Monument to the Patriots

Monument to the Patriots. . , The stone obelisk on the hill to the south, erected in 1909 by the Daughters of the American Revolution, is dedicated "To the memory of the patriots who, on their way to King's Mountain under Sevier, Shelby, and Campbell, assembled here September 26, 1780."These frontiersmen, who came to be called the Overmountain Men, gathered at Watauga Old Fields along nearby Sycamore Shoals to counter a threatened invasion by British Major Patrick Ferguson, who led an army of about 1100 Loyalist soldiers. William Campbell, of Virginia, along with John Sevier and Isaac Shelby from this area, were chosen to lead the Overmountain Men. Local settlers, including gunpowder maker Mary Patton, helped to provision the Patriot force before it journeyed across the mountains, joined along the way by additional contingents from Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. On October 7, 1780, the Patriot force of around 900 men won a remarkable victory over Ferguson and his army at King's Mountain, about 40 miles west of Charlotte. Thomas Jefferson wrote that King's Mountain was the "turn of the tide of success" in the American Revolution. These events are documented at Sycamore Shoals State Historic Park and through its outdoor drama, Liberty! The Saga of Sycamore Shoals. The Overmountain Victory Trail National Historic Trail was founded to mark the route taken by the Overmountain Men. , , Department of Appalachian Studies, East Tennessee State University