The FReeper Foxhole Remembers The Battle of Kings Mountain (10/7/1780) - June 17th, 2003

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

[snippy_about_it]

Dear Lord,

There's a young man far from home,
called to serve his nation in time of war;
sent to defend our freedom
on some distant foreign shore.

We pray You keep him safe,
we pray You keep him strong,
we pray You send him safely home ...
for he's been away so long.

There's a young woman far from home,
serving her nation with pride.
Her step is strong, her step is sure,
there is courage in every stride.
We pray You keep her safe,
we pray You keep her strong,
we pray You send her safely home ...
for she's been away too long.

Bless those who await their safe return.
Bless those who mourn the lost.
Bless those who serve this country well,
no matter what the cost.

Author Unknown

.

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

.

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

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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.

[snippy_about_it]

Capt. Abraham de Peyster, second in command to Ferguson at Kings Mountain.
Courtesy New York Historical Society.

Suddenly, Ferguson attempted to cut through Cleveland's lines near the northeastern crest, but was struck from his horse by at least eight balls fired by the mountain sharpshooters. He died a few minutes later.

Captain de Peyster assumed command and attempted to rally the confused surviving Tories and Provincials, but his efforts were useless and he ordered a surrender.

During the bloody 1-hour engagement that raged along the heavily wooded and rocky slopes, the mountaineers gained a complete victory.

[snippy_about_it]

Break Time!

SAM has less than a week to go and then his intruders in-laws visit will be over. Woo-hoo we're past the halfway mark. Let's Dance!

It's wav so Jinxy can play it today.

[HiJinx]

Aren't you just the sweetest young thing...!?

And thanks for the reminder, I need to get up outta this chair and move before my poor ol' backside goes numb...!!!

Yes, breaktime!

[snippy_about_it]

Aren't you just the sweetest young thing...!?

Jinxy I swear, since the first conversation we ever had, you always know the right thing to say. :)

Yes, darlin', move it or lose it! Enjoy.

[HiJinx]

you always know the right thing to say.

.....speechless...

[snippy_about_it]

:)

[snippy_about_it]

BATTLE OF KING'S MOUNTAIN
By Benjamin Sharp


As well as I can remember, some time in August, in the year 1780, Col. MCDOWELL, of North Carolina, with three or four hundred men, fled over the mountains to the settlements of Holston and Watauga, to evade the pursuit of a British officer by the name of FERGUSON, who had the command of a large detachment of British and Tories. Our militia speedily embodied, all mounted on horses—the Virginians under command of Col. William CAMPBELL, and the two western counties of North Carolina, now Tennessee, under Cols. Isaac SHELBY and John SEVIER; and as soon as they joined MCDOWELL, he re-crossed the mountains, and formed a junction with Col. CLEVELAND, with a fine regiment of North Carolina militia.


We were now fifteen or eighteen hundred strong, and considered ourselves equal in number, or at least a match for the enemy, and eager to bring them to battle; but Colonel MCDOWELL, who had the command, appeared to think otherwise, for although FERGUSON had retreated on our crossing of the mountains, he kept us marching and counter-marching, for eight days without advancing a step towards our object. At length a council of the field-officers was convened, and it was said in camp, how true I will not pretend to say, that he refused in council to proceed without a general officer to command the army, and to get rid of him, the council deputed him to General Green, at headquarters, to procure a general. Be this as it may, as soon as the council rose Colonel MCDOWEL left the camp and we saw no more of him during the expedition.


As soon as he was fairly gone, the council re-assembled, and appointed Col. William CAMPBELL our commander, and within one hour after, we were on our horses and in full pursuit of the enemy. The British still continued to retreat, and after hard marching for some time, we found our progress much retarded by our footmen and weak horses that were not able to sustain the duty. It was then resolved to leave the footmen and weak horses under the command of Capt. William NEIL, of Virginia, with instructions to follow as fast as his detachment could bear.


Thus disencumbered, we gained fast upon the enemy. I think on the 7th [6th] day of October, in the afternoon, we halted at a place called the Cowpens, in South Carolina, fed our horses, and ate a hasty meal of such provisions as we had procured, and, by dark mounted our horses, and after marching all night, crossed Broad river by the dawn of day; and although it rained considerably in the morning, we never halted to refresh ourselves or horses.


About twelve o'clock it cleared off with a fine cool breeze. We were joined that day by Col. Williams, of South Carolina, with several hundred men; and in the afternoon fell in with three men who informed us that they were just from the British camp, that they were posted on the top of King's Mountain, and that there was a picket-guard on the road not far ahead of us. These men were detained lest they should find means to inform the enemy of our approach, and Col. Shelby, with a select party, undertook to surprise and take the picket; this he accomplished without firing a gun or giving the least alarm, and it was hailed by the army as a good omen.


We then moved on, and as we approached the mountain, the roll of the British drum informed us that we had something to do. No doubt the British commander thought his position a strong one; but our plan of attack was such as to make it the worst for him he could have chosen. The end of the mountain to our left descended gradually to a branch; in front of us the ascent was rather abrupt, and to the right was a low gap through which the road passed. The different regiments were directed by guides to the ground they were to occupy, so as to surround the eminence on which the British were encamped; CAMPBELL's on the right, along the road; SHELBY's next, to the left of him; SEVIER's next, and so on, till last the left of CLEVELAND's to join the right of CAMPBELL's, on the other side of the mountain, at the road.


Thus the British Major found himself attacked on all sides at once, and so situated as to receive a galling fire from all parts of our lines without doing any injury to ourselves. From this difficulty, he attempted to relieve himself at the point of the bayonet, but failed in three successive charges. CLEVELAND, who had the farthest to go, being bothered in some swampy ground, did not occupy his position in the line till late in the engagement. A few men drawn from the right of CAMPBELL's regiment, occupied this vacancy; this the British commander discovered, and here he made his last powerful effort to force his way through and make his escape; but at that instant CLEVELAND's regiment came up in gallant style; the Colonel, himself, coming by the very spot I occupied, at which time his horse had received two wounds, and he was obliged to dismount.


Although fat and unwieldy, he advanced on foot with signal bravery; but was soon re-mounted by one of his officers, who brought him another horse. This threw the British and Tories into complete disorder, and FERGUSON seeing that all was lost, determined not to survive the disgrace; he broke his sword, and spurred his horse into the thickest of our ranks, and fell covered with wounds, and shortly after his whole army surrendered with discretion. The action lasted about one hour, and for most of the time was fierce and bloody.


I cannot clearly recollect the statement of our loss, given at the time, but my impression now is that it was two hundred and twenty-five killed, and about as many or a few more wounded; the loss of the enemy must have been much greater. The return of the prisoners taken was eleven hundred and thirty-three, about fifteen hundred stand of arms, several baggage wagons, and all their camp equipage fell into our hands. The battle closed not far from sundown, so that we had to encamp on the ground, with the dead and wounded, and pass the night among groans and lamentations.


The next day, as soon as we could bury our dead, and provide litters to carry our wounded, we marched off to regain the upper country for fear of being intercepted by a detachment from the army of Lord CORNWALLIS, for we were partly behind his quarters, between him and the British garrison of Ninety Six. A British surgeon, with some assistants, were left to attend their wounded; but the wounded Tories were unprovided for, and their dead left for their bones to bleach upon the mountain.


That afternoon we met Capt. NEIL coming on with his detachment, and encamped for the night on a large deserted Tory plantation, where was a sweet potato patch sufficiently large to supply the whole army. This was most fortunate, for not one in fifty of us had tasted food for the last two days and nights, that is, since we left the Cowpens. Here, the next morning, we buried Col. Williams, who had died of his wounds on the march the day before. We still proceeded towards the mountains as fast as our prisoners could bear.


When we had gained a position, where we thought ourselves secure from a pursuit, the army halted for a day, and a court was detailed to inquire into various complaints against certain Tories for murders, robberies, house-burning, &c. The court found upwards of forty of them guilty of the crimes charged upon them, and sentenced them to hang; and nine of the most atrocious offenders were executed that night by fire-light, the rest were reprieved by the commanding officer.


We set off early next morning, and shortly after the rain began to fall in torrents, and continued the whole day, but, instead of halting, we rather mended our pace in order to cross the Catawba river before it should rise and intercept us; this we effected late in the night, and halted by a large plantation, when Major MCDOWELL—brother of the Colonel, and who commanded his brother's regiment the whole route, and was a brave and efficient officer—rode along the lines, and informed us that the plantation belonged to him, and kindly invited us to take rails from his fences, and make fires to warm and dry us.


I suppose being the last of October, and every one, from the Commander-in-Chief to the meanest private, was as wet as if he had just been dragged through the Catawba river. We rested here one day, and then proceeded, by easy marches, to the heads of the Yadkin river, where we were relieved by the militia of the country, and permitted to return home, which those of us who had not fallen in battle or died of wounds, effected some time in November.


During the whole of this expedition, except a few days at the outset, I neither tasted bread nor salt, and this was the case with nearly every man; when we could get meat, which was but seldom, we had to roast and eat it without either: sometimes we got a few potatoes, but our standing and principal rations were ears of corn, scorched in the fire or eaten raw. Such was the price paid by the men of the Revolution for our Independence.


Here I might conclude, but I cannot forbear offering a small tribute to the memory of our commanding officers. Col. Williams; CLEVELAND, I have already spoken of; SEVIER, I did not see in the battle, but his bravery was well attested; three times my eye fell upon our gallant commander [CAMPBELL], calm and collected, encouraging the men, and assuring them of victory. At the close of the action, when the British were loudly calling for quarters, but uncertain whether they would be granted, I saw the intrepid SHELBY rush his horse within fifteen paces of their lines, and commanded them to lay down their arms, and they should have quarters. Some would call this an imprudent act, but it showed the daring bravery of the man. I am led to believe that three braver men, and purer patriots, never trod the soil of freedom, than CAMPBELL, SHELBY and SEVIER.

[Valin]

And in 2003 he's an Internet search Engine
And a nifty song


BARNEY GOOGLE
- words and music by Billy Rose and Con Conrad

Who's the most important man this country ever knew?
Who's the man our presidents tell all their troubles to?
No, it isn't Mister Bryan and it isn't Mister Hughes
I'm mighty proud that I'm allowed a chance to introduce

Barney Google with his goo-goo-googly eyes
Barney Google had a wife three times his size
She sued Barney for divorce, now he's living with his horse
Barney Google with his goo-goo-googly eyes

Who's the greatest lover that this country ever knew?
Who's the man that Valentino takes his hat off to?
No, it isn't Douglas Fairbanks that the ladies rave about
When he arrives who makes the wives chase all their husbands out

Barney Google with his goo-goo-googly eyes
Barney Google bet his horse would win the prize
When the horses ran that day, Spark Plug ran the other way
Barney Google with his goo-goo-googly eyes

[SAMWolf]

6 1/2 long, long days!!!

[SAMWolf]

Thanks for the personal account Snippy. I didn't know you were at King's Mountain!!

[SAMWolf]

The only line I remembered was the Go-go-googly eyes line.

[Reaganwuzthebest]

Another great lesson in American history. As always, thanks for the ping.

[snippy_about_it]

Hey you. Welcome Home!

[snippy_about_it]

By Benjamin Sharp

:)

[SAMWolf]

LOL! I must have missed that.

[snippy_about_it]

I guess!

[snippy_about_it]

Good Night SAM

[SAMWolf]

Good Night Snippy.

You found the only Toni Braxton song I can think of that I like.

[Humal]

Excellent article, Snippy. King's Mountain National Park is an interesting place to visit. You walk around the mountain, and they have stopping places where you can listen to an audio of what happened on that spot. What impressed me most was seeing the terrain the Patriots had to ascend to get to the top. It was straight up and covered with trees. How they did this, loaded their muskets with powder and musket balls, tamp it down, and fire is amazing. I've read that King's Mountain was considered the first gorilla warfare.

[PhilDragoo]

The British meant to disarm the colonials at Concord--but received ammunition first.

“Congress have no power to disarm the militia... The unlimited power of the sword is not in the hands of either the federal or state government, but, where I trust in God it will ever remain, in the hands of the people.”

Tench Coxe, Pennsylvania Gazette, Feb. 20, 1788

Depicted here is John Sevier and one of his Overmountain Men at the Battle of Kings Mountain.

Gathering of the Overmountain Men at Sycamore Shoals, 1780, a painting rendered by Lloyd Branson, depicts the rendezvous of Patriots on the banks of the Watauga River before marching on the Tory forces at Kings Mountain. In the assembly of some 1,000 men from nearby North Carolina areas and Virginia were seven members of the Sevier family: John, his four brothers and two oldest sons. (Illustration courtesy the Tennessee State Museum Collection, Atashvitle; photography by June Dorman.)

John Sevier, a hero of the Revolutionary War Battle of Kings Mountain, first Governor of Tennessee, U.S. Congressman, is the best known of the early Sevier family. His bronze statue is prominently displayed in Statuary Hall in the United States Capitol in Washington D.C. and his portrait is on a U.S. postage stamp. However, his parents, brothers and sisters, and their children were pioneers who also had their roles in the War, and in the founding and building of this country.

Surrender of Cornwallis

General Nathaniel Greene

General Sir Henry Clinton

Death of Major Patrick Ferguson

Banastre Tarleton

Close-up of Enlisted Man's Ferguson Rifle disassembled, showing inletting for flintlock.

The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.