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1780] Colonel Ferguson in the West. 225 In June, 1780, Clinton returned to New York, leaving Cornwallis in command in the Carolinas. He established his head-quarters at Camden, and was there joined by about 800 loyalists from North Carolina. The American army, at the outset of the campaign, was under the command not of Greene but of Gates. At the head of about 6000 men, Gates advanced against Camden. At the same time about 800 of Cornwallis 7 men were on the sick-list at Camden, while his communications with the coast were in serious danger from Sumpter, one of the most venturesome and able of the American guerilla leaders. Cornwallis, risking his com- munications, drew in his outposts, left a weak garrison at Camden, and with the bulk of his force, about 2000 men, marched out, attacked, and utterly routed Gates. This was followed up by a minor success. Sumpter, immediately upon Gates' defeat, retreated. Tarleton was sent in pursuit, and marching with great speed overtook the enemy, cutting them to pieces and nearly capturing Sumpter. These successes were, however, counterbalanced by a serious reverse in another quarter. Colonel Patrick Ferguson had greatly distinguished himself in the British service in the earlier part of the war. Not only was he a good soldier, but he possessed, what was rare in the British army, that versatility and inventiveness which enable a commander to adapt himself readily to new conditions. He was now sent by Cornwallis to organise an irregular force among the loyal inhabitants on the western frontier of the two Carolinas. Ferguson, unlike too many of the British leaders, was fully alive to the importance of conciliating the inhabitants and restraining excess. He succeeded in getting together an effective force, and, after various small successes, sent a message to the settlement in the extreme west that if the Americans there did not lay down their arms they would be dealt with as rebels. The action of the settlers illustrates the same truth as was shown by Burgoyne's defeat. The British might win pitched battles : it was a very different matter to keep in permanent subjection a hardy and courageous population trained to the use of arms. Ferguson's message, so far from striking terror, at once called into existence an armed force. The most remarkable feature of the matter was that there were no regular troops in the far west to serve as a nucleus, and no leader acting under the authority of Congress or of the State-government. Spontaneously some of the leading men gathered together a mounted force, armed with rifles, and marched eastward. They numbered about 1000 men, and were joined in the march by 250 North Carolina militia and some independent parties. At first it was proposed that the supreme command should be put in com- mission, so to speak, going in rotation among the recognised leaders. That, however, was found unsatisfactory ; and by common consent the command was vested in Campbell, a Virginian. Ferguson posted himself on the top of a hill in the range of which the chief point is King's Mountain. The position would have been a c. M. H. vii. CH. vii. 15