Taking A Look At The Battle Of Kings Mountain

The purpose of this paper is to examine the critical failures surrounding the key loss for the British forces in Kings Mountain, South Carolina during the Revolutionary War. British Southern Commander, General Cornwallis hoped to bring a quick finish to the Continental Army’s rebellion. By identifying key failures on the British side of the battle, this paper will demonstrate how the British could have been successful in the Southern Provinces of America. By winning this battle British forces would have continued recruiting Loyalist militia and ultimately won the war. This paper will show how poor decision making and inaccurate assumptions of the enemy were vital in the loss of this battle and those that followed it.

The Battle of Kings Mountain was fought in Kings Mountain South Carolina, a small town on the border of North Carolina, five and a half years after the start of the Revolutionary War. It occurred on October 7th, 1780. The “Overmountain Men,” militia men from North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and later joined by militia men from Georgia and South Carolina, rallied together to stop the northern advance of Loyalist, colonist considering themselves loyal to King George the III, who were under the
This threat is all that was needed to motivate the Overmountain Men into action. Shelby sent an express rider to all the surrounding villages in NC, VA, and TN to meet at Sycamore Shoals, TN on 25 September, 1780. These Overmountain Men gathered, 1000 men strong and began their march east in pursuit of Ferguson. During their march, they halted and took a head count finding two men missing. These men had deserted and traveled to Ferguson relaying the Overmountain Men were on their way. On October 4th Ferguson, having learned of the movement of the Overmountain Men from the spies, retreated from Gilbert Town to Charlotte, NC where Cornwallis was encamped. Ferguson never made it to