Between 4 and 5 o'clock in the afternoon of July 3, 1778, an American force of about 300 men, led by Col. Zebulon Butler, Col. Nathan Denison, Lieut. Col. George Dorrance and Major Jonathan Garrett, formed in line of battle east and west of this spot, then advanced north about a mile and attacked some 700 British and Indians, but were driven back beyond this point, and of the Americans engaged more than half were slain in the battle and in the massacre that followed.