Ferguson had begun to worry. Aware that a force "of some consequence” was gathering, he ordered a retreat to Charlotte, where he could link up with Cornwallis. Three days into his withdrawal, Ferguson discovered that the enemy gathering against him probably would outnumber his men. He beseeched Cornwallis for reinforcements. He also appealed to the men of North Carolina to join his force. Those who stood by idly, Ferguson cautioned, would be prey for what he called the "Back Water Men," whom he styled as undisciplined "barbarians,” the "dregs of mankind," and a "set of mongrels” who would rob, ravish, and murder at every farmstead they visited.39 Ferguson never made it to Charlotte. Instead, on October 6, he decided to make a stand atop King's Mountain, twenty or so miles from Cornwallis's army. What went into his thinking is not clear. He may have feared that his force would be cut off before it reached Cornwallis, leaving him to fight in an uninviting place of the enemy's choosing. Perhaps his longing to fight overrode his better judg ment. (Given his unslakeable thirst for action, Ferguson's officers had long before nicknamed him the “Bull Dog.")4° He may have sold his enemy short. Or, he may have believed that the natural defenses offered by King's Mountain would see him through. Most likely, he concluded that King's Mountain's features would sustain him for a couple of days until the reinforcements sent by Cornwallis arrived. He would be outnumbered-he reckoned by about a three-to-two margin, though it turned out to be closer to two-to-one-but he knew that his men were better trained and disciplined. He may have anticipated inflicting a blow of Bunker Hill proportions on the rude farmers who were after him. The rebel pursuers arrived on the day after the Loyalists took up their posi tion, but a cold rain delayed the battle until October 8, giving Ferguson nearly sixty hours with which to throw up fortifications. Strangely, he did not erect a single abatis or dig one line of earthworks, a curious lapse for a professional soldier. Evidently, he concluded that the rugged, tree-lined hillsides afforded impediments enough. Some 1,800 rebels gathered at the foot of the hill and just a notch above 1,000 Loyalists prepared for battle on the summit. Save for Ferguson, every man about to go into combat was an American. Most were dressed alike, too, wearing long hunting shirts and wide brimmed hats, though to distinguish friend from foe the Tories affixed pine twigs and the rebels pieces of white paper in their hats. At the base of King's Mountain the men gathered around their immediate leaders for last minute instructions and a final prayer. The battle plan was hardly intricate. "The orders,” one soldier later recalled, 462 THE WAR IN THE SOUTH, "were at the firing of the first gun, for every man to raise a whoop, rush forward, and fight his way as best he could."41 Those immediately under Campbell heard their leader not only order them to move out, but to "Shout like hell and fight like devils.” Most did just that, setting off with a hair-raising war cry learned from Indian braves, the precursor of the “Rebel yell” in the Civil War. They did not march up the hill in the fashion of European armies. They charged up the slopes, taking cover now and then to reload and fire, then pressing forward once more, another lesson they had learned from fighting Indians. A sixteen-year-old soldier, coming under fire for the first time, remembered that he feared being thought a coward more than he feared the Tories. He fired six shots during the battle. The first time he drew a bead on another man, he recollected, “I really had a shake on me.” Killing became progressively easier with each shot he squeezed off.42 It was a surprisingly short fight, though reaching the top of the hill was not easy. The rebels struggled up a steep slope, ragged with rocks and unsure footing. In some sectors, the Loyalists came down to meet them, firing on them at close range, even attacking with bayonet charges. Some units were driven back, regrouped, and started up again, only to be driven back and forced to once more scuffle up the hillside. Many were never driven back. Most found the hillside boulders and trees to be a godsend, a temporary haven rather than the encumbrance that Ferguson had imagined. (One rebel later claimed to have fired off several shots through a knothole in a hollow chestnut tree, as a soldier might have done from behind a parapet.) The rebels came up three sides of the hill. When at last they reached the top they laid down a deadly crossfire at their foe, bringing an abrupt end to the engagement. Its last act came when Ferguson attempted to lead a charge down the hill, an act that Shelby ever after believed was a suicidal step by a man who had sworn to "never ... yield to such a d _d banditti." If he did not want to survive the battle, Ferguson got his wish. An inviting target astride a white horse, and instantly recognizable in his traditional plaid hunting shirt worn over his niform, Ferguson got no more than twenty yards before he was riddled with at least seven gunshots. When Ferguson fell, the Tories immediately began to throw down their arms and plead for mercy. Little compassion was shown them. Crying “Buford! Buford! Tarleton's quarter!," the rebels again exacted retribution for the Waxhaws massacre. Men-a great many men, some waving white flags—were shot down before the patriot officers, their blood lust at last satiated, restored order. Even then, a bevy of rebels took turns urinating on Ferguson's lifeless body while scores of wounded Loyalists, many pleading for help, were indifferently left to die agonizing deaths. In some instances the end did not come until hours later when ravening packs of wolves and wild dogs were drawn to the hill. Few of the Tory dead were buried, though rebel leaders permitted several enemy officers to give Ferguson a decent burial, lowering his body, and that of Virginia Sal, his mistress who was killed early in the engagement, into the same grave. The war was over for every Tory who fought at King's Mountain. While the rebels lost 90 men, the Tories suffered 3 19 killed and wounded. Another seven hundred Tories were taken prisoner, and they were not safe just yet. Most were plundered of their shirts and jackets, and it was a rare captive who was left with his shoes. Without food or adequate water, and devoid of ample clothing to fend off the first chilly nights of autumn, the prisoners were marched to Gilbert Town nearly forty miles away. It was a nightmarish trek filled with unsurpassed malice and terror. The captives were abused, even killed, along the way. At one point Colonel Campbell tried to halt the spasms of violence by issuing a stunning order in which he asked his officers "to restrain the disorderly manner of slaughtering ... the prisoners." Once they reached their destination, the rebels established what Lieutenant Allaire called "an infamous mock jury” to try the supposed leaders among the Loyalist captives, some of whom were accused of having incited the Indians to take up arms. Thirty-six men were sentenced to death and that night, in the eerie orange glow provided by torches held by rebel soldiers, the ogreish job of execut ing the victims was carried out. The condemned were brought out in groups of three and hanged on a large oak tree. All “died like Romans," Allaire declared. Many rebels were unmoved by the ghastly spectacle, feeling like the partisan who wished “to God every tree in the wilderness bore fruit such as this!" But Shelby stopped the ghastly carnival after nine men had been dispatched, partly because he was appalled by the massacre, and partly because he had received information that Tarleton's Legion was coming.43 King's Mountain was the icing on the cake that had been fashioned by the partisan war. All British hopes of a great outpouring of Southern Loyalists-a major part of the thinking that had nourished the Southern Strategy--were dashed. Within a mere eighteen days of reaching Charlotte, Cornwallis, learning of the loss of nearly a third of his force, departed North Carolina, retreating back to Winnsboro, South Carolina. Battle of King’s Mountain Reading Questions 1. How does Ferguson view the Patriot groups who are roaming around the Southern countryside? Use your own words. 2. The author mentions that “except for Ferguson, every man about to go into combat was an American.” Why is this an important fact to add to his book? 3. Describe the atmosphere during the Battle of King’s mountain. DO NOT describe what happened; describe what it would have been like if you were there. (Think about sounds, sights, feelings, etc.) 4. After Ferguson is killed, how do the America Patriots treat the American Loyalists who they had been fighting all along? 5. Why do you think the American Patriots acted the way that they did after the battle? Explain two possible reasons for their actions.

Ferguson had begun to worry. Aware that a force "of some consequence” was gathering, he ordered a retreat to Charlotte, where he could link up with Cornwallis. Three days into his withdrawal, Ferguson discovered that the enemy gathering against him probably would outnumber his men. He beseeched Cornwallis for reinforcements. He also appealed to the men of North Carolina to join his force. Those who stood by idly, Ferguson cautioned, would be prey for what he called the "Back Water Men," whom he styled as undisciplined "barbarians,” the "dregs of mankind," and a "set of mongrels” who would rob, ravish, and murder at every farmstead they visited.39 Ferguson never made it to Charlotte. Instead, on October 6, he decided to make a stand atop King's Mountain, twenty or so miles from Cornwallis's army. What went into his thinking is not clear. He may have feared that his force would be cut off before it reached Cornwallis, leaving him to fight in an uninviting place of the enemy's choosing. Perhaps his longing to fight overrode his better judg ment. (Given his unslakeable thirst for action, Ferguson's officers had long before nicknamed him the “Bull Dog.")4° He may have sold his enemy short. Or, he may have believed that the natural defenses offered by King's Mountain would see him through. Most likely, he concluded that King's Mountain's features would sustain him for a couple of days until the reinforcements sent by Cornwallis arrived. He would be outnumbered-he reckoned by about a three-to-two margin, though it turned out to be closer to two-to-one-but he knew that his men were better trained and disciplined. He may have anticipated inflicting a blow of Bunker Hill proportions on the rude farmers who were after him. The rebel pursuers arrived on the day after the Loyalists took up their posi tion, but a cold rain delayed the battle until October 8, giving Ferguson nearly sixty hours with which to throw up fortifications. Strangely, he did not erect a single abatis or dig one line of earthworks, a curious lapse for a professional soldier. Evidently, he concluded that the rugged, tree-lined hillsides afforded impediments enough. Some 1,800 rebels gathered at the foot of the hill and just a notch above 1,000 Loyalists prepared for battle on the summit. Save for Ferguson, every man about to go into combat was an American. Most were dressed alike, too, wearing long hunting shirts and wide brimmed hats, though to distinguish friend from foe the Tories affixed pine twigs and the rebels pieces of white paper in their hats. At the base of King's Mountain the men gathered around their immediate leaders for last minute instructions and a final prayer. The battle plan was hardly intricate. "The orders,” one soldier later recalled, 462 THE WAR IN THE SOUTH, "were at the firing of the first gun, for every man to raise a whoop, rush forward, and fight his way as best he could."41 Those immediately under Campbell heard their leader not only order them to move out, but to "Shout like hell and fight like devils.” Most did just that, setting off with a hair-raising war cry learned from Indian braves, the precursor of the “Rebel yell” in the Civil War. They did not march up the hill in the fashion of European armies. They charged up the slopes, taking cover now and then to reload and fire, then pressing forward once more, another lesson they had learned from fighting Indians. A sixteen-year-old soldier, coming under fire for the first time, remembered that he feared being thought a coward more than he feared the Tories. He fired six shots during the battle. The first time he drew a bead on another man, he recollected, “I really had a shake on me.” Killing became progressively easier with each shot he squeezed off.42 It was a surprisingly short fight, though reaching the top of the hill was not easy. The rebels struggled up a steep slope, ragged with rocks and unsure footing. In some sectors, the Loyalists came down to meet them, firing on them at close range, even attacking with bayonet charges. Some units were driven back, regrouped, and started up again, only to be driven back and forced to once more scuffle up the hillside. Many were never driven back. Most found the hillside boulders and trees to be a godsend, a temporary haven rather than the encumbrance that Ferguson had imagined. (One rebel later claimed to have fired off several shots through a knothole in a hollow chestnut tree, as a soldier might have done from behind a parapet.) The rebels came up three sides of the hill. When at last they reached the top they laid down a deadly crossfire at their foe, bringing an abrupt end to the engagement. Its last act came when Ferguson attempted to lead a charge down the hill, an act that Shelby ever after believed was a suicidal step by a man who had sworn to "never ... yield to such a d _d banditti." If he did not want to survive the battle, Ferguson got his wish. An inviting target astride a white horse, and instantly recognizable in his traditional plaid hunting shirt worn over his niform, Ferguson got no more than twenty yards before he was riddled with at least seven gunshots. When Ferguson fell, the Tories immediately began to throw down their arms and plead for mercy. Little compassion was shown them. Crying “Buford! Buford! Tarleton's quarter!," the rebels again exacted retribution for the Waxhaws massacre. Men-a great many men, some waving white flags—were shot down before the patriot officers, their blood lust at last satiated, restored order. Even then, a bevy of rebels took turns urinating on Ferguson's lifeless body while scores of wounded Loyalists, many pleading for help, were indifferently left to die agonizing deaths. In some instances the end did not come until hours later when ravening packs of wolves and wild dogs were drawn to the hill. Few of the Tory dead were buried, though rebel leaders permitted several enemy officers to give Ferguson a decent burial, lowering his body, and that of Virginia Sal, his mistress who was killed early in the engagement, into the same grave. The war was over for every Tory who fought at King's Mountain. While the rebels lost 90 men, the Tories suffered 3 19 killed and wounded. Another seven hundred Tories were taken prisoner, and they were not safe just yet. Most were plundered of their shirts and jackets, and it was a rare captive who was left with his shoes. Without food or adequate water, and devoid of ample clothing to fend off the first chilly nights of autumn, the prisoners were marched to Gilbert Town nearly forty miles away. It was a nightmarish trek filled with unsurpassed malice and terror. The captives were abused, even killed, along the way. At one point Colonel Campbell tried to halt the spasms of violence by issuing a stunning order in which he asked his officers "to restrain the disorderly manner of slaughtering ... the prisoners." Once they reached their destination, the rebels established what Lieutenant Allaire called "an infamous mock jury” to try the supposed leaders among the Loyalist captives, some of whom were accused of having incited the Indians to take up arms. Thirty-six men were sentenced to death and that night, in the eerie orange glow provided by torches held by rebel soldiers, the ogreish job of execut ing the victims was carried out. The condemned were brought out in groups of three and hanged on a large oak tree. All “died like Romans," Allaire declared. Many rebels were unmoved by the ghastly spectacle, feeling like the partisan who wished “to God every tree in the wilderness bore fruit such as this!" But Shelby stopped the ghastly carnival after nine men had been dispatched, partly because he was appalled by the massacre, and partly because he had received information that Tarleton's Legion was coming.43 King's Mountain was the icing on the cake that had been fashioned by the partisan war. All British hopes of a great outpouring of Southern Loyalists-a major part of the thinking that had nourished the Southern Strategy--were dashed. Within a mere eighteen days of reaching Charlotte, Cornwallis, learning of the loss of nearly a third of his force, departed North Carolina, retreating back to Winnsboro, South Carolina. Battle of King’s Mountain Reading Questions 1. How does Ferguson view the Patriot groups who are roaming around the Southern countryside? Use your own words. 2. The author mentions that “except for Ferguson, every man about to go into combat was an American.” Why is this an important fact to add to his book? 3. Describe the atmosphere during the Battle of King’s mountain. DO NOT describe what happened; describe what it would have been like if you were there. (Think about sounds, sights, feelings, etc.) 4. After Ferguson is killed, how do the America Patriots treat the American Loyalists who they had been fighting all along? 5. Why do you think the American Patriots acted the way that they did after the battle? Explain two possible reasons for their actions.