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Kings Mountain - the Destination of the Overmountain Men
 All photos and illustrations by Pat Johns ©2010 - present
All Rights Reserved
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October 7, 2010 is the 230th anniversary of the brief (just over an hour) but important Battle of Kings Mountain. Kings Mountain is just south of the North Carolina border in South Carolina. Today there are 2 parks there, one a South Carolina state park built by the Civilian Conservation Corps for conservation and recreation. Adjacent to that park is the Kings Mountain National Military Park. This park preserves the site of the historic Battle of Kings Mountain and offers visitors the chance to understand the unique terrain which was so familiar to the patriot forces and much less so the British Loyalist forces.
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The showdown at Kings Mountain happened after a string of English victories in the southeast. They had captured Charleston and had delivered a decisive blow to the colonials at Camden SC. They then Chose Major Patrick Ferguson to lead the region's loyalists in a campaign showcased by his proclamation that the Americans must stop resisting British authority or face destruction "with fire and sword". 
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The American patriot militia gathered at Sycamore Shoals (today in Elizabethton TN). These were men who had considerable experience in fighting Indians in the terrain of the mountains and foothills of the Appalachians. As they marched southeast they met with other militias from North Carolina and Virginia. 
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Ferguson's loyalist militia (none of whom were British but were Americans loyal to England) were on the top of King's Mountain when the patriot militias arrived. The patriots surrounded the mountain but acted without a common leader. The half dozen militia groups from present-day Tennessee (then still a part of North Carolina), other parts of North Carolina and Virginia had gathered along the way. 
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While Ferguson had been told that the patriot forces were coming he was unaware that they had already caught up with him. He was perched on the top of the mountain with his 1,100 troops as the 900 patriots arrived. The patriot forces were skilled in this type of fighting and inflicted many casualties on the Loyalist forces. After an hour Ferguson was killed and his troops began to surrender. 
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In 1930 Herbert Hoover spoke at the 150th anniversary of the battle: "This is a place of inspiring memories. Here less than a thousand men, inspired by the urge of freedom, defeated a superior force intrenched in this strategic position. This small band of patriots turned back a dangerous invasion well designed to separate and dismember the united Colonies. It was a little army and a little battle, but it was of mighty portent. History has done scant justice to its significance, which rightly should place it beside Lexington, Bunker Hill, Trenton and Yorktown." 
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King's Mountain Military Park is open daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. except Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day. Unlike many Revolutionary War sites in the northeast which have been encroached on by development and tourism, this park is a spacious and reverent tribute to those who fought and died there (all of whom were American but Ferguson). The Visitors' Center has a unique museum designed as a forest such as the one on the site in 1780. Exhibits are in the trunks of the display trees enhanced by lighting which completes the forest battlefield feel. All of this is free and is conveniently located just off I-85. For directions go to the park's website (see link below.) Their phone number is (864) 936-7921. 
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