Existing comment:
Caught in a Crossfire
Hard pressed on every side, Ferguson's men fell back to their camp, which lay in the saddle of the ridge you see just ahead. As some Tories tried to surrender, bullets continued to pour into their ranks from all directions. Too late, they saw they were pinned down in a deadly crossfire.
Patriots rounding up Tory prisoners remembered how British Colonel Tarleton had ordered rebel prisoners taken at nearby Waxhaws to be killed in cold blood. Even as the heat of battle cooled atop Kings Mountain, few Tories were shown mercy.
One-Third of the British Army
Ferguson's camp included tents and weapons for a thousand men, cattle, and horses, and 19 large baggage wagons. This encampment contained one-third of British military strength available in the South.
"The cursed rebels Came upon us killed and Took every Soul and So My Dear friends I bid you farewell for I am Started to the warm Country."
-- Last entry in a loyalist's diary found on the battlefield |