Kings Mountain National Military Park is a National Military Park near Blacksburg, South Carolina, along the North Carolina/South Carolina border. The park commemorates the Battle of Kings Mountain, a pivotal and significant victory by American Patriots over American Loyalists during the Southern Campaign of the Revolutionary War. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1996.

Historical background

The Battle of Kings Mountain was fought on October 7, 1780, and destroyed the left wing of Lord Cornwallis' army, effectively ending Loyalist ascendance in the Carolinas. The victory halted the British advance into North Carolina, forced Lord Cornwallis to retreat from Charlotte into South Carolina, and gave General Nathanael Greene the opportunity to reorganize the American Army. <!---The age of the soldiers engaged in the battle here ranged up to 50 years old, with Billy Rowland being the youngest known to have lost his life at 15 years of age .--->

Battle of Kings Mountain

Prior to 1780, much of the Revolutionary War was fought in the Northern states. After an unsuccessful Northern campaign, British General Clinton decided to turn his attention to the south, where he believed that he and his troops would join up with loyalist militias and easily take the area. The campaign began with a swift move to capture Charleston, which was taken over after two months of fighting. After the capture of Charleston, Clinton wanted to capitalize on his victory, and sent British detachments in all directions, to subdue as much resistance as possible. After placing Cornwallis in charge of the Southern Campaign, Clinton returned to New York, where much of the British high command was. Clinton's instructions were to first finish off South Carolina, and then move north, to North Carolina, followed by Virginia.

After the defeat at Charleston, Colonel Abraham Buford, whose force of 400 Virginians had been too late to help defend Charleston, decided to take his troops and head back to Virginia. In late May, his troops were intercepted by Colonel Tarleton's troops. When the two forces met, the Battle of Waxhaws ensued. Realizing his force could not win, Buford sent forward a messenger to surrender, however, Buford's requests were ignored. Tarleton wanted to make an example of Buford's troops, and killed 113 of his men, and wounded around 50 so badly that they could not be moved. Another 50 were taken prisoner, and the remaining 200 managed to escape. The Battle of Waxhaws helped inspire armed resistance in much of the south, especially in the Carolinas.

The situation in the southern states was getting desperate. Many people considered giving up Georgia and the Carolinas without a fight. There were few organized forces left in the south. Theodore Roosevelt's quote, from his book Winning of the West, sums up the situation quite well: "Except for occasional small guerrilla parties, there was not a single organized body of American troops left south of Gates....".

On the sesquicentennial of the battle, then-president Herbert Hoover gave a speech commemorating the battle and the monument as "a place of inspiring memories." In the speech, he chronicled the basic history of America, detailing many great things about America, such as the rise of the American man and women. The whole speech can be read here. A year after Hoover gave his speech, a monument was erected by the Daughters of the American Revolution, which simply states "ON THIS SITE / PRESIDENT HOOVER / ADDRESSED AN AUDIENCE OF 75,000 / AT THE CELEBRATION OF THE / SESQUI CENTENNIAL / OF THE BATTLE OF KINGS MOUNTAIN," finishing with the date of the address. The monument, placed roughly where Hoover was standing, is a stop along the historic loop trail.

Mountain peaks

  • Brown's Mountain - Cherokee County
  • Joes Mountain - York County

See also

  • Kings Mountain, North Carolina

References

  • Kings Mountain National Military Park
  • Kings Mountain Monument and Battlefield - York County, S.C.