The SAR MAGAZINE is the official quarterly publication of the National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution published quarterly.
Issue link: http://sar.epubxp.com/i/462055
20 SAR MAGAZINE By Ronnie L. Lail, Watauga Chapter president, TNSSAR I n 1780, the American War of Independence was not going as well as the Patriot forces or the British expected. In England, the people were tiring of the war, and Parliament was weary of the mounting debt. In the Colonies, Gen. George Washington was holding his own, but he and British Gen. Henry Clinton could not bring their armies into posi- tion to fight. They were in a stalemate. Clinton devised a southern strategy. He felt there were more Loyalists in the southern colonies and that he would have better success if he moved south. Loading his soldiers onto ships for transport, he arrived in Charleston, S.C., and took the city without a fight. Clinton returned to New York, where hospitality, better wine and more comfortable lodgings were available. Left in charge of the Southern Army was Maj. Gen. Lord Charles Cornwallis, a man whom Clinton did not care for, and the feeling was mutual. One of the wiser moves Clinton made before leaving was to create a new position. He installed a Scotsman, Maj. Patrick Ferguson, as inspector general. Fergu- son was one of the finest officers in the British Army and was loyal to Clinton. Shortly after Cornwallis left Charleston with his army, he defeated the hero of Saratoga, Gen. Horatio Gates, at the Battle of Camden. Later, at Fishing Creek, Cornwallis' army defeated the militia of Gen. Thomas Sumter, known as the Gamecock. That left nothing but a few militia groups between Cornwallis and the bounty of all of South Carolina, Georgia and North Carolina. Cornwallis placed Col. Banastre Tarleton on his right flank and Ferguson on his left. They planned a march up the center of the Carolinas to Virginia, where he and Clinton could place Washington in a vise move and end the Revolution. But Ferguson made a tactical error and sent a message over the mountain. His messenger was a former prisoner who told the Over- mountain Men that they were to "cease in your opposition to the crown, lay down your arms and swear alliance to the king, or I will march my army across the mountain, hang your leaders and lay waste to the land with fire and sword." He did not expect his message would stir up a hornet's nest that would result in his death and his army's defeat at Kings Mountain on Oct. 7, 1780. Clinton's plan was working except for the raging swarm of Overmountain Men. Responding to Ferguson's ultimatum, they crossed over the mountains to fight and then went back to the west side of the Appalachian Mountains, where, according to King George III, they were not permitted to reside. Some of these Overmountain Men fought and defeated Ferguson's men at the battle at Musgrove's Mill and then returned over the mountains to the west side. The situation heated up, and about 160 men who were Burke and Rutherford County Militia, under Col. Charles McDowell and Col. Andrew Hampton, crossed with them. The heroes of Kings Mountain were an untrained and all-volunteer army of men from North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia and Georgia. Eleven commanders from different regions united in the Watauga region of Tennessee, at that time part of North Carolina. Col. William Campbell was chosen as their leader. Cornwallis did not find out about Ferguson's defeat at Kings Mountain for about a week. When he did, he immediately retreated from Charlotte back into South Carolina. He feared this army of rabble would next come after him. Rumor had it that the Patriot army was made up of as many as 4,000 men, but they never pursued Cornwallis. After their Kings Mountain victory, they returned over the mountains to their homes and families. They perceived a threat, crossed the mountain, and took care of it. In 1974, a group of men gathered together and lobbied Congress to make the trail of the Overmountain Men— from Sycamore Shoals in Elizabethton, Tenn., to Kings Mountain—a National Historic Trail. In 1980, President Jimmy Carter signed a law that established the Overmountain Victory National Historic Trail. Honoring Our Colonial Ancestors If you are an American and a direct male descendant of someone who rendered civil or military service in one of the 13 American colonies be- fore July 4, 1776, consider joining the NATIONAL SOCIETY SONS OF THE AMERICAN COLONISTS. For information on its activities and eligibility requirements, contact: Registrar General R.D. Pollock 3504 Wilson Street Fairfax, VA 22030-2936 www.americancolonists.org Overmountain Victory Trail Association Keeping "The STory" Alive