The inhabitants who were capable of bearing arms assembled on the first alarm at Forty fort, on the west side of the Susquehanna, four miles below the camp of the invading army.
The regular troops, amounting to about sixty, were commanded by Colonel Zebulon Butler;[13] the militia by Colonel Dennison.

Colonel Butler was desirous of awaiting the arrival of a small reinforcement under Captain Spalding, who had been ordered by General Washington to his aid on the first intelligence of the danger which threatened the settlement; but the militia generally, believing themselves sufficiently strong to repel the invading force, urged an immediate battle so earnestly, that Colonel Butler yielded to their remonstrances, and on the 3d of July marched from Forty fort at the head of near four hundred men to attack the enemy.
[Footnote 13: This gentleman is stated not to have been of the same family with the leader of the invading army.] The British and Indians were prepared to receive him.

Their line was formed a small distance in front of their camp, in a plain thinly covered with pine, shrub oaks, and under growth, and extended from the river about a mile to a marsh at the foot of the mountain.

The Americans advanced in a single column, without interruption, until they approached the enemy, when they received a fire which did not much mischief.

The line of battle[14] was instantly formed, and the action commenced with spirit.