By the spring of 1780, the war for American independence had moved south, and after victories in Georgia and South Carolina the British army under Lord Cornwallis was poised to enter North Carolina. In early June, Lieutenant Colonel John Moore and Major Nicholas Welch, natives of Lincoln County from the Indian Creek settlement, returned home and called on local residents to assemble in support of the British, building on their earlier role in organizing Loyalist militia units. By the evening of June 19, more than 1,000 men and boys, many unarmed, were camped on the east bank of Clark's Creek on Christian Reinhardt's land, opposite Jacob Ramsour's gristmill on the west bank. At the same time, a Patriot force of about 400 men, primarily from Rowan, Burke, Iredell, and Mecklenburg counties, gathered to disperse them. On the evening of June 19, the Patriots assembled on Mountain Creek, sixteen miles northeast of Ramsour's Mill, and after debate among their officers accepted a proposal by Major James Rutherford and Captain Galbraith Falls to launch a surprise attack at daybreak. The Patriot militia marched through the night, and at dawn on Tuesday, June 20, 1780, under heavy fog, advanced behind their cavalry and reached the encampment before being discovered. Although surprised, the Loyalists rallied and delivered destructive fire, and in the first charge Captain Gilbraith Falls was mortally wounded. Fierce fighting, often hand to hand, followed, but the Patriots gradually gained the advantage, forcing the Loyalists to retreat down the ridge toward the mill and across the creek, where they dispersed into the countryside. In less than two hours the fighting ended. About seventy men were killed and two hundred wounded, with losses about equally divided, though Patriot officer casualties were especially high. By midday, a larger Patriot militia force under General Griffith Rutherford arrived, and efforts began to aid the wounded and bury the dead. Because the men wore no uniforms and Loyalists could not be distinguished from Patriots, most of the dead were buried together respectfully in a deep trench on the west side of the hill, while some bodies were taken home and additional graves were opened in the following days as more men died of their wounds. The 1780 farm of Christian Reinhardt now contains three modern public schools, athletic fields, playgrounds, streets, and parking lots, among which four known burial sites remain.