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The Kings Mountain Herald | www.kmherald.net
October 24, 2012
DAR promotes monument to honor African American Patriots
(Background details and quotes on The Battle
of Kings Mountain, written by Loretta Cozart.)
The American Continental army suf-
fered successive defeats at Charleston, -
Waxhaw, Camden, and Sumter, South Car-
olina in the summer of 1780. By the fall
only the Backwater Militia units remained
in the field to oppose the armies of Corn-
wallis. There was no regular army south of
Virginia to stop Cornwallis and the loss of
America was eminent.
The Backwater Militia, under the com-
mand of William Campbell of Virginia,
contained strong leaders from North Car-
olina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Ken-
- tucky, and Georgia. And, with the
exception of Major Patrick Ferguson, all
of the participants of the battle were from
the colonies. Ferguson commanded over
1,000 Loyalist well trained and drilled,
while the 900 rebel Patriots were under the
command of a group of frontiersmen
colonels.
Cornwallis sent Major Patrick Fergu-
son into the western Carolinas to recruit
and equip militia loyal to the British cause.
He was to raise an army and suppress the
remaining Backwater Militia. Intending to
intimidate the Patriots, he sent a procla-
mation in September 1780 to the mountain
settlements, telling them to lay down their
arms or ‘he would march his army over
the mountains, hang their leaders, and lay
their country waste with fire and sword.”
The result was the march of the famous
Overmountain men from the Sycamore
Shoals of the Watauga River across the
mountains in search of Ferguson. Over-
coming hunger, weather, wrangling, and
intrigue the Backwater Militia attacked
and defeated Ferguson’s Loyalists at
Kings Mountain. These brave individuals
were not intimidated by Ferguson's threat.
The Militia rallied to the call of democracy
and drew their “line in the sand” at Kings
Mountain. Before the battle, Ferguson
wrote, “Not even God himself can take me
off of this mountain.” The Backwater
Militia proved him wrong!
The Hon. J. T. Preston delivered a
speech at the Kings Mountain Battle-
ground on the 4th of October, 1855 in
which he stated: “A white flag was ran up,
arms thrown down, and God’s champions
shouted, ‘Victory! Liberty!” That shout -
echoed from the mountain to the sea and
far along the shore to where the majestic
Washington sat almost weeping over the
sad horrors of the South. His great heart
leaped with prophetic joy as this beam of
hope came borne on the triumphant voice
of his beloved and trusted men of ‘West
Augusta;’ for the men who sent that shout
were the very men of whom Washington
said he would ‘trust to them to maintain
American liberty after all else had failed.””
Sir Henry Clinton called this defeat
“the first link of a chain of evils” that
ended in “the total loss of America.” Corn-
wallis’ retreat gave the Continental Con-
gress time to organize a new southern
army. In just more than a year, on October
19, 1781, Cornwallis surrendered to
George Washington at Yorktown.
. C.P. Russell, Supervisor of Interpreta-
tion in Washington writes regarding the
Battle of Kings Mountain, “Probably no
other battle in the Revolution was so pic-
turesque or so furiously fought as that at
Kings Mountain. The very mountain thun-
dered. Not a regular soldier was in the
American ranks. Every man there was ac-
tuated by a spirit of democracy. They.
fought under leaders of their own choos-
ing for the right to live in a land governed
by men of their own choice.” (From The
Regional Review, National Park Service,
Region One, Richmond, Va., Vol. V, No.
1, July 1940, pp. 15-21.)
The thanks of Congress were given in a
resolution of the 13th of Noyember, as fol-
lows: “Resolved, That Congress entertain
a high sense of the spirited and military
conduct of Colonel Campbell, and the of-
ficers, and privates of the Militia under his
command, displayed in action of the 7 of
October, in which a complete victory was
obtained over superior numbers of the
enemy, advantageously posted on King’s
Mountain, in the state of North Carolina;
and that this resolution be published by the
commanding officer of the southern army,
in general orders.”
Historians haven’t given the Backwa-
ter Militia the proper respect they deserve,
probably because those fighting were part
of voluntary militia units and not part of
- the Continental Army. The Backwater
Militia was considered barbaric by Corn-
wallis, he labeled them “Backwater Men”.
But, it was these extraordinary men who
mustered the strength to defeat Major
Patrick Ferguson and turned the tide of the
British in the Southern Campaign and, in-
deed, the Revolutionary War itself.
The efforts by the Backwater Militia
pushed Cornwallis back to Charleston and
their “spirit of democracy” allowed
Nathaniel Greene and the Continental
Army time to reorganize and prepare for
the total defeat of the British at Yorktown.
The time has come to recognize these Pa-
triots and allow them to take their Place in
history.
When speaking of the Battle of Kings
Mountain, Thomas Jefferson wrote, “I re-
member well the deep and grateful im-
pression made on the minds of every one
by that memorable victory. It was the joy-
ful annunciation of that turn of the tide of
success which terminated the Revolution-
ary War, with the seal of our independ-
ence.” :
Dwight L. Davis, Secretary of War sub-
mitted in his report, Historical Statements
Concerning the Battle of Kings Mountain
and the Battle of Cowpens, SC, “In con-.
sidering the effect of the Battle of Kings
Mountain upon the situation in the South,
it was only this epic tragedy to Ferguson’s
army that halted Cornwallis in his subju-
gation of North Carolina. Without this, or
a similar calamity, he would have reached
the northern borders of the Province in De-
cember, and with the Chesapeake occu-
pied by the British fleet, Virginia would
have suffered the same fate. What the out-
come of such a situation in the winter of
1780-81 would haye been is problematic.”
On October 7, 1930, upon the sesqui-
centennial anniversary of the Battle of
Kings Mountain, President Herbert
Hoover proclaimed: “Here less than a
thousand men, inspired by the urge of free-
dom, defeated a superior force.... This
small band of patriots turned back a dan-
gerous invasion well-designed to separate
and dismember the united colonies. It was
a small army and a little battle, but it was
of mighty portent. History has done scant
justice to its significance, which rightly
should place it beside Lexington and
Bunker Hill, Trenton and Yorktown, as
one of the crucial engagements in our long
struggle for independence.” Hoover was
the first President of the United States to
visit a Revolutionary War battlefield in the
South. His words were broadcast by radio
coast-to-coast in the United States—and to
Great Britain. Within a year of his visit,
Congress established Kings Mountain Na-
tional Military Park.
And, let us not forget Theodore Roo-
sevelt’s assessment of the Battle in his his-
tory, The Winning of the West, “This
brilliant victory marked the turning point
of the American Revolution.”
In 1975, Vice President Rockefeller
sounded the Bicentennial theme when he
noted that the defeat of the British troops
by a ragged band of patriots was a “perfect
example of what the American character
is all about.” He noted that the patriots
went into the battle without orders from
the Continental Congress, without pay,
and even without uniforms, but “they had
courage and they loved freedom more than
life itself. Their Colonel Shelby com-
manded them to ‘shoot like hell: fight like
devils!” and that’s just what they did!” .
On September 8, 1980, the Overmoun-
tain Victory National Historic Trail was of-
ficially designated as a national historic
trail during September 1980 by federal
legislation authorized by the U.S. Con-
gress, and later in 1980, President — rec-
ognizing the historical significance of the
frontier patriots marching over the to de-
feat the army at the Battle of King’s
Mountain—signed federal law designating
the historical overmountain route as the
Overmountain Victory National Historic
Trail, the first established within the east-
ern United States exactly 200 years after
the event it commemorates.
Senator James T. Broyhill, in the fore-
word to Randell Jones’ book, “Before
They Were Heroes at Kings Mountain”
writes succinctly: “If there Had been no
victory at Kings Mountain, there would
have been no battle at The Cowpens. And
if there had been no victory at Cowpens,
there would have been no battle at Guil-
ford Courthouse. And if there had been no
Battle of Guilford Courthouse, there
would have been no Yorktown and no sur-
rendering of the British troops under Gen-
eral Lord Cornwallis. The victory at Kings
Mountain initiated a chain of events that
ended with America’s freedom. This vic-
tory was secured by the brave backwoods-
men and. Overmountain Patriots who
enjoyed a reputation that had grown in no-
toriety, legend, and respect.”
LIFESTYLE DEADLINES
Deadline for wedding and engagement information is 12 noon Monday. Items re-
ceived after deadline will run if time and space permit; if not, they will be held until
the following week.
The cost is $20. Wedding and engagement forms are available at the reception-
ist’s desk at The Herald, 700 East Gold Street. Only the information requested on the
form will be published at the $20 price. Additional information will be charged at reg-
ular advertising rates.
Contact the Herald at P.O. Box 769, Kings Mountain, NC 28086, come to the oft
fice, phone 739-7496, fax 739-0611 or Email lib.kmherald @ gmail.com
Sa
Sample of marker the DAR plan to replicate with their monument to the African American Pa-
triots at Kings Mountain. It will read: (DAR Insignia) IN HONOR OF THE FIVE KNOWN AFRICAN
AMERICAN PATRIOTS, AND OTHERS, WHO PARTICIPATED IN THE BATTLE OF KING'S MOUN-
TAIN: ESAIAS BOWMAN, JOHN BRODDY, ANDREW FERGUSON, PRIMES, ISMAEL TITUS.
MARKER PLACED BY THE COL. FREDERICK HAMBRIGHT CHAPTER, NSDAR, OCTOBER 7,
2013
~The Colonel Frederick
Hambright Chapter, National
Society Daughters of the
American Revolution, has
begun a fundraising cam-
paign to honor five African
American Patriots, among
others, who fought at the
Battle of Kings Mountain on
October 7, 1780. In his book,
Kings Mountain and Its He-
roes, Lyman C. Draper notes
no less than twelve African
Americans fought in the bat-
tle. Using pension records
from the period, only five
men can be identified: Es-
sius (Esaius) Bowman, John
Broddy (Broady), Andrew
Ferguson, Primes (Primus),
and Ishmael Titus. Three
were free men, one earned
his freedom fighting on be-
half of his owner, and one
was a servant to William
Campbell. (That man was
later freed for his service.)
The proposed new monu-
ment will honor these men
along with others who
t
served but for whom no
records exist.
“We’ve been exploring
the possibility of erecting a
monument to the African
American Patriots at Kings
Mountain for several years
now,” said Loretta Cozart,
Regent of the Col. Frederick
Hambright Chapter. “We
‘know that African Ameri-
cans participated in this sig-
nificant battle, but no
monument exists at the
Kings Mountain National
Military Park to honor them.
Working with the National
Park Service and NSDAR,
we hope to erect a monu-
ment and honor these men.”
The monument cost is es-
timated at $2,200.00 and the
Colonel Frederick Ham-
“bright Chapter has begun the
fundraising campaign.
“All funds raised will be
meticulously tracked and
used exclusively for erecting
this monument,” said
Cozart. “We have a goal to
raise the funds needed by the
end of January 2013.
NSDAR does have a match-
ing grant program, but we
need funds in-hand to apply;
that deadline is February 1,
2013. We prefer we raise the
funds locally, because our
community prefers to handle
things ourselves. We take
pride in what we can accom-
plish on our own and this is a
wonderful opportunity to
honor these men.” Cozart
added, “If everything goes
according to plan, we will
dedicate the new monument
on October 7, 2013.”
If you would like to do-
nate to the monument honor-
ing African American
Patriots at Kings Mountain,
please write your check to
D.AR and indicate it is for
the “monument fund”.
Please mail it to:
D.AR., c/o Loretta
Cozart, 421 Minuet Lane,
Suite 204, Charlotte, NC
28217
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