Part 1

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UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR Stewart L. Udall, _Secretary_

NATIONAL PARK SERVICE Conrad L. Wirth, _Director_

_HISTORICAL HANDBOOK NUMBER TWENTY-TWO_

This publication is one of a series of handbooks describing the historical and archeological areas in the National Park System administered by the National Park Service of the United States Department of the Interior. It is printed by the Government Printing Office and may be purchased from the Superintendent of Documents, Washington, D.C. 20402—Price 55 cents.

_Kings Mountain_ NATIONAL MILITARY PARK South Carolina

_by_ George C. Mackenzie

NATIONAL PARK SERVICE HISTORICAL HANDBOOK SERIES No. 22 Washington, D. C., 1955 (Reprint 1961)

_The National Park System, of which Kings Mountain National Military Park is a unit, is dedicated to conserving the scenic, scientific, and historic heritage of the United States for the benefit and inspiration of its people._

_Contents_

_Page_ THE WAR IN THE SOUTH BEGINS 2 THE SOUTHERN CAMPAIGN 2 CONQUEST OF GEORGIA AND SOUTH CAROLINA 3 WHIGS AND TORIES IN 1780 6 THE BRITISH THREATEN THE CAROLINA FRONTIER 8 THE GATHERING OF THE MOUNTAIN MEN 11 THE MARCH FROM SYCAMORE SHOALS 12 THE PURSUIT TO KINGS MOUNTAIN 15 THE BATTLE OF KINGS MOUNTAIN 19 THE MEANING OF THE VICTORY 26 PATRIOT COMMANDERS AT KINGS MOUNTAIN 27 MAJ. PATRICK FERGUSON 34 THE FERGUSON RIFLE 36 YOUR GUIDE TO THE AREA 39 ESTABLISHMENT OF THE PARK 42 HOW TO REACH THE PARK 44 ABOUT YOUR VISIT 44 RELATED AREAS 45 ADMINISTRATION 45 SUGGESTED READINGS 46

The Battle of Kings Mountain _on October 7, 1780, was an overwhelming blow struck by American patriots against British forces engaged in the relentless Southern Campaign of the American Revolution. The military importance of this sharp engagement was described in strong and realistic terms by Sir Henry Clinton, then commander in chief of the British forces in North America. He spoke of the battle as “an Event which was immediately productive of the worst Consequences to the King’s affairs in South Carolina, and unhappily proved the first Link of a Chain of Evils that followed each other in regular Succession until they at last ended in the total loss of America.”_

Kings Mountain was a surprising action that halted the triumphant northward movement of Lord Cornwallis, British commander in the South, who had undertaken to subdue that section in a final effort to end the Revolution. Though far removed from the main course of the Revolution, the hardy southern Appalachian frontiersmen rose quickly to their own defense at Kings Mountain and brought unexpected defeat to Cornwallis’ Tory invaders under Maj. Patrick Ferguson. With this great patriot victory came an immediate turn of events in the war in the South. Cornwallis abandoned his foothold in North Carolina and withdrew to a defensive position in upper South Carolina to await reinforcement. His northward march was thus delayed until January 1781, giving patriot forces an opportunity to organize a new offensive in the South. After Kings Mountain there also came a sharp upturn of patriot spirit in the Southern Piedmont which completely unnerved the Tory organization in the region. This renewed patriot resistance led eventually to the American victory at Yorktown in 1781. The engagement at Kings Mountain was not only a memorable example of the individual valor of the American frontier fighter, but also of the deadly effectiveness of his hunting rifle.

_The War in the South Begins_

At the outbreak of the American Revolution in 1775 the struggle between the American patriots and British forces was fought mainly in the New England and Middle Atlantic colonies. The driving of the royal governors from North and South Carolina soon revealed to the British the importance of holding the southern provinces. Early in 1776 the British War Office sent a combined military and naval expedition to the coast of the Carolinas in an effort to restore the King’s authority. Hopes of gaining a foothold in North Carolina were quickly shattered. Patriot militia decisively defeated loyalists of the Cape Fear area on February 27, at the Battle of Moores Creek Bridge. Sir Henry Clinton, who had landed a small force near Wilmington, withdrew from the State. Clinton, and the British fleet under Sir Peter Parker, then undertook the conquest of Charleston, S. C. The successful defense of Fort Moultrie, on Sullivan’s Island, at the entrance to Charleston Harbor, closed with the brilliant American victory of June 28. Thoroughly discouraged, the British expedition left the South and the first attempt to conquer it ended in failure.

_The Southern Campaign_

In 1778 the British again turned to the South in their final major campaign to end the American Revolution. Military failures in the North during 1777-78 and a strong belief in southern loyalist strength encouraged the British War Office to undertake a full-scale southern invasion in the autumn of 1778. The American-French alliance following the British defeat at Saratoga and the threat of French intervention also made it urgent for the British to move southward. They hoped to obtain food and recruits in the South and an effective base from which to attack the remaining patriot armies in the East. A British military and naval expedition was also to assemble in the Chesapeake Bay area and from that point aid the British forces in the South to crush patriot resistance. This time the British were confident of success. They strongly doubted that the South, thinly populated and torn by sectional strife between patriot and loyalist groups, could unite and fight off the invader.

_Conquest of Georgia and South Carolina_

The ports of Savannah and Charleston were vitally needed to support the new invasion and the British set out first to capture them. At the direction of Sir Henry Clinton, the first British landing was made in Georgia, and Savannah fell on December 29, 1778. By February 1779, Augusta and other key points in the State were captured, and by summer the British dominated Georgia. Their first move against Charleston ended in failure in June 1779, but they successfully forestalled a combined French and American attempt to recapture Savannah in the fall of that year.

The fortunes of war turned further against the southern patriots in 1780. Returning to Charleston in the spring of 1780, Clinton besieged the city with overwhelming numbers and forced the surrender of Gen. Benjamin Lincoln’s American garrison on May 12. The loss of this large, well-equipped army was a marked disaster for the patriot cause in the South and greatly strengthened the British position in South Carolina. Soon Clinton could depart for New York by sea, leaving Lord Cornwallis in command of a large British force which in a few months quickly occupied fortified points in much of the State.

1 NINETY SIX _After Charleston Ferguson was sent to Ninety Six to raise troops and drive Whig bands from the foothills._ 2 CAMDEN _Cornwallis destroyed an American army under Gates—August 16, 1780_ 3 CHARLOTTE _Cornwallis invaded North Carolina and captured Charlotte—September 22, 1780_

Believing South Carolina to be largely subdued, Cornwallis now began a northward march for the purpose of invading and overrunning North Carolina. His plans were upset temporarily by the advance of a new American army under the command of Gen. Horatio Gates, the patriot victor at Saratoga. Appointed by Congress to succeed General Lincoln as American commander in the South, Gates had reached North Carolina in July. Moving southward to capture the important British post of Camden, S. C., he commanded an army composed of veteran Delaware and Maryland continental troops and raw Virginia and North Carolina militia. In a surprise meeting for both forces near Camden on August 16, 1780, Gates’ tired and disorganized army was crushingly defeated by Cornwallis. The last large organized American army in the South had been destroyed, and the British, more than ever before, appeared to be invincible. Their triumph at Camden opened the way for the resumption of Cornwallis’ triumphant march and the invasion of North Carolina in September 1780.

_Whigs and Tories in 1780_

The British victories at Charleston and Camden in the summer of 1780 increased the bitter strife between the loyalists (Tories) and the patriots (Whigs) in the South. Both groups had been active in partisan warfare since the invasion of Georgia in 1778. Cornwallis’ march through South Carolina greatly encouraged the Tories. Many of them from the coastal and interior regions of the Carolinas now joined him as active recruits. Overawed by British force, other inhabitants of this area renewed their allegiance to the King or remained neutral to escape damage to themselves and their property. To counteract the Loyalist movement, daring partisan leaders including Francis Marion, Thomas Sumter, and Andrew Pickens, now took the leadership in strengthening Whig resistance. Desperate and unexpected assaults by day and night upon the advancing British and their outposts quickly began throughout the lowlands and upcountry. While Cornwallis was gathering supporters by threats and force or by allowing only Loyalists to trade, the Whigs remained steadfast in their devotion to personal and political freedom. Soon the merciless nature of the Tory attacks upon outlying Whig settlements and Whig guerrilla fighters so disgusted the neutral citizens of the region that many of them turned to the Whig cause.

The seriousness of the day-to-day combat between Whig and Tory in the Carolinas is shown in a military report of the time.

The animosity between the Whigs and Tories of this State renders their situation truly deplorable. There is not a day passes but there are more or less who fall a sacrifice to this savage disposition. The Whigs seem determined to extirpate the Tories and the Tories the Whigs. Some thousands have fallen in this way in this quarter, and the evil rages with more violence than ever. If a stop cannot be put to these massacres, the country will be depopulated in a few months more, as neither Whig nor Tory can live.

The southern Whigs included among their numbers both rich and poor. They were people who placed principle above personal gain. They came, or were descended from people who had come, from Western Europe to America to escape religious and civil persecution and to find a new life where the dignity of the individual would be respected.

Among these immigrants were numerous Scotch-Irish Presbyterians. They had settled first in the eastern sections of Pennsylvania and Virginia. Later, they migrated in considerable numbers to the interior of the Carolinas and present-day eastern Tennessee. As they cleared new land for settlement and established their churches, they enjoyed for the first time complete religious and civil liberty. Moreover, they believed in the family as the important unit in all human life and patterned their lives accordingly. The invasion of the South now threatened to destroy their democratic society. They also feared it would lead to the loss of their hard-won individual liberty and force them to give up their right to develop the frontier and its resources as they wished.

_The British Threaten the Carolina Frontier_

When Cornwallis began his march from Charleston, Maj. Patrick Ferguson had been detached to lead a smaller Loyalist force into the western section of South Carolina. Ferguson was ordered to use the settlement of Ninety-Six as a base from which to organize Tory militia, subdue rebellious Whigs, and reestablish British civil government in the upcountry. He was also to protect the western flank of Cornwallis’ advancing army.

One important stronghold in the Carolinas remained undisturbed by Cornwallis’ victories and the Tory raids in the summer of 1780. This was the region of the foothills and ranges of the Appalachian Mountains which stretched through northwestern South Carolina, western North Carolina, and into the present eastern Tennessee. Here, the independent mountain yeomen, largely of Scotch-Irish descent, were establishing a new frontier and protecting their crude homes from the nearer threat of the border Indians. Their free pioneer life had existed without interference from the King’s officials, and they were little concerned with the main course of the war on the seaboard. Rumors of Ferguson’s activities in the upcountry brought forth a few adventurous mountain men in the summer of 1780. After fighting brief actions with Tories east of the mountains, however, these frontiersmen retired. Victory by such border fighters at the Battle of Musgrove’s Mill, on August 18, 1780, caused some of the mountain leaders to fear that Ferguson would soon attempt to avenge this defeat.

Ferguson did not immediately pursue the mountain men. With the news of Cornwallis’ success at Camden, he had also received urgent orders to search the upcountry for the patriots under Col. Thomas Sumter. This plan was interrupted by news of Musgrove’s Mill and by orders calling Ferguson to a meeting in Camden with Cornwallis. Here, he was informed of the British commander’s determination to invade North Carolina at Charlotte in September. Ferguson also learned that his Provincial Corps of American Loyalists was to be detailed from the post of Ninety-Six to join his Tory militia. Finally, he was directed to move with his strengthened force through upper South Carolina and across the North Carolina border, crushing the remaining patriots and rousing the back-country Tories. His advance was intended to protect the rear and western flank of Cornwallis’ army which reached Charlotte on September 26.

On September 7 Ferguson pushed across the western North Carolina border. At Gilbert Town (the present Rutherfordton), he issued his famed threat to the back country which aroused the horde of mountain men who eventually brought disaster upon him at Kings Mountain. He expected at Gilbert Town to surprise some of the mountain leaders who had retired there for safety after Musgrove’s Mill. In August, however, they had agreed to return to their homes across the mountains and raise a volunteer army to resist Ferguson’s advance.

VIRGINIA CAMPBELL’S VIRGINIANS NORTH CAROLINA SHELBY’S MEN SEVIER’S MEN SYCAMORE SHOALS and FORT WATAUGA WILKES and SURRY COUNTY MEN QUAKER MEADOWS-McDOWELL’S HOME SOUTH FORK MEN SOUTH CAROLINA SUMTER’S YORK COUNTY MEN

Remaining at Gilbert Town during most of September, Ferguson was a constant menace to the bordering region. From his headquarters, early in the month, he tried to frighten the mountain leaders into submission. To carry out this plan, Ferguson paroled Samuel Phillips, a prisoner, and sent him into the mountains with a message to Col. Isaac Shelby, who commanded the patriot militia of Sullivan County, N. C. According to a well-known account, Ferguson, in this message, solemnly warned Shelby and the other mountain people “that if they did not desist from their opposition to the British arms, he would march his army over the mountains, hang their leaders, and lay their country waste with fire and sword.” He followed this threat with action and pursued a patriot party to the slopes of the Blue Ridge before returning on September 23 to his temporary base at Gilbert Town.

_The Gathering of the Mountain Men_

At the headwaters of the Watauga, the Holston, and the Nolichucky Rivers, in present-day eastern Tennessee, news of Ferguson’s actions was received with growing alarm by the back-country settlers. Their freedom-loving leaders were spurred in their determination to gather a volunteer force with all possible speed for a surprise attack that would destroy the British invader. Meeting at Jonesboro, Shelby and Col. John Sevier, head of the militia in Washington County, N. C., hurriedly adopted a plan for immediate action. They sent forth a final appeal for volunteers, some of whom would remain behind to protect the settlements from the Indians while the main force marched quickly after Ferguson. Additional support was sought urgently from Col. Charles McDowell and Col. Benjamin Cleveland, who commanded other fighting men from the North Carolina border. Pleas for help were also sent to the local militia leaders of adjoining Washington County, Va. After consultation, it was agreed that Col. William Campbell would bring a strong body of Virginia militia. All volunteers were urged to gather by September 25 at Sycamore Shoals, on the banks of the Watauga, near the present site of Elizabethton, Tenn.

On that date over 1,000 of the mountain men assembled at the designated meeting place. In appearance, it was a rough but resourceful looking gathering. Many of the fighters wore hunting shirts of buckskin, breeches and gaiters of tan home-dyed cloth, and wide-brimmed hats covering long hair tied in a queue. Each was equipped with a knapsack, blanket, and long hunting rifle; most were mounted on horses, but some were on foot. With some had come members of their families and friends to see them off on their dangerous mission. Notable among the militia units present was that of Col. William Campbell which numbered 400 men. To reach Sycamore Shoals many of his men had traveled almost as far as they would in the final march to Kings Mountain.

The gathering was made memorable by the inspiring words of the Reverend Samuel Doak, a pioneer Scotch-Irish clergyman of the Watauga settlements. On the eve of their departure, he sought the Lord’s blessing upon these brave men. To inspire and prepare them for the hardships they faced, he retold vividly the biblical story of the rise of Gideon’s people against Midianites and of the defeat of those oppressors. At the close of his stirring sermon he urged the mountain men to take as their battle cry: “The sword of the Lord and of Gideon!”

_The March From Sycamore Shoals_

On the following day, September 26, the great adventure of the mountain men began, and they left Sycamore Shoals on their march over the mountains. Five days later, after covering about 90 miles, they arrived at Quaker Meadows, on the Catawba River. The first part of their route followed old hunting and Indian trails, difficult at times for passage by either man or beast, and this proved to be the most rugged portion of their march to Kings Mountain.

Nearing the crest of the mountains on September 27 in snow that stood above their bootstraps, members of the expedition were alarmed by the desertion of James Crawford and Samuel Chambers. Not only were the patriots afraid that the deserters would warn Ferguson’s camp, but also that the traitors would alert the Tories of the region. Despite fears of a possible ambush, the patriots crossed the Blue Ridge Mountains safely on September 29. The two units, into which the volunteer army was divided, passed, respectively, through Gillespie Gap and what is believed to have been McKinney’s Gap. Shortly afterwards, they were reunited at Col. Charles McDowell’s plantation, at Quaker Meadows, near the present site of Morganton, N. C. Here they rested during the evening of September 30.

In the meantime, Col. Charles McDowell rejoined the patriots on September 28. Before the expedition left Sycamore Shoals, he had undertaken to secure the support of North Carolina patriots living east of the mountains. He brought cheering news on his return. He reported to his colleagues, that, according to his latest information, Ferguson was still at Gilbert Town. Of immediate interest was his news that Col. Benjamin Cleveland and Maj. Joseph Winston were rapidly approaching with 350 North Carolinians from Wilkes and Surry Counties. He also reported rumors that South Carolina patriots were gathering under the command of Col. James Williams.

The arrival of Cleveland and Winston on September 30 and the night of pleasant relaxation at the McDowell home raised the spirits of the mountain men. The following day, October 1, they continued their southward march to a gap of South Mountain near the headwaters of Cane Creek. Here they camped during inclement weather through October 2.