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.


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

U.S. Military History, Current Events and Veterans Issues

Where Duty, Honor and Country
are acknowledged, affirmed and commemorated.

Our Mission:

The FReeper Foxhole is dedicated to Veterans of our Nation's military forces and to others who are affected in their relationships with Veterans.

In the FReeper Foxhole, Veterans or their family members should feel free to address their specific circumstances or whatever issues concern them in an atmosphere of peace, understanding, brotherhood and support.

The FReeper Foxhole hopes to share with it's readers an open forum where we can learn about and discuss military history, military news and other topics of concern or interest to our readers be they Veteran's, Current Duty or anyone interested in what we have to offer.

If the Foxhole makes someone appreciate, even a little, what others have sacrificed for us, then it has accomplished one of it's missions.

We hope the Foxhole in some small way helps us to remember and honor those who came before us.

To read previous Foxhole threads or
to add the Foxhole to your sidebar,
click on the books below.

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.

---

---

FReeper Foxhole Armed Services Links

[SAMWolf]

Morning Colonel.

They were right, it is slow after Christmas, but it's giving us a chance to get organized without the "overtime" :-)

[Valin]

I get the red X of death, I suspect a plot of some sort. :-)

Back tonight.

[ladtx]

Here is something all of our Vietnam Vets may be interested in. Make sure you click on the video.

Welcome Home

[SAMWolf]

Morning SZonian.

The big things like world peace and ridding the world of crime I can handle, it's all the small details that get to ya. ;-)

[SAMWolf]

Morning PE.

[Valin]

Now I see it. Magic..sometimes it works, somethimes it doesn't.









I still suspect a plot however...you can never be tooooo careful.

[SAMWolf]

I get the red X of death, I suspect a plot of some sort. :-)

ARRGH!!!!! It's getting harder to rip off good graphics!

[SAMWolf]

Thanks ladtx.

No speakers at work, I'll have to liosten to the video at home.

[E.G.C.]

It's a little bit warmer here this morning but not much. Cloudy here with temps in the lower 30's.

On my way to get the paper, the gate was left open. The dog took advantage and ran over to the next block. Took me a few minutes before I was finally able to catch up with him.

BTW, folks This Tuesday is Critical Updates day as is always the case the second Tuesday of every month for Microsoft. Three critical updates will be sent to windows computer. After which we'll be prompted to restart our computers.We'll have to get ready for that.

How's it going, Snippy?

[stand watie]

fyi, one of my ancestors (a Scot!) "fell at King's mountain".

he was one of "the over the mountain lads", who came to fight the redcoats/tories with his squirrel rifle & died for LIBERTY!

free dixie,sw

[Humal]

This is the only Revolutionary War site I've visited. Most of the sites I've been to are battle sites, or memorial sites, that occurred during the War Between the States. As a born and bred Southerner, it was quite a shock to visit one in Des Moines, Iowa, that honored those "brave soldiers" of the Union Army! I received a lot of teasing that day from the friends and family with me that day. :-)

[Humal]

Do you know his name? I have several books on the Battle of Kings Mountain. The one I like best is by the late Pat Alderman, "The Overmountain Men".

[stand watie]

i'm NOT sure. BUT please look & see. when i went to King's Mountain, i was told that the list of hero-martyrs from that battle is FAR from complete OR accurate.

my mother BELIEVES, based on an entry in a "family Bible" from that period, that his name was either JAMES THOMAS BANKHEAD or THOMAS WAYNE BANKHEAD. he was evidently a local rifleman, rather than a state/colonial military member.

free dixie,sw

[snippy_about_it]

Thank you and good morning Mayor.

[The Mayor]

Your welcome Snippy!
Good Morning to you..

[snippy_about_it]

January that has 76.:-)

ROTFLOL. oops. Let's see, perhaps it was that magic number 1776, patriots, birth of a nation and all that threw me.

Or I was so tired I didn't proof read well enough.

Anyway, thanks for the great laugh. I could have the mods change it but now I kind of like it. ;-)

[WVNan]

Sorry you had a bad night SAM. Saw the title of the thread and dropped in to say that one of my great great great grandfathers was one of those "backwater men" at Kings Mountain. He later returned to White Co., Tenn. and the rest is family history.

[Professional Engineer]

How 'bout them patriots!!

[Professional Engineer]

Hiya Sam

[Professional Engineer]

1949 1st photo of genes taken at University of Southern California by Pease & Baker

Heck, LeviStrauss did it before that!