MOUNTAIN
N
By ELMO 8COTT WATSON
y^yNE hundred and fifty-tire years ago a
/ \ eal'ant little army of American
I' V '1 frontiersmen charged up the rocky
?1. slopes of a flat-topped hill in
South Carolina to win one of the
i j'T most brilliant victories in ike
t:S American War of Independence.
| i Today finds the federal govern
?J^l ment of the nation, which tlioy
^ helped found, commemorating their
icbierement by establishing a national military
park and a state recreational center around the
,ite of their triumph.
The flat-topped hill, where was fought the
Battle of King's Mountain on October 7, 17NI,
,nd much of the adjoining territory, 10,310 acres
in all, are now being purchased by the Uidted
'
3 j M. Q, Ferguson's Headquarter* K
I (J) Where Ferguion was killed E
Diagram of the Battle of King's Mountain
- States. Five thousand acres of this land will
comprise the national military park. The re
mainder will be used as a recreational area for
the poor and underprivileged classes, especially
those in the mill towns of the northwestern part
of the states. Camps are to be organized where
they will be provided with facilities for all kinds
of outdoor sports at a low cost Thus is the
patriotic impulse to honor the memory of the
past being put to an eminently practical and
humanitarian use for present and future genera
tions of Americans.
The Battle of Kings Mountain was one of the
most dramatic events of the Revolution, both as
to its actors and the circumstances under which
it was fought So far as the numbers engaged
were concerned, it was a minor affair. But its re
sults lifted it to a position of major importance
in a campaign which culminated in a victorious
end to the fight for liberty.
"Black 17S0," the patriots called it, as the
sixth year of their weary struggle opened. Down
in the south two states, South Carolina and
Georgia, lay prostrate before the enemy. .Sir
Henry Clinton had captured Charleston with its
garrison of 5,000 men. True, such noted partisan
leaders as Marion, the "Swamp Fox," Sumter, the
"Carolina Gamecock" and Pickens were still
harassing the enemy with their guerilla warfare
but nothing conclusive could be expected of them.
With only these scattered bands of patriots to
oppose him, Lord Cornwalli's proceeded to com
plete his conquest of the south by invading North
Carolina. As a part of his plan Maj. Patrick
Ferguson of the Seventy-first regiment was sent
toward the back country of the Carolinas to
crush any patriot opposition which might de
velop, but primarily to rally the Tories and re
cruit them to the British standard.
Meanwhile the scattered patriots began making
desperate efforts to resist his advance. Col.
Charles McDowell of Burke county, N. C., was
on the Broad river just over the South Carolina
line when he heard of Ferguson's advance. He
sent a call for help across the mountains to
John Sevier and Isaac Shelby, leaders of the
pioneers who had settled in what is now eastern
Tennessee.
oevier naa his Hands full fighting the cnero
kees, but he sent 200 men to McDowell's aid and
Shelby crossed over with a similar force from
Sullivan county. There was a short period of
guerilla fighting In which Shelby won a minor
success at Musgrove's Mills. Then came the
news of the crushing defeat of Gates' American
army at Camden by Lord Cornwallis and the
death of Baron De Kalb. Two days later the
Americans suffered another disaster. Tarleton,
?ne of Cornwallis' most brilliant officers, had
surprised the wily Sumter at Fishing Creek and
cut his command to pieces.
North Carolina now lay wide open to Corn
wallis' invasion. He advanced to Charlotte with
little or no opposition and Ferguson marched
north through the back country.
In the meantime Shelby and Sevier had with
drawn across the mountains to make plans for
resisting Ferguson or any other British force
which should operate along the eastern slopes of
the Blue Ridge. They also sent word to the
leaders in Wilkes and Surrey counties to gather
their men and prepare for a counterstroke
against the British.
Ferguson learned that the mountain men were
rallying. At Gilbert Town he paroled one of his
Prisoners and sent him to Shelby with a letter in
which he Informed the "Back Water Men." as he
called the mountaineers, that if they did not
desist from their opposition to the British arms,
c Mould march his army across the mountains,
mg the leaders and lay the country waste with
Cr? and sword."
^ hen Shelby received Ferguson's letter he rode
astiiy to hold a conference with Sevier. The
*? leaders resolved to muster their forces and
et"ke Ferguson before he coulil secure enough
enforcements to carry out his threat to invade
'i r country or could fall back to a position in
er touch with Cornwallis' larger force.
Immediately they sent ont a call to arms to
settlement west of the mountains. Syca
m?re Shoals on the Watauga river near the pres
town of Elizabethton, Tenn., was named as
no rendezvous and there on September 25 gath
ered more than 1,000 frontiersmen, most of them
otinted and armed with long rifles. Shelby was
">ore with 240 North Carolinians from Sullivan
?*">ty and Sevier brought an equal number
Washington county. Col. Charles McDow
H ?m? with 100 men from Bnrke and Rutber
tanuMnnHi I _l U
Ferguson Memorial ? /NTC RWATIOHAL TheNew Monument
ford counties. Col. William Campbell of Wash
ington county, Va., responded to the call with
200 men and another 200, led by Col. Arthur
Campbell, his brother, soon joined him.
The next day the mountain men swung Into
their saddles to ride against the invader and a
Scotch Presbyterian pastor. Rev. Samuel Doak,
sped them on their way with this benediction:
"With the Sword of God and of Gideon!" Soon
after they crossed the mountains they discovered
that two Tories among their number had slipped
away to carry a warning to Ferguson. There
was now more need than ever for speed, so they
pushed on rapidly to Quaker Meadows. There
they were joined by Colonel Cleveland with the
men from Wilkes county and by Major Winston
with the men from Surrey, some 350 in all.
Meanwhile the two deserters had reached Fer
guson, who immediately began his withdrawal
from the mountains.
By October G Ferguson had reached Kind's
Mountain. It was about 30 miles from Charlotte
?near enough for him to be reinforced by Corn
wallis if the need arose. But when he saw how
admirably it was situated for a defensive en
gagement he did not feel that he would need aid.
It was a natural fortress, a table land about GOO
yards long, GO to 120 feet wide, rising some GO
feet above Its immediate surroundings, its sides
covered with trees and its top protected by huge
rocks. Taking up his position on this table land,
Ferguson awaited the onslaught of the enemy.
On October G the mountaineers reached Cow
pens where they were Joined by Col. .Tames Wil
liams of South Carolina who, with 400 men, had
been pursuing Ferguson as he moved north. Tills
detachment was made up of groups of Sumter's
scattered forces under Colonels Hill and Lacey
and of North Carolinians under Graham, Ham
bright and Chronicle. This brought the combined
strength of the American force up to nearly
1,800. But when their leaders learned that Fer
guson was still far ahead of them they decided
that a quick dash was necessary if they were to
catch him before he Joined Cornwallis.
Accordingly they selected 900 of their best
horsemen and at 8 o'clock that night they started
on the march. Rain poured down upon them,
but they pressed on steadily over slippery moun
tain trails. About noon the next day the weather
cleared and the sun came out to shine upon their
bid for fame. Early in the afternoon they dis
covered the enemy on King's Mountain. They
dismounted at the foot of the mountain, tied
their horses under the trees and prepared for the
attack.
Their tactics were simple. Their plans was to
surround the hill and trap its defenders with a
ring of fire as the ever-tightening circle of rifle
men ascended the slope. All of the commanders
cantioned their men to hold their fire until near
enough to the foe to make their shots count?
an admonition which was scarcely necessary,
for these hunters and Indian fighters were not
accustomed to waste powder and lead with their ;
iong rifles.
The attack began about 3 o'clock. Whooping
like Indians, Campbell and Shelby s men drove
in the British outposts. At the sound of their
voices, Captain De Peyster, Ferguson's second
in command, who had fought at Musgrove's Mills
and heard such whooping there, remarked:
"These things are ominous; these are the d?d
yelling boys!" But Ferguson immediately sprang
on his horse and blew his whistle to call his men
to arms. They opened fire at once but with little j
effect Shooting down hill, they constantly over- ^
shot the mark, even when they had a cleur view
of their assailants. r
Ferguson next tried to repulse the attack
with bayonet charges. But the Americans sim
ply gave way until the charge had spent its j
force, then swarmed back, taking their toll as
the baffled defenders of the mountain retired.
As they pressed on fiercely and* relentlessly,
some of the Tories in Ferguson's command be- I
gan to realize that they were doomed. They i
tried to raise white handkerchiefs tied to baj'o
nets but Ferguson angrily slashed them down
with his sword. Two horses were shot under him
but he mounted another and continued his efforts
to rally his men. Finally, seeing that the de
struction of his command was inevitable if he
stayed there, Ferguson with several of his offi
cers turned their horses down hill and tried to
cut their way through the grim ring of death,
lie was shot from his horse and killed Instantly.
Captain De Peyster continued the fight for a
little while, then seeing that further resistance
was hopeless, ordered a white flag raised. A few
moments later he surrendered to Campbell but it
was some time before the fighting could lie
stopped. ^
Tlio battle had lasted only a little more tlian
an hour. The British losses were 22o killed, lli.1
wounded and 710 taken prisoners, a total of
1,104. The losses of the Americans were 28
killed and 02 wounded, a total of 90. But the
victory on this South Carolina hilltop came as
one bright ray of sunshine in the midst of the
gloom of "Black 1780." The loss of 1,000 men w as
a stunning Mow to Cornwallis. It halted his ad
vance and placed him on the defensive. Before
he could regain the initiative, the patriot forces
had a chance to rally and the danger that peace
might be made with the southern provinces still
under British control was averted. Not only was
King's Mountain the outstanding American vic
tory of 1780, but it helped pave the way for the
greatest victory of all the following year?the
surrender of Cornwallis af Yorktown. And
finally, as Colonel Landers has suggested, "It Is
an exemplification of American aspirations for
self-government and a display of romantic hardi
hood and bravery well worthy of the careful
study of American youth."
C Wwtero Ktwipips Uoios.
Shopping May Be a Wearisome
Work or a Pleasant Adventure
Shopping has two aspects. One Is
of its tiresome element. The other
if of its Interesting element. It is
wearisome to stand about and wait
until busy salesmen have the chance
to wait on you in your right turn.
The walking from one store to an
other, and then through the shops.
In search of the needed, or wanted,
thing to accord with both preference
and price the purse permits, the
trying on of frocks, or being fitted
to articles, if clothes must be bought,
all these and many other of the ac
tivities of shopping are tiresome, in
deed. Were it not for the pleasant
reverse side of the consideration,
stores would not be crowded, only
dire necessity would tempt purchas
ers. Fortunately all shopping is not
of this sort.
Window shopping is the feature
that begins the pleasure, even be
King Who Reigned 10 Days
Left 10 Tons of Books
The libraries formed by Henry V,
of France, and by the Empress Elisa
beth of Austria, have been acquired
by a famous London bookseller and
will probably be exhibited to the pub
lic this fall.
Henry V, of France, who reigned
for ten days in 1830 and died as the
Comte de Chnmbord in 1883, was
Henry, Duke of Bordeaux, a grand
son of Charles X, of France. His
magnificent library, consisting of ten
tons of books in 87 huge cases, was
eventually left to the son of Don
Carlos?Don Jaime, Duke of Madrid.
After negotiations lasting over a year
it has been bought from his heirs
and removed to London from the
Castle of Fro'.isdorf, near Vienna.
Many of the books have superb
Louis XVI bindings, and a feature
of the library is an extraordinary
collection of French pamphlets writ
ten between 1820 and 1875, for and
against the monarchy.
The library left by the Empress
Elisabeth consists of a huge number
of volumes in lavish bindings. Liszt's
Coronation Mass. 1856. is in a spe
cially ornate binding of salmon pink,
embossed with the arms of the era
press.
Smooth Article
A rolling stone gathers no moss,
but what a lot of polish!
fore the shops are entered. Window
dressers are paid well to arrange
goods so that they will appeal to
passers-by to enter. They may see
what they want, or perhaps what
they would like to have. These
window displays are planned to lure
persons Into the shops, for compara
tively few persons go through a
store without buying something,
however small. Windows, conse
quently, are wortlUylooking into. It
is a pleasure to do it.
If windows are fascinating, tills
Is but the beginning of interest. Once
tlie shops are entered, it is amazing
how well and how invitingly the
wares are displayed. Any woman
who has gone through just one de
partment, that carrying kitchenware
for instance, will discover many ar
ticles, new ideas, or improvements of
old ones, that makes her feel repaid
for the exertion. The furniture de
partment or the furniture store, the
yard goods department with its
handsome textiles, the dress shop,
the lingerie shop, etc., each is a joy
just to look at.
Shopping in large cities has both
the tiresome and the pleasurable
sides to the fullest degree. Shop
ping in smaller places is far less
exhausting, and, when there are
fine shops in that town or locality,
then the enjoyable element prevails.
As every normal person has more
or less shopping to do. It is well,
before starting out, to determine
on one of two ways to shop. Either
she should go with unseeing eyes
straight to the department or shop
where the wanted articles are to he
found, and eliminate to the least
possible degree the wearisome fea
ture. Or she should be determined
to make the trip as pleasant and as
profitable as possible, with least ex
ertion.
C Ball Syndicate.?WNU Servian.
? ?
_TalofaLs
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Dad Pays
It costs a lot of money to bring up
a boy so be won't be able to sup
port himself when he becomes a mam
My Ideal Remedy for
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For headache, neuralgic, or mus
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m-jiuru
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Price 25c and 50c.
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A product of