After the Battle of Saratoga, the British changed strategy and attempted to tap into the supposedly large loyalist population of the southern colonies. At the start the strategy seemed to work. In May, 1780, the city of Charleston, S.C. fell and in August the Battle of Camden resulted in disaster for the Continental Army. Loyalists were encouraged with the turning of the tide. Many flocked to the British standards. Lord Cornwallis was determined to drive the last nail into the coffin by campaigning into North Carolina. Part of his force was a loyalist militia unit commanded by Col. Patrick Ferguson. The charismatic Ferguson was called “Mad Dog” by his 900 men. He was famous for inventing a breech-loading musket. Earlier in the war, he had passed up the opportunity to shoot a horseman who turned out to be George Washington. Cornwallis sent Ferguson into the backwoods of South Carolina to recruit more loyalists and to protect his flank as he moved into North Carolina. Ferguson was marching into an area where there was a virtual civil war between patriots and loyalists. That conflict was vicious. The patriot militia was called the Overmountain men. One of its members was Davy Crockett’s father. Ferguson made the mistake of proclaiming that he was going to stop opposition to the King or hang patriot leaders and ravage their communities. These were fighting words to the frontiersmen. When he entered the area, Ferguson quickly realized he had kicked a fire ant mound. He pulled back to a 60-foot-high hill that was grandly called King’s Mountain. The backwoodsmen surrounded the hill. The force was about 1,125 and was led by several men. The command was so decentralized that the men were told they were on their own and each should think of themselves as officers. A pre-battle pep talk encouraged the men to “shout like Hell and fight like devils”. On the hill, a Torie officer warned Ferguson that they were facing “those damned yellin’ boys.” On Oct. 7, 1780, the battle began with shots that took the British completely by surprise. They swarmed up the hill like banshees. Ferguson, who insisted on staying on his horse, led counterattacks which pushed some attackers back, but since the hill was surrounded, it was impossible to break the onslaught. Ferguson led several bayonet charges. Having no bayonets, the patriots would run. But when the British returned to the top of the hill, the patriots renewed their attack. Because he was an obvious target, Ferguson was hit by several musket balls. Morale plummeted further and soon after the loyalists surrendered after about an hour of fighting. Well, they eventually were allowed to surrender because at first no quarter was given. This was excused as revenge for Banastre Tarleton’s killing of patriots at the Battle of Waxhaws. “Remember Tarleton’s Quarter!” They had lost 157 killed and the rest either wounded, missing, or captured. The Overmountain men lost only 28 men killed. The minor victory had a great effect on the war in the south. Loyalist support dried up, conversely patriot morale boomed. King’s Mountain went down as the biggest “all-American battle of the war” (well, there was one non-American, Ferguson).
https://www.battlefields.org/learn/revolutionary-war/battles/kings-mountain
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Kings_Mountain
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