About nine o'clock that evening, according to Shelby's report, 910 mounted men set off at full speed, leaving the main body of horse and foot to follow after at their best pace.
Rain poured down on them all that night as they rode.

At daybreak they crossed the Broad at Cherokee Ford and dashed on in the drenching rain all the forenoon.

They kept their firearms and powder dry by wrapping them in their knapsacks, blankets, and hunting shirts.

The downpour had so churned up the soil that many of the horses mired, but they were pulled out and whipped forward again.

The wild horsemen made no halt for food or rest.