Facts about Battle of Kings Mountain
- 08
Forested slopes of Kings Mountain gave Loyalist forces poor firing angles, since their muskets could not aim downward effectively at Patriot riflemen climbing below.
- 07
Militia forces at Kings Mountain suffered only 28 killed and 62 wounded compared to 290 Loyalist casualties, demonstrating the devastating effectiveness of backwoods riflemen firing from protected positions on the ridge.
- 06
Roughly 300 Loyalist prisoners were captured at Kings Mountain, with American forces executing at least 9 of them in the days following the October 1780 battle.
- 05
Approximately 900 militia riflemen from multiple colonies traveled over 200 miles on horseback to reach Kings Mountain within ten days of hearing Ferguson's threat.
- 04
Colonel William Campbell led the Patriot forces at Kings Mountain with only eleven days of preparation after Ferguson's threatening letter demanding the militia disperse or face destruction by fire and sword.
- 03
The militia victory at Kings Mountain in 1780 inspired similar Patriot uprisings across the Southern backcountry, fundamentally shifting momentum away from British control in the Carolinas.
- 02
Major Patrick Ferguson, the British commander at Kings Mountain, was the only British officer killed during the entire battle, shot multiple times by American sharpshooters.
- 01
On October 7, 1780, approximately 1,000 militia forces defeated 1,100 British-aligned Loyalists at Kings Mountain in South Carolina, marking the first major Patriot victory in the Southern Campaign.