Patriot Forces at Kings Mountain

The forces that were at the bottom of Kings Mountain were from North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, and present day Tennessee, also referred to as the Watauga Settlements. When Ferguson went towards the far reaching parts of South Carolina he was doing so to show the residents of the area that England was still in control of the Royal Colony and they were its total masters. The main area he wanted to make sure that they understood the Royal Goverment was in control were the settelers over the Mountains. The problem was that Ferguson did either not understand the settlers of the Watauga Settlements or totally looked down at them. They were a proud people who were use to fighting to stay alive against the Cherokee and other Indian Nations in the West at this time. Once Ferguson told them he was going to cross the mountains and burn their towns and hang their leaders it was in fact a declaration of war against these people who were already fighting natives on a constant basis. These same people already had established an almost self sufficient government already. They had done this because they were breaking English law by settling across the mountains which was in direct violation of the Proclamation of 1763 which forbid settlements across the mountains, because of treaties with the Native Tribes. They never expected the British to come to their aid against the natives, but they expected to be left alone since they provided a barrier against raids into the colonies proper why they were between the Royal Colonies and the Natives. So by Ferguson calling them to come to the aid of the Crown caused a reaction he was not ready for. Instead of coming to the Crowns aid or at least staying neutral out of fear of Royal troops coming to ruin them, they decided to do what came naturally to them, which was to fight to protect their lives and homes. Once they decided to fight they gathered their men in the Watauga Settlements and left half to protect against Natives and the other half started towards Ferguson to let him know he would not push them around or cause them to bow to the Crown. As they gathered at Sycamore Shoals to make the journey to fight Ferguson they sent riders into the Carolinas and Virginia to notify them of their plans to fight Ferguson and to come to their assistance, and they did. As they traveled south to intercept Ferguson their numbers grow until at the bottom of Kings Mountain they were ready to Charge up the sides of it and rid themselves of the threat of Ferguson and his Loyalist Militia the only way they knew how, by fighting till the bitter end.

The Overmountain men gathering at Sycamore Shoals