South Carolina was a significant state during the Revolution, in that more battles were fought here than in any other state in the union. One of the most important, if not the single most important, battle during the Revolution was fought at King’s Mountain. Here British commander Patrick Ferguson camped out to snuff out the Americans. Ferguson personally picked this mountain because he thought that the Americans would not be able to defeat him here.
Originally, the forest surrounding King’s Mountain was filled with towering trees with hardly any underbrush. This made it easy for the British to spot American troops. But the adverse was true as well. The Americans, coming from Tennessee, North Carolina, Georgia, and South Carolina hid behind trees and slowly inched their way up to the British stronghold. The Americans were repelled several times, but their fortitude proved stronger than that of the British and they commanded the mountain in only an hour of fighting.
Ferguson was killed at this battle along with a good number of his British troops. The Americans won the battle and sent couriers to Washington to inform him of their success. This significantly turned the tide of the war in the states. This battle prompted Cornwallis to start his trip into North Carolina towards Yorktown.
After the defeat of the British at King’s Mountain, the Americans won the day again at Cowpens. Afterwards, the Americans headed north to the Dan River before forcing the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown.
The National Park Service has constructed a very nice walking trail up King’s Mountain. It’s about 1.5 miles around the mountain. To learn more about this battle and park visit:
