during those terrible
hours. General Gregory's horse was shot from under him while the battle
was raging; and seeing him fall, so sure was the enemy of his death that
Cornwallis in his official report of the battle, gave in his name in the
list of the American officers killed on the field.

Two days after the battle of Camden, the patriots, Shelby, Clarke and
Williams, defeated a band of Tories at Musgrove's Mill in South
Carolina; but hearing of the disaster at Camden, these officers now
withdrew from the State. Sumter's corps, near Rocky Mount, had been put
to flight by Tarleton, Gates had fled the State, and only Davie's men
were left between the army of Cornwallis and Charlotte, North Carolina.

Had the British General pressed on into the State, North Carolina must
have inevitably fallen into the hands of the enemy. But Cornwallis
delayed the invasion for nearly a month, thus giving the Carolinians
time to collect their forces to repel his attempt.

The General Assembly which met in September, 1780, acting upon Governor
Nash's advice, created a Board of War to assist him in conducting the
military affairs of the State. This board now proceeded to put General
Smallwood, of Maryland, in command of all the forces in the State,
giving him authority over all the officers in the Southern army, the
honor being conferred upon him on account of his gallant conduct at
Camden. General Gregory was consequently ordered to hold himself in
readiness to obey General Smallwood's orders, with the other officers in
North Carolina.

The Board of War then proceeded to raise money, arms and men for the
army that would soon be called upon to drive Cornwallis from the State.
Gregory's brigade received $25,000 of the funds raised, and 150 flints
and 15 guns were distributed among his soldiers.

The British now confidently expected that Cornwallis would quickly
subdue North Carolina, then sweep over the State into Virginia. In order
to prevent the Americans from hurrying into that State to join forces
against Cornwallis, General Leslie was ordered from New York to the
Chesapeake, and in October his army was stationed near South Quays in
Virginia, not far from Norfolk.

The presence of Leslie's army so close to the Carolina border caused
much alarm for the safety of the Albemarle section, which for the second
time was in danger of invasion. General Gregory, who after the battle of
Camden had joined Exum and Jarvis in front of Cornwalli