Davidson dispatched a company of cavalry and infantry southward four miles to Cowan's Ford. The cavalry was to see that the British did not make a surprise crossing under cover of darkness. Toward nightfall Davidson joined the detachment at Cowan's Ford. Davidson evidently feared that Tarleton's troops might slip across the river in the darkness and, getting behind him, they could attack him as the British infantry began its crossing. He therefore set up camp a half mile from the river, with pickets watching Cowan's Ford from the water's edge.