King's Mountain and Its Heroes

About 2000 American frontiersmen from the backcountry of the Carolinas and Virginia, as well as from the present states of Kentucky and Tennessee, surrounded and defeated Major Patrick Ferguson and 1000 of his finest British soldiers. The significance of this American victory was best pointed out by Sir Henry Clinton, the British commander in chief, who wrote that this battle "proved the first Link of a Chain of Evils that followed each other in regular Succession until they at last ended in the total Loss of America." Indeed, it is thought by some that the threat of pursuit by the fierce mountainmen may have hastened Cornwallis' retreat to Yorktown. Famous historian Lyman Draper amassed a mighty collection of materials in order to put this battle into context by examining the causes of the Revolution, discussing many incidents and skirmishes that preceded the Battle of King's Mountain, analyzing the personalities of the prominent leaders of both sides, and dissecting the motives, mistakes, and strategies of the very battle itself. After the battle, the dead and wounded had to be collected, the prisoners had to be fed and billeted, and the effects of the victory had to be assessed by both sides. Biographical sketches give interesting background on the careers of the military leaders of both sides involved in this battle. Many maps and plans of the action can be found throughout the book. The appendix includes diaries, personal accounts, letters, an official report, narratives, old ballads, and an original fullname + subject index. A battle history of unequalled merit.