regulars, whose sharp and prolonged volleys, at this instant, suddenly burst forth from the crest of the hill. Peal after peal rattled along the mountain side, and volumes of smoke, silvered by the light of the sun, rolled over and enveloped the combatants.
When the breeze had partially swept away this cloud, and opened glimpses of the battle behind it, the troops of Campbell were seen recoiling before an impetuous charge of the bayonet, in which Ferguson himself led the way. A sudden halt by the retreating Whigs, and a stern front steadfastly opposed to the foe, checked the ardor of his pursuit at an early moment, and, in turn, he was discovered retiring towards his original ground, hotly followed by the mountaineers. Again the same vigorous onset from the royalists was repeated, and again the shaken bands of Campbell rallied and turned back the rush of battle towards the summit. At last, panting and spent with the severe encounter, both parties stood for a space eyeing each other with deadly rage and waiting only to gather breath for the renewal of the strife.
At this juncture the distant firing heard from either flank furnished evidence that Sevier and Cleveland had both come in contact with the enemy. The uprising of smoke above the trees showed the seat of the combat to be below the summit on the mountain sides and that the enemy had there halfway met his foe, whilst the shouts of the soldiers, alternating between the parties of either army, no less distinctly proclaimed the fact that at these remote points the field was disputed with bloody resolution and various success.
It would overtask my poor faculty of description to give my reader even a faint picture of this rugged battlefield. During the pause of the combatants of the center Campbell and Shelby were seen riding along the line and by speech and gesture encouraging their soldiers to still more determined efforts. Little
