Newspapers / The Kings Mountain Herald … / Oct. 7, 1980, edition 1 / Page 13
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[)i« Sattle Kings mnuntain bicentennial iEiiition (October 7. 1900 j Kings Mountain: 1 ' o ) • c Story Of Contradiction For Many Leaders By ED SMITH (EDITOR'S NOTE: ThU arti cle, which has undergone some revision, deletions and additions, wos first publish ed in the Kings Mountain - Herald on Oct. 7. 1971, the 191st anniversary of the Bat tle of Kings Mountain. The author was awarded The Smithwick Cup by the N.C. > Society of County and Local Historians for the story. Mr. Smith says thot the first ) # pttblished historical account M of the Battle of Kings Moim- tain was written by General Joseph Graham in the early 1800s. Generol Graham's home Vesovius Fximace is where the Smiths now live, so this present orticle was written "probably in the ; same room where General Graham wrote his first ac count of the Battle. I hope he opproves of mine." Smith said.) The Battle of Kings Mountain was a story of contradictions. Few events in the history of the two Carolinas have received more attention from historians, dramatists or fiction writers. Yet much of what has been written has been inadequate, or in error, and despite all of this attention a great deal of what actually hap pened there remains a mystery today. The basic facts are not open to dispute, and are in fact well known. On October 7, 1780, a rainy, unseasonablly-chilly Saturday afternoon, a force of back-country Whig militia at tacked a force of largely back- country Tory militia on a hilltop near Kings Mountain, and in a bitter one-hour battle fought at unusually close range, totally defeated the King’s supporters. o © ^ The Tories were commanded b by a highly<ompetent British ar my regular. Major Patrick Ferguson, who was killed during the fighting. The Whig forces consisted of a number of separate militia units from along ~ the Southern frontier, each under its own officers but loosely ; under the command of Colonel ' William Campbell of Virginia. o Consequently, the time and place of battle, its leading par ticipants and its outcome are well known. When one attempts to fill in many of the details, however, or to speculate on the whys and wherefores, confusion results. ^ Much of the basic research on the Kings Mountain battle was done long ago. Later writers have tended to copy the earlier findings, and unfortunately no real m^ern effort has been made to fit recent historical discoveries into the overall pic ture of Kings Mountain. This ar ticle represents an effort to fill out that picture in fuller detail. o fact, however, that not a single member of the American force was an active member of the Continental Army. All were volunteers, members of local militia units who set out on their own initiative, without orders from the regular army, to take part in the expedition against Ferguson’s Tories. Colonels Isaac Shelby and John Sevier risked bankruptcy by pledging their own resources to under write the expedition (should the state government refuse to honor their expense vouchers) and the Americans took a desperate risk in setting out without doctors or medical sup plies and very short on both food and ammunition. On the other side. Major Ferguson’s own 12S-man Pro vincial Corps — though a well- trained regular army unit — con sisted of American-born volunteers from New York and New Jersey. The remainder of his forces were local TOTy militia, mostly new recruits. The Battle of Kings Mountain would be civil war, in many cases literally kin against kin and neighbor against neighbor. Con sequently - as such fights usually are - it was unusually savage in nature, with casualty rates much higher than the normal engage ment df that period. BRITISH SURPRISED It was shortly before three o’clock in the afternoon when the American force caught up with Major Ferguson in his hilltop encampment southwest of the main peak of Kings Mountain. Originally their number had totalled over 1,800 men, but fatigue, short rations and the need for haste had thinn ed their ranks materially. Many of these men had travelled for several hundred miles to get there; others lived within sight of Kings Mountain. They were not expected, or were at least ahead of schedule. Ferguson’s intelligence activities had given him a fairly accurate picture of the size and makeup of the movement against him, but his last word had placed the fron tiersmen some SO miles away on Green River still gathering their forces. Apparently the British commander had not expected them to move as swiftly or as boldly as they did. "My brave fellows, we have beaten the Tories before, and we con beat them agoin ... When we come up to the enemy, olm os well os you can and fire os quick os you con. and stand your ground as long os you con. When you con do no better, get behind trees or retreot, but I beg you ... don't run offl If we ore repulsed let us make o point of reluming and renewing the fight." CoL Benjamin Cleveland For two centuries, now, the Battle of Kings Mountain has been regarded by historians as a classic, textbook example of frontier warfare. It is also regarded as the first battle in which rifles played a decisive role. It is an unusual From this point on, however, speculation plays a major role in any writing on the events of that day. This is particularly true regarding the British $i^, for their leader did not survive the battle and his paiiers were never evaluated. Historians have been puzzled by Ferguson’s conduct at Kings Mountain, since he was a demonstrably-capable officer. It has been generally believed that he intended to fi^t a defensive battle from atop the ridge, and that his acceptance of battle under those conditions was due to over-confidence, or contempt of the foe. According to tradition, he is supposed to have boasted that neither God Almighty nor all the rebels in hell could drive him off the hilltop. But this could have as easily been a corruption of his public reassurances to the local Tories that he would not aban don them to the Whigs by retreating to the protection of Lord Cornwallis’ army at Charlottetown. Further, though he was one of his army’s top ex perts on field fortifications, Ferguson made no efforts to establish a defensive position on his hilltop, and in his dispatches to Cornwallis asking for rein forcements he clearly expressed his intentions to “give rather than receive” an attack. For these reasons it may well be that historians generally have been in error as to the British leader’s in tentions at Kings Mountain. It appears logical — to this writer at least — that Ferguson was simply surprised and attack ed in a temporary encampment atop the hill by an enemy alert enough to land the first blow. ACCIDENTAL VlCTrORY All did not go smoothly for the American side either. In fact it actually appears evident today that Kings Mountain was as much an accidental victory for them as would be the case at Cowpens some three months later! It subtracts little credit from the frontiersmen to say so, however, for they quickly adapted themselves to a changed situation and made the most of it. The American plan of battle had been to surround the British encampment and attack from all sides simultaneously. Had they succeeded in doing so, the odds are very good that the Battle of Kings Mountain might have reached an entirely different conclusion with the possibilities ranging from a British victory to that of a more-likely draw, with both sides left scattered and vulnerable. In simple terms, had the original plan of attack been suc cessful, it would have forced Ferguson into adopting necessary counter-measures while there was still time to have done so successfully. As it turn ed out, however, he would be totally late in recognizing the true nature of the attack against him. General J.F.C. Fuller whose book “British Light Infantry in the Eighteenth Century” is the standard reference work on this subject, wondered why Ferguson did not simply cut his way out of the trap on the hilltop. He points out that in order to have surrounded the hill the frontiersmen would have had to spread themselves disasterously thin. Frontiersmen, weilding rifles without bayonets, habitually formed themselves in to a thin skirmish line and fought from behind cover. They did so at Kings Mountain. — Muzzle-loading weapons were slow to load and fire. Conse quently the volume of fire from tdong any given portion of the circling force would have been so weak that the besieged force could esily have cut its way clear to safety. Yet to remain on the hilltop would have been foolhar dy for any competent military man. Fuller said, for on the sum mit, at the center or vortex of the attackers firepower, its con centration of perhaps one to two thousand rounds per minute would be lethal. So it would in deed prove to be for the Tories. Further, once free of the trap, the besieged troops could have counter-attacked along the thin Turn to page 2B KM - A Springboard The Battle of Kings Mountain proved to be a springboard laun ching the careers of many fron tier leaders. A form of rough but pure democracy ruled in those days. Militia elected their officers, and the mere fact that a man could be chosen to be a leader in battle by the tough-minded fron tiersmen spoke eloquently enough as to his abilities. Many of the men who figured prominently at Kings Mountain went on to set examples in other endeavors as well, in settling the frontier and building a new na tion. Though not without strug gles, setbacks and—often con troversy, they became generals. Congressmen, Senators, state legislators, judges and county of ficials. Many were successful traders, farmers and businessmen. At least three serv ed as Governors of their respec tive states. Even some who had served that day on the other side of the line were able to overcome the stigma of their Tory associations, to go home eventually and live out successful lives amid their former enemies! Colonel William Campbell, of Virginia, who had been elected at least titular leader of the ex pedition by his peers, went on to fight later at Guilford Cour thouse. Promoted to general, he died in 1781, of pneumonia while serving under LaFayette in his native state. Colonel Isaac Shelby went on to become one of the frontier’s most outstanding leaders. He helped establish the state of Ken tucky, and served as its first Governor. During the War of 1812 he served as a general, leading twelve regiments of Ken tucky militia in the invasion of Canada. Colonel John Sevier was as stirring and picturesque a figure as the frontier ever produced. After the war he played a leading role in the breaking away of the western counties from North Carolina and the establishment of the state of Franklin. Arrested for “treason” by North Carolina authorities, Sevier leaped from a courthouse window in Morganton at his trial and rode home unscathed! Later pardoned, he helped form the state of Tennessee and serv ed as its first Governor. Jesse Franklin, a twenty-year- old captain under Colonel Ben jamin Cleveland at Kings Moun tain, found a later career in politics. He served as state legislator, U.S. Congressman and Senator, and in 1820-21, as Governor of North Carolina. Major Joseph Winston, also of Cleveland’s Wilkes County regi- By ED SMITH Ferguson Shelby ment, went on to be a militia general, state legislator and U.S. Congressman. The town of Winston (now part of Winston- Salem) was named after him. Col. Cleveland himself was not as lucky. After the war he lost his large land holdings and home in Wilkes County in a legal battle over land titles. He moved to South Carolina, and though in poor health reestablished himself as a fanner and local judge. As a crippled, older man his weight ballooned to over four hundred pounds, a far cry from the muscular, robust frontiersman he had been in youth. Col. James Williams of South Carolina was the ranking American casulty at Kings Mountain, receiving a mortal wound near the battle’s conclu sion. Though his reputation as an opponent of the British was firmly established, he was engag ed in a bitter dispute with his fellow South Carolina Colonels, Edward Lacey and James Hill as to who was senior officer pre sent, and thereby commander of that state’s forces. Lacey ended his military career as a brigadier general, then served as both judge and legislator. Major Joseph McDowell did more than his part to rid the Piedmont Carolinas of Tory in fluence, fighting all the way from Ramsour’s Mill to Kings Mountain to Cowpens. He serv ed several terms later as a U.S. Congressman. Another victim of Kings Mountain was Col. William Graham, who survived physical ly but found his reputation tar nished. Col. Graham was Lin coln County’s most outstanding civil and military leader, the North Carolina area closest to the battlefield. He had served conspicuously in the war, con tributed greatly in feeding and equipping his men and thrown his own home open to refugees from the war. Yet shortly before the battle began he received an urgent message from home, his pregnant wife was desperately ill and needed his help. Graham asked for permission to leave. His replacement. Major William Chronicle, was killed during the fighting, and Graham found himself branded by many as a coward. He never again took part in public life. Lieutenant Colonel Fredrick Hambright, who led the local Lincoln County troops for most of the battle, was himself serious ly wounded. He recovered, however, and lived to be ninety years old, leaving many descen dants in this area. Many KM Participants Took Part In Executions There was a popular saying during the Revolutionary Period that “A Tory is a creature whose head is in England and whose body is in America—so his neck ought to be stretched!” There were American Tories, too, who prescribed similar treat ment for “rebels” and “traitors to the Crown”. Many of the men who fought at Kings Mountain—on both sides—had taken parts in such executions. Practically everyone there approved of them, as did society as a whole. The North Carolina legislature had only recently passed a bill legalizing the summary execution of any By ED SMITH Tory caught engaging in acts of terrorism, upon the concurrence of two local magistrates. In near by Virginia, a certain Captain Lynch was acquiring such renown for his relentless pursuit of active supjporters of the Crown that his name would find its way into our language. It was a two-way street, however. Colonel William Campbell—who had himself taken an active part in the execu tion of several notorious Tories—narrowly escaped a similar fate when captur^ by a band of their fellows. Captain Jesse Franklin, who serv^ at Kings Mountain as Colonel Cleveland’s adjutant, escaped death by hanging under similar circumstances when the bridle his captors were using broke under his weight and he was able to get away in the darkness. Franklin liv^ to serve later as a very credible Governor of North Carolina, the only participant in the battle to do so. Franklin’s superior in the Wilkes County militia. Colonel Cleveland, was himself a relentless pursuer of Tories, causing the execution of many of them. Cleveland became noted for acts of both impulsive Turn to page 2B
The Kings Mountain Herald (Kings Mountain, N.C.)
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Oct. 7, 1980, edition 1
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