Garfield knows this, but he explains to his men what he proposes to do.

He orders those who have strength to come forward.

Of the men under his immediate command seven hundred obey the summons.

Of Craven's weary followers four hundred heroic men volunteer to accompany him.
So at noon of the 9th, with eleven hundred men, Garfield sets out for Prestonburg, sending all his available cavalry to follow the line of the enemy's retreat.

At nine o'clock that night, after a march of eighteen miles, he reaches the mouth of Abbott's Creek with his eleven hundred men.