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Some of the best Patriot riflemen were the Overmountain Men encamped at Alexander’s Ford. They were preparing to proceed onward to meet the British and Tory forces in Ninety-Six, South Carolina. With the arrival of new intelligence describing the whereabouts of Major Patrick Ferguson’s force, the Overmountain Men changed their course and headed toward the Charlotte, North Carolina area. This decision ensured that Patriot forces during the Battle of King’s Mountain possessed some of the best riflemen in a turning point battle. From then on, revolutionary forces had the upper hand in the Southern theater of war.
In 2012, Alexander’s Ford and Bradley Nature Preserve Trail became part of the National Park Service’s Overmountain Victory Trail.
In the months preceding the Battle of Kings Mountain in October 1780, Patriot forces had suffered several significant losses against stronger and better equipped British troops. Emboldened by victories in South Carolina, British forces under the command of Major Patrick Ferguson were sent into western Carolinas. Compelled by Ferguson’s threat, men from throughout the mountains arranged themselves in loose bands to join others in stopping Ferguson’s approach. These “Overmountain Men” sought to protect their family and farms more so than to facilitate the end of the Revolution. The North Carolina contingent was essential to the victory at King’s Mountain.
Attempting to elude and confuse the mountain men, Ferguson marched his troops through rough terrain at a fast pace. Ferguson’s location near King’s Mountain was provided to the Overmountain Men while they were camped near Green River at Alexander’s Ford on October 5. The Patriots were certain they were hot on Ferguson’s heels as they marched southwestward toward known British campgrounds. However, because of Ferguson’s deception and efforts of local Tories to mislead them, the Overmountain Men were headed in the wrong direction. The Overmountain Men were found by Edward Lacey, commander of South Carolina forces, early on the morning of the 6th and informed that Ferguson was instead headed east. Lacey had ridden throughout the previous night to find the approximately 1,400 exhausted Overmountain Men camped at Green River and provided them with accurate intelligence as to Ferguson’s location. Because of Lacey’s information, 700 of the best equipped and mounted men left the camp in haste, providing much needed manpower for the upcoming fight. At the battle on October 7, Ferguson was killed along with 120 of his men.
Considered one of the most pivotal battles in the southern campaigns of the Revolutionary War, the Battle of King’s Mountain was a victory for the American purely as a result of the actions of bands of volunteer militia men defending their homes from encroaching British threats. The campsite on the Green River is significant because it was a well-known crossing for both British and American forces. The National Park Service highlighted the site as one of the key points along the OMV Trail.
SOURCES:
Lyman C. Draper, King’s Mountain and Its Heroes (1881)
Pat Alderman, One Heroic Hour at King’s Mountain (1990)
Katherine White, King’s Mountain Men (1924)
King’s Mountain National Military Park, Overmountain Victory Trail brochure.
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