Such, however, was the deranged state of American finances, and such the depression of public credit, that these troops could not be put immediately in motion.  They were at length embarked at the Head of Elk, and conveyed by water to Petersburg, in Virginia, whence they marched towards South Carolina.  Their progress was delayed by that difficulty of obtaining subsistence which had induced Lord Cornwallis to suspend the invasion of North Carolina until harvest should be gathered.  No preparations having been made for them, they were reduced to the necessity of spreading themselves over the country in small detachments, to collect corn, and grind it for their daily food.  In this manner they proceeded through the upper parts of North Carolina to Deep River, and encamped near Buffalo Ford in July.  At this place the Baron halted for a few days, in some uncertainty respecting his future course.[25]

[Footnote 25:  Journal of Colonel Williams.]

The militia of North Carolina, commanded by General Caswell, were beyond the Pedee, on the road to Camden, and had nearly consumed the scanty supplies which could be gleaned from a country that was far from being productive.  The Baron was premeditating on a plan for leaving the direct road and moving up the country to the fertile banks of the Yadkin, when the approach of Major General Gates was announced by the arrival of his aid-de-camp, Major Armstrong.[26]

[Footnote 26:  Journal of Colonel Williams.]

[Sidenote:  General Gates appointed to the command of the southern army.]

[Sidenote:  July.]

Aware of the danger to which the loss of Charleston had exposed that part of the confederacy, congress deemed it of the utmost importance to select a general for that department, in whom great military talents should be combined with that weight of character which might enable him to draw out the resources of the country.  They turned their eyes on Gates;[27] and sanguine hopes were entertained that the conqueror of Burgoyne would prove the saviour of the southern states.  On the 13th of June, he was called to the command in the southern department, and was directed to repair immediately to the army.  He entered, without loss of time, on the duties of his station; and, on the 25th of July, reached the camp, where he was received by the Baron De Kalb with the utmost cordiality and respect.

[Footnote 27:  This appointment was made without consulting the Commander-in-chief.  He had determined, if consulted, to recommend General Greene.]

The approach of this army, and the information that great exertions were making in Virginia to augment it, revived the hopes of South Carolina, and brought again into action a spirit supposed to be extinguished.  The British troops having occupied the north-western parts of the state, the most active friends of the revolution in that quarter had fled from their homes, and sought an asylum in North Carolina and Virginia.