That very night the Indian chief ferried his men across the river on rafts, six or eight miles above the forks,[24] and by dawn was on the point of hurling his whole force, of nearly a thousand warriors[25] on the camp of his slumbering foes.
Before daylight on the 10th small parties of hunters had, as usual, left Lewis' camp.

Two of these men, from Russell's company, after having gone somewhat over a mile, came upon a large party of Indians; one was killed, and the survivor ran back at full speed to give the alarm, telling those in camp that he had seen five acres of ground covered with Indians as thick as they could stand.[26] Almost immediately afterwards two men of Shelby's company, one being no less a person than Robertson himself and the other Valentine, a brother of John Sevier, also stumbled upon the advancing Indians; being very wary and active men, they both escaped, and reached camp almost as soon as the other.
Instantly the drums beat to arms,[27] and the backwoodsmen,--lying out in the open, rolled in their blankets,--started from the ground, looked to their flints and priming, and were ready on the moment.

The general, thinking he had only a scouting party to deal with, ordered out Col.
Charles Lewis and Col.

Fleming, each with one hundred and fifty men.
Fleming had the left, and marched up the bank of the Ohio, while Lewis, on the right, kept some little distance inland.

They went about half a mile.[28] Then, just before sunrise, while it was still dusk, the men in camp, eagerly listening, heard the reports of three guns, immediately succeeded by a clash like a peal of thin thunder, as hundreds of rifles rang out together.