The FReeper Foxhole Revisits The Battle of Kings Mountain (10/7/1780) - January 76th, 2005

http://www.co.cleveland.nc.us/battle_of_kings_mountain.htm ^ | 1997 | Peggy Beach

[snippy_about_it]

Lord,

Keep our Troops forever in Your care

Give them victory over the enemy...

Grant them a safe and swift return...

Bless those who mourn the lost.
.

FReepers from the Foxhole join in prayer
for all those serving their country at this time.


...................................................................................... ...........................................

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The FReeper Foxhole Revisits

Battle of Kings Mountain

October 7, 1780, near the North and South Carolina border

Historians consider the Battle of Kings Mountain to be the "turning point in the South" in America's War for Independence. The victory of Patriots over Loyalist troops destroyed the left wing of Cornwallis' army. The battle also effectively ended, at least temporarily, the British advance into North Carolina. Lord Cornwallis was forced to retreat from Charlotte into South Carolina to wait for reinforcements. The victory of the Overmountain Men allowed General Nathaniel Greene the opportunity to reorganize the American Army.



When British General Henry Clinton learned of his men's defeat at Kings Mountain, he is reported to have called it "the first link of a chain of evils" that he feared might lead to the collapse of the British plans to quash the Patriot rebellion. He was right. American forces went on to defeat the British at Cowpens. A little more than a year after Kings Mountain, Washington accepted Cornwallis's surrender at Yorktown, Virginia.

Prelude To Battle

The leader of the Loyalist troops was Major Patrick Ferguson. Ferguson would be the only British regular to serve at Kings Mountain. All other soldiers were Americans -- Patriot and Loyalist.

During the summer of 1780, Ferguson and his provincial corps of 150 traveled through South Carolina and into North Carolina gathering support for His Majesty's cause. While marching through the upcountry of South Carolina, the Loyalists engaged in minor skirmishes with militia regiments. Some of those small battles happened at places like Wofford's Iron Works, Musgrove's Mill, Thicketty Fort, and Cedar Spring. However in August, after the Americans lost at the Battle of Camden, the Over Mountain Men retired to their homes in western North Carolina to rest before going after Ferguson again.

The March To Kings Mountain

Meanwhile in September, Cornwallis invaded North Carolina. His final objective was to march into Virginia. To protect his troops from guerilla attack, Cornwallis ordered Ferguson to move northward into western North Carolina before joining the main British Army in Charlotte.


Isaac Shelby

In late September, Ferguson camped at Gilbert Town (near present day Rutherfordton). He sent a message to Colonel Isaac Shelby, whom he considered to be the leader of the "backwater men." The message said that if Shelby and his men did not stop their opposition to the British, Ferguson would march his army over the mountains, hang their leaders and "lay the country waste with fire and sword." The Patriots would have none of it.

On September 25, Patriot leaders and Colonels Charles McDowell, John Sevier, Isaac Shelby and William Campbell gathered at Sycamore Shoals on the Watauga River (near present day Tennessee). They marched five days over the snow covered mountains to the Quaker Meadows Plantation owned by McDowell's family (in present day Morganton). There, they were joined by more frontiersmen including those serving under Benjamin Cleveland and Joseph Winston. The troops marched toward Gilbert Town and Ferguson.

Spies told Ferguson the Patriots were on their way. Ferguson had stayed at Gilbert Town hoping to intercept another Patriot force, heading northward. Calling in reinforcements, the Scot began to march toward Charlotte to receive the protection of Cornwallis' main army. He sent an appeal to loyal North Carolinians -- for them to save themselves from the "backwater men...a set of mongrels." Late on October 6, Ferguson received word from his spies that the Americans were close behind him. Camping at Kings Mountain, near the North Carolina border, he sent a message to Cornwallis requesting reinforcements. "Three or four hundred good soldiers," he wrote, "would finish the business. Something must be done soon." Desperately short of provisions, Ferguson sent out a foraging party of 150 men. He then organized a defense and prepared to meet the enemy.


William Campbell

When the Patriots realized that Ferguson was not at Gilbert Town, they became determined to pursue and fight him. The soldiers followed Ferguson, leaving their weak comrades and horses at Gilbert Town. On October 6 at Cowpens in South Carolina, the Over Mountain Men were joined by 400 South Carolinians under Colonel James Williams and others. The soldiers learned from spy Joseph Kerr that Ferguson was definitely camped about 30 miles ahead in the vicinity of Kings Mountain. Shelby was especially pleased to learn that Ferguson was quoted as saying, that he "was on Kings Mountain, that he was king of that mountain and that God Almighty and all the Rebels of hell could not drive him from it."

The seven colonels chose Campbell as their officer of the day to carry out the plans they adopted collectively. Fearing Ferguson would escape, the colonels selected 900 of their best men to pursue the Loyalists.

The Patriots marched through the night and the next day, through pouring rain and intermittent showers. They reached Kings Mountain the next day, Saturday October 7 just after noon.


John Sevier

Kings Mountain is an outlying portion of the Blue Ridge Mountains. A heavily rocky and wooded area, the mountain rises 60 feet above the plain surrounding it. The campsite was supposedly an ideal place for Ferguson to camp because the mountain has a plateau at its summit. The plateau is 600 yards long and 70 feet wide at one end and 120 feet wide at the other. The Scot considered the summit too steep to be scaled.

The Battle Begins

Upon arriving at Kings Mountain, the Patriot soldiers dismounted. After tying up the horses, the soldiers formed in a horseshoe around the base of the mountain behind their leaders, who remained on horseback.

Ferguson was right in believing that his would be attackers would expose themselves to musket fire if they attempted to scale the summit. But Ferguson did not realize his men could only fire if they went out into the open, exposing themselves to musket fire. Most of the Patriot troops were skilled hunters who routinely killed fast moving animals. On this day, Ferguson's men would not find escape an easy task.



The fighting began around 3 p.m. when some of Ferguson's men noticed the Patriot soldiers surrounding the mountain. After a brief skirmish, the shooting began in earnest when two of the Patriot regiments opened fire on the Loyalists simultaneously. The Loyalists fired back but the Patriots were protected by the heavily wooded area.

The regiments commanded by Colonels Isaac Shelby and William Campbell marched toward Ferguson's men but were driven back twice by Loyalist fire. But as one regiment was driven back, another would advance. Ferguson had to shift his reserves from one place to another while continuing to take heavy losses from the concealed American sharpshooters in the trees. Eventually, other Patriot troops provided enough support that Shelby and Campbell's regiments reached the summit.

During the battle, Patrick Ferguson commanded his men with the use of a silver whistle. Many Patriot fighters later recalled hearing the sound of Ferguson's whistle over the sound of the rifle fire. The whistle and the checkered hunting shirt he wore over his uniform made the Scottish commander quite noticeable on the battlefield.

After nearly an hour of fighting, Ferguson suddenly fell from his horse. One foot was hanging in his stirrup -- several, perhaps as many as eight bullets were in his body. Some accounts say he died before he hit the ground. Other accounts say that his men propped him against a tree, where he died. Ferguson was the only British soldier killed in the battle -- all others were Americans, either Loyalist or Patriot.



Ferguson's second in command then ordered that a white flag of surrender be hoisted.

Despite the call for surrender by the Loyalists, the Patriots could not immediately stop their men from shooting. Many Patriots remembered that the infamous Colonel Tarleton had mowed down Patriot troops at Waxhaw despite the fact that the troops were trying to surrender. Eventually, the fighting at Kings Mountain stopped.

In all, 225 Loyalists were killed, 163 were wounded, 716 were taken prisoner. 28 Patriots were killed and 68 were wounded. Among the Patriot dead: Colonel James Williams of South Carolina.

Battle Ends:
Patriots March Prisoners To Hillsborough

After the battle, the victorious Patriots and the captured Loyalists had to camp together. Soon it became dark and the cries of the wounded were heard and often unheeded.

The next morning, the sun came out for the first time in days. Fearing that Cornwallis would soon be upon them, many of the Patriot militia left for their homes. A contingent of Patriots took the prisoners northward to the Continental Army jurisdiction in Hillsborough.



During the journey, a number of prisoners were brutally beaten and some prisoners were hacked with swords. A number of unjust murders took place -- not the Patriots finest hour. The injustices continued a week later when a committee of Patriots appointed a jury to try some of the so-called "obnoxious" Loyalists. 36 Loyalists were found guilty of breaking open houses, burning houses and killing citizens. Nine were hanged.

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FReeper Foxhole Armed Services Links

[SAMWolf]

Hard time sleeping, too many things running through my mind.

[The Mayor]

I know what that's like..

[SAMWolf]

At least it doesn't happen too often.

[Valin]

On this Day In History


Birthdates which occurred on January 07:
1611 James Harrington England, political author (Commonwealth of Oceans)
1653 Bernhard Albinus Germany, court-physician (Frederick of Prussia)
1685 Gerard George Clifford Dutch director of East India Company
1799 Daniel Tyler Brigadier General (Union volunteers), died in 1882
1800 Millard Fillmore Locke NY, (Whig) 13th President (1850-53)
1808 Jacob Ammen Brigadier General (Union volunteers), died in 1894
1821 Lucius Jeremiah Gartrell Brigadier General (Confederate Army), died in 1891
1822 Lucius C M Bakker Frisian physician/author (Goethe)
1824 James Morrison Hawes Brigadier General (Confederate Army), died in 1889
1844 Marie-Bernarde Soubirous [St Bernadette of Lourdes], saint/visionary
1845 Louis III last king of Bavaria (1913-18)
1855 Eliëzer Ben-Jehuda [Perelmann], Latvia, writer (1st Hebrew newspaper)
1873 Adolph Zukor Hungary, movie producer/director/executive (Paramount)
1873 Charles Pierre Péguy Orléans France, Catholic writer (God Speaks)
1883 Andrew Browne Irish/British admiral (WWII)
1898 Art Baker New York City NY, TV host (You Asked For It)
1910 Alain de Rothschild France, banker/baron
1911 Butterfly [Thelma] McQueen Tampa FL, actress (Prissy-Gone With the Wind)
1918 Alessadro Natta Italian political leader (Communist Party)
1922 Vincent Gardenia Naples Italy, actor (All in the Family, LA Law)
1928 William Peter Blatty New York City NY, author (The Exorcist)
1931 Mack Mattingly (Senator-R-GA, 1981-86)
1939 Maury Povich TV host (Current Affair, Maury)/Connie Chung's husband
1941 Frederick Drew Gregory Washington DC, Colonel USAF/astronaut (STS 51-B, 33, 44)
1942 Paul Revere Boise ID, keyboardist (Paul Revere & Raiders)
1942 Vasili Alexeyev USSR, weightlifter (Olympics-gold-72, 76)
1957 "Perky" Katie Couric [Katherine], Arlington VA, TV news host/*itch (Today)
1958 Donna Rice New Orleans La, model/Gary Hart's alleged lover
1964 Nicolas Cage actor (Moonstruck, Racing with the Moon)

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Deaths which occurred on January 07:
0312 Lucianus of Antioch theologist/saint, dies
1285 Charles I of Anjou king of Naples/brother of King Louis IX, dies at 58
1325 Dionysius the justified, King of Portugal (1279-1325), dies
1536 Catherine of Aragon 1st wife of England's King Henry VIII, dies
1537 Alessandro de' Medici Italian monarch of Florence, assassinated
1598 Theodorus I [Fedor Ivanovitch], czar of Russia (1584-98), dies at 40
1655 Innocentius X [Giambattista Pamfili], pope (1644-55), dies at 80
1695 Mary II Stuart queen of England, dies at 32
1892 Tewfik Pasja viceroy of Egypt, dies at 39
1943 Nikola Tesla Yugoslavian physicist (tesla motor), dies at 86
1958 Dr Petru Groza premier of Romania, dies at 74
1961 Clarice Baright 1st woman admitted to American Bar Association dies at 74
1989 Hirohito Japan`s emperor (1922-89), dies of duodenal cancer at 87 after 62-year reign (1/2 Million line Tokyo streets)
1990 Bronislau "Bronko" Nagurski football hall of famer, dies at 81
1992 Richard Hunt puppeteer/actor (Muppet Movie), dies of AIDS at 40
1995 Viktor Vorobyov Russian General Major, dies in battle

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Reported: MISSING in ACTION

1966 CALLANAN RICHARD JOSEPH---CONCORD CA.
1966 GREENLEY JON ALFRED---FARGO ND.
1968 BREWER LEE
[01/08/68 ESCAPED]
1968 NELSON STEVEN N.
[01/21/68 ESCAPED]
1968 ROHA MICHAEL R. CA
[01/21/68 ESCAPED, DECEASED 25 MARCH 97]
1968 STONE JAMES M.---MIAMI FL
1968 TRUJILLO ROBERT S.---SANTA FE NM.
1969 WELSH LARRY D.---KANSAS CITY KS.
1970 HOFF MICHAEL G.---ORANGE PARK FL.
1970 OCHAB ROBERT---HOLLIS NY.

POW / MIA Data & Bios supplied by
the P.O.W. NETWORK. Skidmore, MO. USA.

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On this day...
1325 Afonso IV succeeds Dionysius as king of Portugal
1558 Calais, last English possession in France, retaken by French under Francois, Duke of Guise
1579 England signs an offensive & defensive alliance with the Netherlands
1584 Last day of the Julian calendar in Bohemia & Holy Roman empire
1598 Boris Godunov seizes the Russian throne on death of Feodore I
1601 Robert, Earl of Essex leads revolt in London against Queen Elizabeth
1608 Fire destroys Jamestown, Virginia
1610 Galileo discovers 1st 3 Jupiter satellites, Io, Europa & Ganymede
1618 Francis Bacon becomes English lord chancellor
1714 Typewriter patented by Englishman Henry Mill (built years later)
1761 Battle at Panipat India Afghan army beats Mahratten
1782 1st US commercial bank, Bank of North America, opens in Philadelphia
1784 1st US seed business established by David Landreth, Philadelphia
1785 1st balloon flight across English Channel (Blanchard & Jeffries)
1789 1st national (Presidential) election in US
1822 Liberia colonized by Americans
1830 Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Co begins carrying revenue traffic - 1st US Railroad Station (Baltimore MD)
1861 Florida troops takeover Fort Marion at St Augustine
1862 Battle of Manassas Junction VA
1868 Arkansas constitutional convention meets in Little Rock
1868 Mississippi constitutional convention meets in Jackson
1890 W B Purvis patents fountain pen
1892 Mine explosion kills 100, Krebs OK-blacks trying to help rescue white survivors, driven away with guns
1894 Motion picture experiment of comedian Fred Ott filmed sneezing
1896 Fanny Farmer publishes her 1st cookbook
1911 1st airplane bombing experiments with explosives, San Francisco
1913 William M Burton patents a process to "crack" petroleum
1914 1st steamboat passes through the Panamá Canal
1916 German troops conquer Fort Vaux at Verdun
1927 Commercial transatlantic telephone service inaugurated between New York & London
1927 Harlem Globetrotters play 1st game (Hinckley IL)
1929 "Buck Rogers", 1st sci-fi comic strip, premieres
1929 "Tarzan", one of the 1st adventure comic strips, 1st appears
1934 "Flash Gordon" comic strip (by Alex Raymond) debuts
1934 Princess Juliana marries German prince Bernhard von Lippe-Biesterfeld
1942 WWII siege of Bataan starts
1944 Air Force announces production of 1st US jet fighter, the Bell P-59
1945 Lord Haw-Haw reports total German victory at Ardennen
1946 Cambodia becomes autonomous state inside French Union
1948 US President Truman raises taxes for Marshall-plan
1949 1st photo of genes taken at University of Southern California by Pease & Baker
1950 Hank Snow's 1st appearance on "Grand Ole Opry"
1953 President Truman announces development of the hydrogen bomb
1959 US recognizes Fidel Castro's Cuban government
1964 Bahamas achieves internal self-government & cabinet responsibility
1964 Dick Weber rolls highest bowling game in the air (Boeing 707)
1967 "Newlywed Game" premieres on ABC TV
1968 1st class postage raised from 5¢ to 6¢
1968 Surveyor 7 lands on the Moon
1968 "GE College Bowl" quiz show premieres on NBC TV
1969 US Congress doubles presidential salary
1970 Farmers sue Max Yasgur for $35,000 in damages caused by "Woodstock"
1971 -40ºF (-40ºC), Hawley Lake AZ (state record)
1972 Lewis F Powell Jr becomes a Supreme Court Justice
1972 William Hubbs Rehnquist, sworn in as Supreme Court Justice
1973 British Darts Organization founded in North London
1975 Led Zeppelin fans riot before Boston concert, causing $30,000 damage

1977 Human Rights Charter '77 established in Prague

1979 Vietnamese forces capture Phnom Penh from Khmer Rouge
1985 Lou Brock & Hoyt Wilhelm, elected to Baseball's Hall of Fame
1986 US President Reagan proclaims economic sanctions against Libya
1989 Akhito becomes emperor of Japan
1990 Tower Of Pisa closed to the public after leaning too far
1991 Soviet paratroopers sent to Baltic Republics
1992 Tom Seaver & Rollie Fingers elected to Baseball's Hall of Fame
1997 Newt Gingrich, narrowly re-elected speaker of the House
1998 At a time when her association with President Clinton was not yet public, former White House intern Monica Lewinsky reportedly denied in an affidavit filed in the Paula Jones case that she had had an affair with him.
1998 A federal jury in Denver was unable to agree on a penalty for Terry Nichols, convicted in December 1997 in connection with the April 1995 bombing of the federal building in Oklahoma City. That meant he would not face the death penalty.
1999 President Clinton's impeachment trial opened in the Senate.
"You're not dumping this garbage on us"
Trent Lott

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Holidays
Note: Some Holidays are only applicable on a given "day of the week"
Liberia : Pioneers' Day
US : Diet Resolution Week (Final Day)
US : National Pass Gas Day
US : Universal Letter-Writing Week (Final Day)
US : Pun Week (Day 5)
National Hot Tea Month

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Religious Observances
Andorra : St Lucia's Day
Christian-Andorra : St Lucia's Day
Christian-Ethiopia : Ganna Christmas
Roman Catholic : Feast of St Vitalis
Russian Orthodox : Julian Calendar Christmas in 20th, 21st century
Roman Catholic : Memorial of Raymond of Penafort, priest (opt)

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Religious History
1450 In Scotland, the University of Glasgow was founded.
1610 Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei, 46, discovered four satellites of Jupiter with the aid of the newly invented telescope. His discovery revolutionized astronomy, and led Galileo to adopt the Copernican (heliocentric) model of the solar system in place of the older, less adequate, Ptolemaic (earth-centered) view.
1856 In London, famed English Baptist preacher Charles H. Spurgeon, 22, married Susannah Thompson, one of the parishioners at the New Park Street Baptist Chapel, where he was pastoring.
1934 Converted major league baseball player Billy Sunday, at age 72, began a two-week revival at Calvary Baptist Church in NY City. (Sunday was an evangelist from 1893 until his death in 1935.)
1941 In England, the four-day Anglican gathering known as the Malvern Conference opened. It was presided over by Archbishop William Temple.

Source: William D. Blake. ALMANAC OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. Minneapolis: Bethany House, 1987.

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Thought for the day :
"The nice part about being a pessimist is that you are constantly being either proven right or pleasantly surprised."

[alfa6]

Friday Morning Bump for the Foxhole.

Sorry for not getting the Peashooter pics posted, the daughter did not get the FTP program on the new computer yesterday.

After 12 hours of fun and frivolity at work yesterday Mrs alfa6 and I had to take daughter back to her august institute of higher learning last night. When we got there we could not access the dorm as the locks had not been changed back. So had to get the campus security folks to let her in, no big problem an officer showed up in no time and cheerfully let us in. Then we get to her room and BIG problem, a radiator pipe had burst in the room above and water was dripping into her room. Fortunately nothing of consequence was damaged but we had to spend about an hour and a half moving her to the room next door. Thank goodness it was empty.

Mrs alfa6 and I did not get back home till well after midnight last night.

Regards

alfa6 ;>}

[GailA]

Especially here in the south, wait 5 mins and the weather will change.

[Samwise]

Freeper Foxholers can read. They just can't type. :^)

Moderator,
Can you please correct today's date in the heading? Thank you!

[Valin]

Sorry for not getting the Peashooter pics posted

We forgive you.....but DON'T let it happen again!







Valin, serving all you're wise-a$$ needs since 1948.

[Soaring Feather]

Good morning everyone.

[Humal]

When word was brought to Col. John Sevier that Ferguson and his men were heading their way and threatened to hang all those "overmountain men", John Sevier and friends were celebrating the wedding of Sevier and his 2nd wife Catherine "Bonne Kate" Sherrill. It's said Sevier, his family (the Sherrill men were skilled hunters and Indian fighters), neighbors, and other military leaders "closeted" themselves for 5 days planning what to do. Bonne Kate spent her honeymoon sewing for "her men" (Sevier and his grown, or nearly grown, sons).

It's been years since I've been to King's Mountain, but then there was a walking trail around the mountain. Along this trail at various important points were "listening stations" where you could listen to a taped recording of what happened on that spot. If you go there, take a tape recorder with you. It is a good place to visit.

[SZonian]

good mornin' snippy

[Colonel_Flagg]

Good morning, Foxhole! Falling in for a fine Revolutionary read.

I hope you are all doing well today - Sam, Snippy, how's the store?

[SZonian]

good morning SAM, don't let the small things get to you!

[Professional Engineer]

Good morning ladies. It's Friday!

[SAMWolf]

1944 Air Force announces production of 1st US jet fighter, the Bell P-59

Bell P-59 Airacomet, shown here with a propeller-driven Bell P-63 Kingcobra, was the Army Air Forces first jet. Flew in 1942.

[SAMWolf]

Morning alfa6.

I hope she gets a credit on her dorm bill. :-)

You'd think someone would check the rooms once in a while, when they're empty for long periods.

[SAMWolf]

They predicted a chance of snow but the temps went up and we're getting rain, so far.

[SAMWolf]

Morning E.G.C.

Getting a light rain this morning, better than the chance of snow they said we'd get.

[SAMWolf]

Morning Feather.

[SAMWolf]

Thanks Humal.

I've never visited any Revolutionary War sites. :-(