Kings Mountain: The Defeat of the Loyalists October 7, 1780

by Dave Dameron, Dave Dameron

In the summer of 1780, while British troops roamed the southern countryside striking fear into the hearts of rebels, a hardy group of "over-the-mountain men" from Tennessee vowed to defend their families and farms. At Kings Mountain, in northwest South Carolina, this small volunteer contingent of frontiersmen met the British in early October. The American victory there forced the British to retreat and turned the tide in the American Revolution's southern campaign.

144 pages, Paperback

First published September 30, 2003

Reviews

[William Bahr · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Hurray for Liberty!” According to this excellent book, this was the cheer Colonel Campbell led his men in shouting once the defeated Loyalists were securely disarmed, segregated, and well-guarded after the battle of Kings Mountain.

This nicely illustrated 144-page book is organized as follows: Preface, Introduction, Chapter 1: The Road to King’s Mountain, Chapter 2: The Battle of King’s Mountain, Chapter 3: The Consequence of Victory, Touring the Field, Battlefield Photo Tour, Suggested Readings, Index.

Essentially, the book tells the story of what happened to British Major Patrick Ferguson’s Loyalist force that was acting as Lord Cornwallis’ left wing when operating in the Carolina upcountry during the latter part of the American Revolutionary War. It starts when Patriot forces ambush Ferguson’s Corps at Musgrove’s Mill. Following the tenor of the times set by Lord Cornwallis, Ferguson issued an ultimatum to the Patriots that, unless they lay down their arms and “take protection under his standard, he would march his army over the mountains, hang their leaders, and lay their country waste with fire and sword.” The “Overmountain Men,” those living mostly on the west side of the Blueridge mountains (then Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia, but also in what is now Tennessee and Kentucky), quickly responded under the leadership of half a dozen or so Patriot militia colonels and majors who informally chose one Colonel Campbell as their leader. Over a more or less 220-mile route, the leaders brought their men together on a ride to assault Kings Mountain, the national military park now located in South Carolina, right on the North Carolina line, where Ferguson had positioned his men. While the high ground usually had its advantages, this time it was also a trap, as the Patriots surrounded and defeated the Loyalists, the only British soldier involved being their leader, Major Ferguson.

That is the basic story which the author brings to life with full detail on what is my favorite Revolutionary battle. Why? First, I visited there and was very impressed with all I saw. Second, while Patriot Colonel Campbell was nominally in charge, it was really a “thousand points of light”: independent groups and, in the final push, independent men fighting for their freedom. Among them would rise the future first governors of Tennessee and Kentucky. Who were they fighting? A force about equal to their size (about 1,000 men each) under the military command of a charismatic, disciplined, by all accounts honorable, and innovative (he invented a breech-loading rifle) leader: Patrick Ferguson. Third, Ferguson was born in Scotland and was one of the best shots (if not the best) in the British army, and, if conjecture is correct, the one who could have shot George Washington at Brandywine but declined as he thought it would have been dishonorable to shoot such a valiant figure cooly doing his duty. Fourth, after the battle, Thomas Jefferson called it the “turn of the tide of success.” This Patriot victory ended Cornwallis’ successes in the south and led to other Patriot victories such as Cowpens and later Yorktown. You can also be sure that the 7 October 1780 Patriot success at Kings Mountain helped somewhat in taking the edge off an event that happened two weeks earlier. On 23 September 1780, British Major John Andre was captured and exposed Benedict Arnold’s treasonous plot to deliver West Point (and probably George Washington and his staff) to the British.

One question I did have about the book was the use of the apostrophe, as in King’s Mountain, especially when virtually all current references are spelled Kings Mountain. My research revealed that the US Board of Geographic Names has a federal rule banning apostrophes in order to ensure commonality of spelling and take away any semblance of proprietary ownership of national sites. I’m presuming that the group started doing their work on Kings Mountain sometime after 2003, when this book was published, as the next book about Kings Mountain, in 2007, has no apostrophe. However, you’ll still find the apostrophe in Revolutionary War correspondence and on many older but modern-day road signs!

Overall, again, this is an excellent, well-researched book about one of the American Revolutionary War's most fascinating battles. Highly recommended!

Of possible interest, a book that compares Washington and Lafayette, two men of high character, in their fight for freedom: George Washington's Liberty Key: Mount Vernon's Bastille Key – the Mystery and Magic of Its Body, Mind, and Soul

[Anthony Cleveland · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great little book about a critical turning point in the American Revolutionary War. Of course, I’m a little biased. My gx6 uncle was Colonel Benjamin Cleveland who was joined by numerous other ancestors including my gx5 grandfather, the Reverend John Cleveland. This was truly a civil war in the southern colonies where brother fought brother, father versus son, etc. In my ancestral tree, this was also true. The majority of my ancestors fought for the rebellion but there were a few who remained loyal to the Crown.

[Fredrick Danysh · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Continental army had a rousing victory at Kings Mountain during the american Revolution. This is a pretty good description of the battle.