Ferguson responded with a touch of ill humor: “We’re not going to Charlotte. We’ll remain here on top and see if the rebel riffraff are foolish enough to try to climb these steep slopes to attack. I have now received a late report that they have not many more men than we, and there is no question about the training and courage of the two forces. They are known to retreat rapidly when facing firm resistance and are especially fearful of bayonets. We have plenty of supplies to last another four or five days, and I’ve sent a message by two couriers to Lord Cornwallis asking for additional troops, who should be here before we need them. Then we’ll hit them from all sides, with the goal of annihilating this last remnant of opposition in the south. In the meantime we’ll rest and prepare for what I hope will be a decisive engagement.”

DePeyster started to express some reservations about this decision, but he knew that Ferguson was eager for a victory and not inclined to order what would seem to be a retreat to a safe and protected position under Cornwallis’s wing. Everyone in this western force knew and shared the intense competition between their commander and Lieutenant Colonel Banastre Tarleton, who had won some significant engagements and earned an enviable reputation as a successful commander, with far-reaching notoriety for the brutality of his treatment of the revolutionaries. The captain proceeded to implement the movement of the men to the mountaintop, where they were soon encamped, with a good, panoramic view of the surrounding countryside. The first tent erected was Major Ferguson’s, where Virginia Sal, one of his several mistresses, soon joined him. As usual, there were a lot of ribald jokes among the men, but most of them were somewhat proud of their commander’s prowess with women.

When questioned by DePeyster about erecting defensive breastworks, Ferguson responded that they would repel any attacking forces before they reached the crest of the steep slopes, but the men could begin collecting stones and logs, which they could arrange the following day. Although he had no expectation of a military engagement on top of the hill, this would keep their troops occupied during slack time as they awaited reinforcements and prepared for the coming fight. He was supremely confident that the invulnerable site would provide a good encampment within which to observe the countryside and prepare for their coming victory as they awaited the arrival of reinforcements from General Cornwallis. It was obvious that Ferguson sincerely disdained his adversaries.