/(ings Mountain NATIONAL MILITARY PA'RK
SOUTH CAROLINA Kings Mountain NATIONAL MILITARY PARK United States Department of the Interior, J. A. Krug, Secretary
National Park Service, Newton B. Drury, Director
Climax of a victorious rising of American frontiersmen against British and Tories in the Carolina foothills in 1780 which foreshadowed the British military defeats of 178I
Kings Mountain, the fierce attack of American Unimpeded by effective resistance, the British frontiersmen on October 7, 1780, against Corn- Southern Campaign swept unchecked through wallis' scouting force under Ferguson, was an Georgia and part of South Carolina during unexpected onslaught carried out in the foothills 1778-79. The surrender of Gen. Benjamin Lin- of northwestern South Carolina. This sudden up- coln's American army at Charleston, in May rising of the stalwart Alleghany mountaineers, 1780, greatly strengthened the British position. for the protection of their homes and people Soon most of South Carolina, except a few dis- from the threat of Tory invasion under British tricts in the Piedmont, was overrun by British leadership, was relatively isolated in conception and Royalist forces directed by Lord Cornwallis. and execution from the main course of the His plans for an immediate invasion of North Revolutionary War in the South. Carolina were upset temporarily by the advance Clearly unforeseen in the grand British plan of a new American army under Gates. At Cam- to subjugate the South in a final effort to end den, on August 16, 1780, Gates suffered a disas- the Revolution, this accidental encounter in the trous defeat, again leaving South Carolina and Southern Piedmont delayed incidentally, but did the route northward open to the British. not alter materially, the movement of Britain's Southern Campaign. Kings Mountain is notable chiefly perhaps as supplying the first definite Cornwallis Threatens the Frontier forewarning of the impending British military disasters in 1781. It was decisive to the extent The only southern region in the path of Corn- that it contributed the earliest distinct element wallis' northward march remaining undisturbed of defeat to the final major British campaign of by the course of the war lay in the foothills and the Revolution. ranges of the Alleghanies stretching through northwestern South Carolina, western North Carolina, and into the present eastern Tennessee. The Southern Campaign Here, the independent mountain yeomen, largely of Scotch-Irish descent, were occupied with The extraordinary action at Kings Mountain establishing a new frontier and protecting their occurred during one of the bleakest periods of rude homes from the nearer threat of the border the Revolution. A major change in British mili- Indians, and had been little concerned with the tary strategy had again shifted the sceneof action war on the seaboard. But their free and compar- to the South in 1778. Faced by a discouraging atively peaceful existence was soon to be dis- campaign in the North, and assuming that the turbed by a threat of direct aggression. reputed Loyalist sympathies of the South would That threat came from Maj. Patrick Ferguson, be more conducive to a victory there, the British of Cornwallis' command, who, after Camden, war ministry now undertook to conquer the had been ordered to operate in the South Caro- South. lina Piedmont to suppress the Whig opposition upon which Ferguson camped and gradually to Whig detachments moved into position around close in from all sides. the ridge After dismounting and passing through Ham- As the two Whig commands neared Fergu- U It J f bright's Gap, some three-quarters of a mile west son's lines, the Tories charged and drove them of Kings Mountain, the frontier detachments down tile slope at the point of the bayonet. JRICK FERGUSON, tile best shot in the moved rapidly into their preassigned positions Though they had no bayonets, the Whigs rallied .British army, invented a rifle ill 1776thaI around the ridge. Seeking cover in the wooded at the foot, and the unerring marksmanship of . loaded at the iJTeecn. Isaac Shelby, of dition marched through the Catawba Valley, it by's men moved steadily up the slope Indian moralized and rapidly decreasing force was Sullivan County, and Col.John Sevier, of Wash- was augmented by the North Carolina border fashion, from tree to rock, and for 10 to 15 min- gradually pushed toward its camp site on the ington County, North Carolina (both now in fighters under Benjamin Cleveland. utes maintained their attack, while the other northeastern end of the ridge. In this desperate Tennessee), had hurried to the Watauga settle- At the Cowpens in upper South Carolina, the situation, with attacks and counterattacks raging ments and called for volunteers to defeat the expedition, now under the command of Colonel Ferguson's Grave on all sides, the piercing note of Ferguson's silver Bri tish leader. Campbell, was joined on October 6 by further whistle urging his forces on continued to be Reaching Gilbert Town early in September, volunteers under local Whig leaders, including heard above the din of the shooting and shrill Ferguson dispatched his famed invidious threat William Chronicle, James Williams, Edward whoops of the mountaineers until he attempted over the mountains to the backwoodsmen, warn- Lacey, and James, Hawthorne. Recruits brought ing them "that if they did not desist from their definite word of Ferguson's whereabouts near to escape through Cleveland's lines near the opposition to the British arms and take protec- Kings Mountain. There, in a final council of northeastern crest. Suddenly, the British leader tion under his standard, he would march his war, were selected 910 stalwart fighting men, all was struck from his horse by at least eight balls army over the mountains, hang their leaders, and mounted, who immediately moved through the fired by the mountain sharpshooters, and expired lay their country waste with fire and .sword." night upon the position of Ferguson's Provincial a few minutes later. De Peyster. his second in Corps and Tory militia 1,125 strong, now en- command, attempted to rally the confused sur- camped atop the Kings Mountain spur. viving Tories and Provincials, but his efforts Rising of the Mountain Men were futile and he ordered a surrender. During the bloody one-hour engagement that raged To'the freedom-loving frontier leaders the Battle of Kings Mountain along the heavily wooded and rocky slopes, the threat became a challenge which strengthened mountaineers, veterans of countless frontier their determination to destroy the invader. Thus Pushing northeastwardly through the cold clashes even though untrained in formal warfare, spurred, they assembled quickly, each in hunting night rain, the expedition forded Broad River at with a slight loss of 28 killed and 62 wounded, garb, with knapsack, blanket, and long hunting sunrise in the continuing downpour. But by had gained a complete victory, killing or captur- rifle, most of them mounted, but some afoot. midday on October 7 the rain had ceased, and as ing Ferguson's entire force. Meeting at Sycamore Shoals, near the present the frontiersmen neared Kings Mountain their The Kings Mountain expedition and engage- Elizabethton, Tenn., on September 26, the moun- scouts confirmed Ferguson's position there. ment illustrated the characteristic vigor of the taineers began their ride southeastwardly in a Quickly the mountain leaders devised a final untrained American frontiersman in rising to swift 12-day pursuit of Ferguson, who, having plan of attack which was to surround the ridge the threat of border invasion. It is memorable primarily as an example of the personal valor Facilities and Administration and resourcefulness of the American frontier fighter, particularly the Scotch-Irish, during the Literature and information concerning the Revolution. Kings Mountain was an unexpected area may be obtained at the park administration blow to the long standing local strife between building, adjacent to the main park drive and Whig and Tory, which completely unnerved and parking area at the southwestern foot of the undermined the Loyalist organization in the battlefield ridge. Here a small museum has been Carolinas. Heartening to the long repressed installed. From the administration building a Whigs, the engagement placed them in control park road climbs the southwestern slope of the z:r:0'" - by narrative historical markers. Adjoining the i=1O ~ The Park ~LLu.... park on the east is Kings Mountain State Park, >- ",00 z where facilities for picnicking, swimming, and o Located in northwestern South Carolina near 0:: organized camping are available. Kings Moun- > the North Carolina-South Carolina line, Kings tain National Military Park is a part of the Mountain National Military Park, established ~ National Park System and is administered by the by act of Congress on March 3,1931, contains ....J National Park Service of the United States 4,012.29 acres. Near the center of the rugged Department of the Interior. Communications park area is the historic Kings Mountain battle- ~ should be addressed to the Custodian, Kings field ridge on which the engagement occurred. Mountain National Military Park, Kings Creek, ...J< On the battlefield ridge four monuments have S. C. been erected, notable among which are the Cen- «~ tennial Monument, dedicated in 1880, and the Centennial Monument Z~ United States Government Obelisk, erected by O~ Congress in 1909. Several markers have also been -< placed by patriotic organizations at historic points in the park. ~~ Z~ 0 How to Reach the Park Z (J) The park is easily accessible from United States Highway No. 29, between Blacksburg, ~ S. c., and Kings Mountan, N. c., via North Car- Z olina Highway No. 216. ::::>. From York, S. c., or the city of Kings Moun- 0 tain, N. c., the park may also be reached over ~ North Carolina-South Carolina Highway No. 161 by way of the entrance to Kings Mountain Cf) State Park, thence over a 5-mile drive to the (.!) main parking area. Z To reach the Park from United States High- - .; ~ z way No. 29 turn south via North Carolina Highway No. 216 about 6 miles southwest of the town of Kings Mountain, N. c., or turn east ---- on South Carolina Highway No. 293 about 5 miles northeast of Blacksburg, S. C. From Kings Mountain, N. c., or York, S. c., the approach is via North Carolina-South Caro- lina Highway No. 161 to the entrance to Kings Mountain State Park, and thence along the main Revised 1947. U. s. Government Printing Office: 1947 O-F-738S82 Park Road.