The British army’s pursuit of Greene’s army took place during rainy winter weather in January-February 1781. The Americans marched on parallel routes behind a rear guard under Col. Otho Holland Williams, and swept up available supplies and boats to slow the British pursuit. The last of the American army crossed the Dan River at Boyd’s Ferry and five miles upstream at the Trading Ford. Cornwallis stopped his pursuit, a chase of about 240 miles, and marched to regroup and gather in Loyalist recruits and provisions at Hillsborough, North Carolina. Cornwallis then planned to resume his campaign to subjugate the southern states. The pause gave the Americans a chance to regroup and refit, and prepare to resume combat operations at an opportune time.
"On the eighth instant we marched from [Guilford Courthouse] General Greene's Army taking one road and the light troops another, being joined the next day by Colonel Lee's [Legion]... we received intelligence that the British Army was advancing very close...upon which Colonel Lee detached a party of horse to intercept them, who meeting with their vanguard...which they killed, wounded and made prisoners, all but one man. We reached [the Dan River] on the fourteenth, after a march of two hundred and fifty miles from...our encampment at Pacolet River [around 15 January 1781] By this time it must be expected that the army, especially the light troops, were very much fatigued both with travelling and want of sleep...we marched for the most part both day and night... so that we had not scarce time to cook our victuals, [the enemies'] attention being on our light troops."
SGM. William Seymour, Maryland-Delaware Continental RegimentWilliam Seymour. “A Journal of the Southern Expedition, 1780-1783.” Philadelphia: The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, 1883, p. 286.