33 The Winning of the West 



bell and the other colonels rode forward together, 

 and agreed to surround the hill, so that their men 

 might fire upward without risk of hurting one an- 

 other. It was a bold plan ; for they knew their foes 

 probably outnumbered them; but they were very 

 confident of their own prowess, and were anxious to 

 strike a crippling blow. From one or two other 

 captured tories, and from a stanch whig friend, they 

 learned the exact disposition of the British and loy- 

 alist force, and were told that their noted leader wore 

 a light party-colored hunting-shirt; and he was forth- 

 with doomed to be a special target for the back- 

 woods rifles. When within a mile of the hill a halt 

 was called, and after a hasty council of the different 

 colonels in which Williams did not take part, 

 the final arrangements were made and the men, who 

 had been marching in loose order, were formed in 

 line of battle. They then rode forward in absolute 

 silence, and when close to the west slope of the bat- 

 tle-hill, beyond King's Creek, drew rein and dis- 

 mounted. They tied their horses to trees, and fast- 

 ened their great coats and blankets to the saddles, 

 for the rain had cleared away. A few of the offi- 

 cers remained mounted. The countersign of the 

 day was "Buford," the name of the colonel whose 

 troops Tarleton had defeated and butchered. The 

 final order was for each man to look carefully at the 

 priming of his rifle, and then to go into battle and 

 fight till he died. 



The foes were now face to face. On the one side 

 were the American backwoodsmen, under their own 



