The situation of Lt. Gen. Charles Cornwallis was full of peril. The country around Hillsborough was speedily stripped of provision by his army, and he found it expedient to fall back and take a new position upon the south side of the Alamance, west of the Haw River on February 27, 1781. On the same day, Lt. Col. Henry Lee and Gen. Andrew Pickens, with their respective forces, joined the main body of the American light infantry, and the whole corps crossed the Haw River, a little below the mouth of Buffalo Creek.

Maj. Gen. Nathanael Greene, with the main Continental Army augmented by the North Carolina Militia, crossed above Buffalo Creek the next morning (Feb. 28), and encamped between Troublesome Creek and Reedy Fork. It was an ineligible place; and, hoping to gain time for all his expected reinforcements to come in, Gen. Greene constantly changed his position, and placed Col. Williams and his light corps between the two armies, now within twenty of miles of each other.

Lt. Col. Banastre Tarleton occupied the same relative position to the British Army, and he and Col. Williams frequently menaced each other. Finally, the latter having approached to within a mile of the British camp, Lt. Col. Tarleton attacked him on March 2, 1781, and a brief but warm skirmish ensued. This encounter was sustained, on the part of the Americans, chiefly by Lt. Col. Lee’s legion and Preston’s riflemen. About thirty of the enemy were killed and wounded. The Americans sustained no loss.

In the meantime, Gen. Greene’s constant change of position, sometimes seen on the Troublesome Creek, and sometimes appearing near Guilford, gave the impression that his force was larger than it really was, and Gen. Cornwallis was much perplexed. Well knowing that the American army was augmenting by the arrival of militia, he resolved to bring Gen. Greene to action at once. Under cover of a thick fog, he crossed the Alamance on March 6, hoping to beat up Col. Williams’s quarters, then between that stream and Reedy Fork, and surprise Gen. Greene.

Col. Williams’s vigilant patrols discovered the approach of the enemy at about eight o’clock in the morning, on the road to Weitzell’s Mill, an important pass on the Reedy Fork. Lt. Col. Lee’s legion immediately maneuvered in front of the enemy, while Col. Williams withdrew his light troops and other corps of regulars and militia across the stream. A covering party, composed of one hundred and fifty Virginia militia, were attacked by Lt. Col. Webster, with one thousand British infantry and a portion of Lt. Col. Tarleton’s cavalry.

The militia boldly returned fire, and then fled across the creek. The British infantry followed, and met with a severe attack from Campbell’s riflemen and Lt. Col. Lee’s infantry. Lt. Col. Webster was quickly reinforced by some Hessians and chasseurs, and the whole were supported by field pieces planted by Gen. Cornwallis upon an eminence near the banks of the stream. The artillery dismayed the North Carolina Militia, which Col. Williams ordered them to retire. He followed with Howard’s battalion, flanked by Kirkwood’s Delaware infantry and the infantry of Lt. Col. Lee’s legion, the whole covered by Lt. Col. William Washington’s cavalry. The day was far spent, and Gen. Cornwallis did not pursue. In this skirmish the Americans lost about fifty killed and wounded.