His foes were divided, and he determined to strike first at the one who would least suspect a blow, but whose ruin, nevertheless, would involve that of the other.

If Lewis' army could be surprised and overwhelmed, the fate of Lord Dunmore's would be merely a question of days.

So without delay, Cornstalk, crafty in council, mighty in battle, and swift to carry out what he had planned, led his long files of warriors, with noiseless speed, through leagues of trackless woodland to the banks of the Ohio.
The backwoodsmen who were to form the army of Lewis had begun to gather at the Levels of Greenbriar before the 1st of September, and by the 7th most of them were assembled.

Altogether the force under Lewis consisted of four commands, as follows: a body of Augusta troops, under Col.
Charles Lewis, a brother of the general's;[7] a body of Botetourt troops, under Col.

William Fleming;[8] a small independent company, under Col.