American Revolution in the South

Primarily the Years 1780 & 1781

The King's Mountain & Cowpens Campaigns

Mostly the Carolina Back Country

• Battle of King's Mountain, South Carolina, October 7, 1780
  The First Link - The Campaign & Battle - New - Intcludes ALL our interests
       Part 1 The Campaign & Battle
       Part 2 The Armies & More Information
       Part 3 The Controversies
       Part 4 The Park, the Trail, OVTA, Sources, Acknowledgements
• Battle of Cowpens, South Carolina, January 17, 1781
• Ninety-Six (96), Strong Point in South Carolina's Back Country
• Overmountain Victory National Historic Trail, Patriot Route to King's Mountain
• Gilbert Town, Strong Point in Western North Carolina
• Battle of Cane Creek (Cowan's Ford), North Carolina, September 12, 1780
• Battle of Allen's Mountain, Disputed Skirmish in Summer/Fall, 1780
• Battle of Pacolet River (Earle's Ford), North Carolina, July 14, 1780
• Battle of Musgrove's Mill, South Carolina, August 18, 1780, Defeat for Ferguson
• Charles McDowell, North Carolina Militia Leader Who Rallied Patriots to Pursue Patrick Ferguson to King's Mountain
• William Campbell, Virginia Militia Leader Technically in Command at King's Mountain
• Isaac Shelby, the Patriot Mastermind of King's Mountain and Musgrove's Mill
• And Other People & Events, Yet Not Identified!

Focussed on the Carolina backcountry during the American Revolution, this site deals with the well-known events at the battles of Kings Mountain and Cowpens, as well as lesser known battles and sites.

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Death of Joe Epley

Former Green Beret, reporter, and PR guru, Joe Epley, died in 2024. A member of the OVTA board, he also wrote two novels that accurately portray events in the King's Mountain and related Revolutionary campaigns in the Carolinas. First is Passel of Hate (accessed April 9, 2024). His characters are based on real people and shows the conflicts, even within families, the Revolution caused. The book is available at Kings Mountain National Military Park. He also wrote the story of a Loyalist Passel of Trouble: The Saga of Loyalist Partisan David Fanning (accessed March 6, 2024).

Interesting Books

Joe Epley's Passel of Hate (accessed April 9, 2024) is the first novel about King's Mountain that is worth noting. His title alludes to the emotions driving the people of Rutherford County in choosing sides in 1780. Joe did a solid job researching the King's Mountain campaign. He raised a number of questions on accepted facts of the campaign. It is both a good read and an educational read. (This editor reviewed his text during the book's development, carefully raising questions this editor could not answer! Joe did!)

Anne Swann's The Other Side of the River is not fiction. It is a history of McDowell County, North Carolina, in the colonial period and the Revolution. (Yes, Anne does include some dialogue she made up. These few passages are clearly indicated.) This is a well-reserached book that brings a warm light on McDowell (then part of Burke and Rutherford.) She particularly tries to straighten out the locations of the various forts around the Catawba River. She also raises questions about the route of Campbell's men between Turkey Cove and Bedford Hill.

The campaign and battle are covered in new material: The First Link (4 parts).

The King's Mountain Campaign begins with the British capture of Charleston, South Carolina, in May, 1780, and ends with the release of the prisoners at the end of the war. The main events cover the summer, fall, and winter of 1780-1781:
  • Fall of Charleston
  • Battle of Waxhaws
  • Battle of Earle's Ford (Pacolet River)
  • Cooperation of Georgia, South & North Carolina Militia
  • Battle of Musgrove's Mill
  • Battle of Camden
  • Return of Shelby to West of the Mountains
  • Ferguson's Invasion of North Carolina
  • Battles of Cane Creek & Allen's Mountain
  • McDowell's Flight West of the Mountains
  • Formation of Overmountain Army
  • Return on the Overmountain Victory Trail
  • Ferguson's Retreat to King's Mountain
  • Patriot Army's Assembly at King's Mountain
  • Ferguson's Army at King's Mountain
  • Battle of King's Mountain
  • Trials at Biggerstaff's Old Fields
  • Transport of Prisoners to Hillsboro, North Carolina


Of course, the end of the battle of King's Mountain also began the Cowpens Campaign. When Cornwallis learned of King's Mountain, his British army pulled back from Charlotte, North Carolina, to Winnsboro, South Carolina. Nathanael Green, the new Continental Army Commander in the South, began to try to regain the momentum in the south. Danial Morgan was sent to march on Ninety-Six. That brought him and Banastre Tarleton to Cowpens on January 17, 1781.

Here ae some items that are related to the Southern Campaign, but don't fit easily into our main categories:
  • The Patriot army and Ferguson's British army at King's Mountain
  • The death of Major James Dunlap, one of Ferguson's Provincial officers
  • General Griffith Rutherford
  • The "Rutherford Trace"
  • The namesake of Gilbert Town, William Gilbert
  • Rutherford County's militia commander, Andrew Hampton
  • African-Americans in the Southern Campaign
  • Finally, Abingdon, Virgiia's, Mustering Ground and Sycamore Shoals (in today's Tennessee), the starting points for the trail that took the Patriot army to the battle.

Need Books on the Revolution?
The Eastern National book stores at the parks offer many titles that are hard to find elsewhere. And the best part is that the proceeds go to the parks! You can shop locally at the parks. The parks can also help you locate the item you need and take your order.

Kings Mountain National Military Park: 864-936-7921.

Cowpens National Battlefield: 864-461-2828.

Ninety-Six National Historic Site: 864-543-2828.

Sycamore Shoals State Historic Area: 423-543-5808.

Gilbert Town, the first platted town in the area, was the first county seat of Rutherford County, North Carolina, when it was formed in 1779. A log court building was erected by William Gilbert.  Lt. Anthony Allaire, one of Ferguson's officers, reported a dwelling, a barn, a blacksmith, and several outbuildings at Gilbert Town.

Gilbert Town is most famous as the one place where both armies that fought at Kings Mountain camped.

In September, Patrick Ferguson moved across the nearby northern boundary of South Carolina to try to suppress the militia units sheltering along the border. He left the area about September 27th, taking a roundabout track to King's Moutain, where he arrived October 6th, the day before the battle.

The Patriot army arrived at Gilbert Town on October 4th, spending that night and passing on toward 96. Their roundabout route was through Cowpens, arriving at King's Mountain at 3 p.m. on October 7th, the beginning of the battle.

Throughout the Revolution, Gilbert Town was an important point in western North Carolina, somewaht similar in importance to 96 in South Carolina. A hospital was established there & wounded from Rutherford's Cherokee campaign, Ferguson's campaigns, Kings Mountain, and Cowpens were treated there. British (and Loyalist) prisoners from both King's Mountain and Cowpens were brought to Gilbert Town. Both Banastre Tarleton and Daniel Morgan passed through Gilbert Town.

Gilbert Town is a certified historic site associated with the Overmountain Victory National Historic Trail. In addition, properties in the area of Gilbert Town are elligible for the Nationa Register of Historic Places, work being done by the Rutherford County Historical Society.

More information is in material prepared by the Rutherford County Historian, Nancy Ellen Ferguson.

• Kings Mountain National Military Park
• Overmountain Victory National Historic Trail
• Cowpens National Battlefield
• Ninety-Six National Historic Site
• Sycamore Shoals State Park (in today's Tennessee)
• Museum of Frontier Culture includes English, Ulster (Northern Ireland), German, and African (Igbo) farms, like those 18th century settlers left to come to the colonies. Under construction is an Eastern Woodlands Native American village.
• The Wisconsin Historical Society that holds the Draper Archives.  (Sorry, Draper's not available on-line. The site describes the Draper collection, but does not provide any extensive index or search capability. You can buy the current topical description of Draper's papers: Guide to the Draper Manuscripts. (Or you can call 888-999-1669.) The site's changed several times over the years, so this may change.


• Last, But Not Least, A Site for Loyalists

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