Among the most respected of all the Whig military men, Pickens had only renounced his parole the month before. Lord Cornwallis's response was to send Dunlap (often spelled Dunlop) who he described as "an active, gallant officer."[1] In truth, Major Dunlap was far more than just an active and gallant officer. From the rebel point of view, he was a vicious and brutal man with a reputation for indiscriminate slaughter. Dunlap made his reputation in 1778 during a raid on Hancock's House near Salem, New Jersey. In that action, he led his company around the rear of the house while the regimental commander, Maj. John Graves Simcoe, led the front assault. The two groups struck at the same time but Dunlap had "the more difficult way" by entering the back door. The night was dark and the two "companies had nearly attacked each other. The surprise was complete" and would have been even better except most of the rebel force had already left. As it was, Dunlap only found a "detachment of twenty to thirty men, all of whom were killed."[2] In the commotion, Dunlap's men also killed the civilians who happened to be loyalists. The action at Hancock's gave Captain Dunlap a solid reputation with the British for military competence. A year later, when Patrick Ferguson was recruiting for his newly formed regiment called the American Volunteers, Dunlap was chosen to come along, even though he remained a Queen's Ranger. Ferguson would become the new Inspector of Militia for the southern colonies. Implementing the southern strategy involved recruiting and forming Loyalist militia regiments in all the districts. The south might offer opportunities for Dunlap to secure a separate command of his own. Once in South Carolina with Cornwallis, Captain Dunlap continued to distinguish himself. At Earle's Ford he led 14 dragoons and 60 militia into an assault against "a party from Georgia who had been plundering that day within a few miles of my post." He charged into their camp "killing and wounding about 30 of the rebels and making them retreat some distance." At that point Dunlap discovered that he had actually attacked a Patriot camp of near 400 men.