Inciting Deadly Resistance

Inciting Deadly Resistance. . As the American Revolution dragged into its fifth weary year in 1780, this quiet corner of the colonies was thrust into the fray. An incendiary threat by British Major Patrick Ferguson provoked the people of this area to action. Angered by Ferguson's threat to “march his army over the mountains, hang their leaders, and lay their country waste with fire and sword” if they didn't join the British, these people instead cast their lot with the revolutionaries. Follow the patriots' march by exploring the Overmountain Victory National Historic Trail that starts here and leads south to Kings Mountain National Military Park in South Carolina. There the patriots trounced Ferguson's loyalist militia., 15 Days to Kings Mountain , Sept. 24: Virginia militia, under patriot Colonel Campbell, muster at Abingdon, Virginia, prepared to ride south to intercept British Major Ferguson. , Sept. 25: Shelby, Sevier, and Campbell gather patriot group together at Sycamore Shoals. , Sept. 26: The patriot group spends first night at Shelving Rock. , Sept. 27: Patriots cross Roan Mountains in two inches of snow at 4,682-foot Yellow Mountain Gap. Two patriots desert to warn British about the patriot army. , Sept. 28-30: Near Cathey's Plantation the patriot force splits so loyalists can't slip by, and then reunites at Quaker Meadows. , Oct. 1-2: At Bedford's Hill the patriots rest and prepare for battle. , Oct. 3: Patriot army camps by Marlin's Knob. South Carolina. Patriots under William Hill and Edward Lacey camp nearby at Flint Hill (Cherry Mountain). , Oct. 4: The patriots are disappointed at Gilbert Town to find that Ferguson has fled and speculate that he headed to South Carolina. , Oct. 5: Mistakenly believing that they follow Ferguson, Campbell heads west and away from Ferguson at Kings Mountain. Small parties of Georgians and North Carolinians join the Overmountain men, bringing the news that Ferguson is headed east. Campbell reverses direction. , Oct. 6: Now convinced that Ferguson heads east toward Charlotte, North Carolina, patriots race to meet reinforcements at Cowpens. , Oct. 7: Leaving Cowpens 900 mounted and armed men pursue Ferguson. Patriots find Ferguson's 1,000-strong loyalist army atop Kings Mountain. In fierce fighting Ferguson and 120 loyalists are killed, with nearly all the rest wounded or captured. Patriots suffer 28 killed, 62 wounded. , Oct. 14: On the return, at Biggerstaff's Old Fields, 30 loyalists are tried. Nine are hanged., Caption (map): Patriots, American colonists rejecting British rule, formed a militia and pursued the British on horseback along this trail.