Posted on 05/06/2013 7:15:50 PM PDT by Pharmboy
After I (Pharmboy) returned from King's Mountain (the wife and I stopped by there on the way back from attending my son's graduation from US Army Ranger School at Ft Benning), Bert told me that he and his wife would be following the Overmountain Victory National Historic Trail (OVNHT) from Eastern TN to King's Mountain, SC.
I told Bert that I would love to see his account of the trip, and that I would also like to post it to FR: well, he did a terrific job on his blog, here are some excerpts. Go to the blog for more!
Day 1 on Overmountain Victory National Historic Trail (OVNHT)
Posted by Traveling When We Can
April 25, 2013
We left Kingsport about 9 AM headed on a two day adventure going back almost 233 years to the days of the American Revolution. Strong willed and independent patriots living in the “overmountain” region (then Virginia and North Carolina) – now , East Tennessee, Western North Carolina and Southwest Virginia heard about the possibility of the British, under the leadership of Major Patrick Ferguson invading their area. They set out to stop any such advance. Their impact on the US struggle for independence is said to have turned the tide of the Revolution. We live in the “over-mountain” area and have heard and read the story of these patriots many times but neither Ben nor I had traveled this trail that is practically in our own back yard!
Redbud and dogwood trees were blooming and most other trees were leafing out in bright greens. Blue sky, sunshine and temperatures in the 70’s made for a perfect journey.
Our first stop was at the Muster Grounds in Abingdon VA. The city of Abingdon has partnered with the National Park Service and has a very informative visitor center. Staffed with a friendly and informed staffer, we experienced a little history and were soon on our way with a recently written guide book. Men as well as cattle and even a few women from across Southwest VA under the leadership of Col. William Campbell gathered here on Sept 24th to travel to Fort Watauga at Sycamore Shoals where they would meet others joining in their cause.
Abingdon Muster Grounds
snip...
Day 2 on Overmountain Victory National Historic Trail
Posted by Traveling When We Can
April 26, 2013
snip...
The Patriots were traveling from Quaker Meadows, where they had been joined by the NC and SC militias, towards Gilbert Town in the area of today’s Rutherfordton NC. They expected to find Major Ferguson and his Loyalists near Gilbert Town. This trip was through mostly level land with occasional rolling hills. Surely this was easier travel that the mountains they had previously crossed. They camped two nights in rainy weather at Bedford Hill. During this stop they discussed at length leadership for the impending battle. After much discussion it was determined that Col. Campbell should be the leader since he had traveled the furthest and brought the most men. Each commander gave a “pep talk” to their men – offering them one last chance to back out of the battle - not one man left their ranks.
The militia continued on, camping on Oct 3 at Marlin’s Knob. We identified the area along the road but did not stop.
snip...
South Carolina has wonderful signage for the OVNHT – at each and every turn. TN, VA, and NC could learn from SC ! Perhaps they will add signs as the trail becomes better known and more traveled. Guess we need to be pro-active and write letters to the other states! We followed the signs straight to Cowpens and had a nice visit with a park ranger. His passion is the Revolutionary War and he has done significant research on each and every battle location and plotted them on a map. His study was used to identify the light brown line identifying the actual trail on the NPS map of the OVNHT. Interesting fact was that of all the churches in the area – 28 of 32 were Presbyterian.
snip...
The militia rode on the cold wet night to reach Kings Mountain along much the same route we took on Interstate 85 from Cowpens to Kings Mountain. The mountain is 60 ft high – so not much of a mountain but it was high enough to give Ferguson the high ground to defend.
Arriving at Kings Mountain we hurried inside the visitor center to get passport stamps, view the exhibits and watch the film. A longer visit would have allowed hiking to the top of the mountain but alas – we wanted to be in Durham for dinner!
Kings Mountain
Col. William Campbell
The video explained the battle well – the persistence, determination, and “indian play” fighting tactics (firing from behind trees and rocks) were factors in the outcome of the battle. When Ferguson was killed on the third assault of the Patriots, the loyalist resistance evaporated. By the morning of Oct 8 when the Patriot troops departed Kings Mountain they had 800 prisoners. They marched the prisoners back towards Quaker Meadows and eventually further into NC.
The loss of Ferguson and his loyalist troops was a surprise and huge disappointment to Cornwallis. He retreated into SC for a winter camp. Other victories were required over the next 12 months to secure America’s independence, but the battle at Kings Mountain was a major turning point! In about 2 weeks these Scots-Irish patriots from the southern Appalachian Mountains had left their homes, traveled across the mountains, and searched for and defeated those who were trying to destroy their way of life and their freedom. What great patriots they were!
Bert did a wonderful job on this, and look forward to seeing his future historical treks on his blog!
I’ve got four ancestors who fought at Kings Mountain. I’ve always wanted to visit.
Cool! I wish I was along for the trip.
Thanks for letting us come along vicariously.
Wow...that is quite impressive! I cannot believe you never told me this in all these years! The Parks Service did a very nice job here...definitely worth a trip there.
Now I know where you get your grit from...HA.
I bet the Dogwoods were magnificent.
Mt Laurel..
Got Pics?
I can get in the DAR 30 DIFFERENT ways.
Also have 2 ancestors that fought with the Swamp Fox.
Bert did not include any pics of the dogwoods, but click on the link then click on the pics for enlargements. Bert writes well and has a very good eye with the camera, too.
Thanks.
I would guess that you have a lot of Scottish Presbyterian blood flowing through your veins.
A few details to add: Ferguson and his Loyalist forces left Gilbert Town just ahead of the Overmountain Men because he’d been warned by two Loyalist spies who had disappeared, they were under suspicion as such. Due to the threat posed by this, Campbell, Cleveland and other leaders decided to split up and take separate routes down from Quaker Meadows, a risky move.
At Kings Mountain, Ferguson was quite the target, he was a dandy and a fop, that red feather. Many were trying to blow that infernal whistle out of his mouth, they hated it. The war as fought in the south was brutal and fairly barbaric, and there was something of a repayment in kind for Tarleton’s Quarter that isn’t talked about much. Ferguson swore he was king of that mountain and it would never be taken while he was alive. He was right.
Ferguson directly threatened these men because they’d been harrying and harrassing his forces in upstate South Carolina and western North Carolina for some time. That, and many were former Regulators with a grudge going on a decade old. He knew who they were. Ferguson threatened by letter to come after them and burn them out and they believed he would do it, a fatal bit of bravado since they took the fight to him.
Thank you for filling in these facts. Excellent.
My fifth great grandfather was next door neighbors with Joseph Winston who commanded about 150 men from the Yadkin River area. I had four greats at King’s Mountain and two who guarded Loyalist prisoners of war who were imprisoned for a time in the fort at Moravian Old Town (Bethabara) while on the way to Hillsborough to stand trial.
Wow! a lot of memories here. I got my old photo album from up in the attic. Dated 1960, I have my record of the monument put up by the Daughters of the American Revolution. It is of Patrick Ferguson, the redoubtable commander of the British forces. Adversary though he was, these good women saw fit to at least commemorate the man.
British myself, one has to accept this decisive battle in good grace. I was well versed by a kindly park authority on the results of the battle. He mentioned the charge of the British forces with fixed bayonets down the slope. It was a tactical mistake. I was surprised to learn that the British forces consisted of militia from Canada and and from New Jersey - forces loyal to King George.
Happily in once instance, the officer who took over on the death of Ferguson, Colonel De Peyster survived. He handed over his sword to the American commander. He found his way back to Scotland eventually. I am told the British were treated with civilized consideration. Sadly about nine local farmers were hanged for siding with the British, so I was told.
I was pleased to see the complete memorial list to the American dead and wounded on a monument. Very fitting. I believe 28 dead and 64 wounded. Ironically one of the wounded Americans bore my own surname.
Ah well, so it goes and thanks for reviving my memories of my excursions into the Southern United States.
The DAR, bless them, always gracious and honorable, even to those who were once enemies.
Ferguson was blown out of his saddle, his foot was caught in a stirrup and his panicked horse dragged his dead body around for a while, gaining quite a few more bullet holes in the process. The war had long since gotten ugly by then.
Not fitting material for a memorial, I suppose.
You’d guess correctly.
The last immigrant in my family tree arrived here in 1803. Indentured servant through the port of New Orleans. Everybody else was here before the Revolution.
More than a few watched the ‘boat people’ arrive...
The section you document near Lake James is just a couple of miles from my weekend retreat! In fact, it looks like the picture just above the bridge crossing Paddy Creek might have been taken within the “1780” community, where this home is located. A neighbor and friend in our lake community is an avid Revolutionary War historian, and extremely active in the group that builds, maintains and promotes the OVT.
SC ping
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