friend to join him.