Battle of Kings Mountain 1780
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Date | 7 October 1780 | Wikidata |
|---|---|---|
| Year | 1780 | Wikidata P585 (point in time) |
| Era | Early modern (1500–1799) | derived from year |
| Location | United States | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | North America | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | American Revolutionary War | Wikidata P361 |
| Coordinates | 35.1425, -81.3806 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The Battle of Kings Mountain was fought on October 7, 1780, in South Carolina during the Southern theater of the American Revolutionary War. Fought almost entirely between Patriot and Loyalist troops, the battle resulted in a decisive Patriot victory. Taking place 9 miles (14 km) south of the present-day town of Kings Mountain, North Carolina in what is now rural Cherokee County, South Carolina, the battle has been described as "the war's largest all-American fight."
Major Patrick Ferguson had arrived in North Carolina in mid-1780 to recruit Loyalist troops and protect the flank of a British army under Lieutenant-general Lord Cornwallis. Ferguson challenged Patriot militias to lay down their arms or suffer the consequences. In response, a Patriot militia known as the Overmountain Men, led by Benjamin Cleveland, James Johnston, William Campbell, John Sevier, Joseph McDowell Jr., and Isaac Shelby, rallied to attack Ferguson and his forces. Receiving intelligence on the oncoming attack, Ferguson decided to retreat to the safety of Cornwallis's army. However, the Patriots caught up with his army at Kings Mountain near the border with South Carolina.
Achieving a complete surprise, the Patriot militiamen surrounded and attacked the Loyalists, inflicting severe casualties.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Kings Mountain (revision 1380216071), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; shortened by selecting paragraphs and trimming at a sentence boundary; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
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- Action of 8 January 1780 1780
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All 190 battles of the American Revolutionary War →
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