When Sevier called up his men, he discovered that two were missing.

He suspected at once that they had slipped away to carry warning to Ferguson, for Watauga was known to be infested with Tories.

Two problems now confronted the mountaineers.

They must increase the speed of their march, so that Ferguson should not have time to get reinforcements from Cornwallis; and they must make that extra speed by another trail than they had intended taking so that they themselves could not be intercepted before they had picked up the Back Country militia under Colonels Cleveland, Hampbright, Chronicle, and Williams, who were moving to join them.

We are not told who took the lead when they left the known trail, but we may suppose it was Sevier and his Wataugans, for the making of new warpaths and wild riding were two of the things which distinguished Nolichucky Jack's leadership.