It was the greatest farce of an attack a man could dream of, and we were actually so ashamed of being able to do much as we pleased, that instead of pursuing those frightened wretches who were heading for the swamp just north of Tarcote, orders were given us to return and gather up the plunder. “We will camp here this night,” Captain Horry said, after holding a brief conversation with General Marion immediately we were returned from the feint at pursuit. “We will camp here with the hope that some of those gallant Tories may have recovered from their drunken stupor sufficiently to give us a taste of their metal, for this time instead of avoiding an engagement, General Marion desires one, in order that we may get our hands in before paying a visit to Harrison.” Well, we fell upon the encampment like a party of schoolboys, laughing and shouting in our glee, while the prisoners, guarded only by three men, watched us curiously. Word was passed that all the members of the force should take whatsoever fancy might dictate, it being stipulated, however, that no man would be allowed to carry anything away save what he or his horse might wear. Once this was known our steeds were decked out with new saddles and bridles in a twinkling, while more than half of our party sported English uniforms taken in exchange for the rags which gave the name to our regiment. The abundance of everything we found there made us fastidious, and you would see a trooper who an hour previous had been well content to use a musket the stock of which was tied together with cords, balancing this weapon or that in his hands to see which might be the best fitted for his use, or come across some grizzled woodsman trying to decide between a private’s crimson headgear and an officer’s lighter hat, that he might learn which was most becoming to his weather-beaten face. There is no need for me to say that we were so forgetful of our precious selves as to fail in setting guards closely around the camp, and during the first two hours these sentinels were changed as often as once in every ten minutes, to the end that each fellow might have full opportunity with his comrades to get a new equipment. It must have been midnight before we were done with the horse-play, and then we took possession of the canvas tents so generously provided by the king, but not for our comfort, and every member of the troop found himself housed more luxuriously than since the day Charleston was taken. We Minute Boys arranged four of the tents in line to make a single large one where all could find shelter, and in addition, so plentiful were these luxuries, we set up a canvas roof for the horses, surprising those patient animals with the plentiful amount of provender which was dealt out to them.