s, had recently
returned to Albemarle. He was now ordered to take the field against
Leslie, and to prevent him from entering the State. From his camp at
Great Swamp, near North River, he wrote to Governor Nash in November,
1780, reporting the repulse of the enemy. He also warned the Governor
that the British were planning to attack Edenton; and he set forth in
his letter the blow that the capture of this town would be to the
commerce of the State.

General Gregory's post at Great Swamp was no sinecure. He had only about
100 men to withstand Leslie, whose forces at Portsmouth amounted to
nearly 1,000 men. His troops were poorly equipped, half naked, and
ill-fed; and his situation seemed almost desperate. To add to his
troubles, an attempt was made at this time by Colonel Blount, of the
Edenton District, to deprive him of his command. But a Council of State,
held at Camp Norfleet Mills to inquire into the matter, declared that as
Colonel Blount had resigned of his own free will and accord--in favor of
Gregory--he should not now take the command from him.

In spite of the troubles and perplexities that beset Gregory in the fall
of 1780, he bravely held his ground; and by the end of November he wrote
Governor Nash from his camp at North West that the British had abandoned
Portsmouth, and had departed for parts unknown.

While these events were taking place in the East, Cornwallis, whose left
wing under Ferguson had suffered a crushing defeat at King's Mountain,
disappointed at the humbling of the Tories at that battle, had left
North Carolina on October 12th, and returned to South Carolina. The
heavy rains encountered by his army on his retreat caused much sickness
among his men; and himself falling ill, he was obliged to give up his
command temporarily to Lord Rawdon.

General Leslie's destination soon became known. On November 23 he had
abandoned the vicinity of Norfolk, and had sailed to Wilmington, N.C.,
hoping to rouse the Tories in that section; but Lord Rawdon's army being
now in great danger, Leslie was ordered to his assistance, and he
accordingly set out for the British army near Camden. But Southern
Virginia and the Albemarle region were not long to be free from the fear
of invasion, for soon another British army under the command of the
traitor, Benedict Arnold, sailed into Chesapeake Bay, and Gregory was
again sent to keep the enemy in check.

During this campaign a serious charge was brought against Grego