American Victory at King’s Mountain

American Revolution
Written By Tom Hand

In September 1780, Lord Charles Cornwallis ordered Major Patrick Ferguson to secure North Carolina. Ferguson, a very capable British officer, issued a proclamation to the Overmountain Men of the Watauga River Valley in present day Tennessee to “desist from their opposition to British arms” or he would “lay waste their country with fire and sword.” Isaac Shelby and John Sevier rallied 1,000 men in Sycamore Shoals and advanced through Yellow Mountain Gap to the east side of the Appalachians. Ferguson decided to confront the Tennesseans at King’s Mountain, just inside the South Carolina border. The fight raged for an hour, but Ferguson’s militia was no match for the Tennesseans.

Tom Hand, creator and publisher of Americana Corner, how the Battle of Kings Mountain derailed Britain’s strategy to subdue the southern colonies, and why it still matters today.

Images courtesy of National Portrait Gallery - Smithsonian Institution, Library of Congress, The New York Public Library, Kentucky Historical Society, Tennessee Virtual Archive, New York Historical Society Museum and Library, Kentucky National Guard, Brown University Library, Wikipedia.

RELATED ARTICLES
The Legacy of Nathanael Greene
The Legacy of Nathanael Greene

Nathanael Greene was truly the savior of the south, and significantly responsible for winning the American Revolution. His contemporaries recognized this fact, and awards, accolades, and even land grants were given to Greene.

Closing Scenes in the Southern Theater of the Revolutionary War
Closing Scenes in the Southern Theater of the Revolutionary War

By the late summer of 1781, the American Revolution in the south was drawing to a close. Hoping to inflict more damage to the British, Major General Nathanael Greene, the commander of the southern Continental Army, planned a strike at the one remaining British army in South Carolina.

American Victory at King’s Mountain
American Victory at King’s Mountain

In July 1780, Patriot partisan bands in the backcountry of South Carolina launched a series of successful attacks on Loyalist contingents, weakening the British hold on the state. These rapid-fire engagements continued into August as six more Patriot partisan victories were sandwiched around the disastrous Continental Army defeat at Camden and the capture of an American supply train at Fishing Creek.

British High Tide at Camden
British High Tide at Camden

As dawn broke on the morning of August 16, 1780, the British army under Lord Charles Cornwallis and the American southern army under Major General Horatio Gates were half a mile apart, preparing to do battle. It would be a short affair, but a costly one for the Americans.

Southern Continental Army Tries to Regroup Under General Gates
Southern Continental Army Tries to Regroup Under General Gates

The surrender of Charleston and its entire 5,000-man garrison on May 12, 1780, essentially eliminated the American southern Continental Army. At that point, Lord Charles Cornwallis and his British legions were able to operate virtually unopposed in South Carolina.

Tom Hand
Previous

The Early Life of Nathanael Greene
Next

British High Tide at Camden