GENEALOGICAL NOTES AND ANECDOTES

This couple were of English origin settling first in Pennsylvania, and then in all likelihood following "The Great Wagon Road" moved to western North Carolina.

On what is now called "Patrick Street"  --  the northern road connecting Boiling Springs to Shelby  --  used to stand a simple clapboard covered vernacular farmhouse known to the family as "The Weaning House," or "The Honeymoon Cottage."

This log cabin structure was the original Holland home site and supposedly one of the first homes on this side of Boiling Springs.

William and Mary Harrison HOLLAND supposedly built it on their arrival in the area. They died in the 1780s and their son followed by their grandson  --  both named William Isaac HOLLAND  --  were its next occupants. 

William Isaac HOLLAND, the elder, was born in 1747 and married Margaret Hall. 

He served as a captain in Colonel Davies' North Carolina regiment of the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War. They had five children. He died in 1837.

His son, the second William Isaac HOLLAND, was born in 1786 and died in 1874. He was married to Permelia GOLD and the oldest of their thirteen children was Gold Griffin HOLLAND (born 1820) who to this day occupies a position of true eminence among his descendants.

"That Major James HOLLAND whose tombstone stands in the old Watson cemetery on the Jeff Gilliam farm in the fourth district, was a major in the Revolution and prominent in the early history of Maury County and Tennessee is the information contained in an article appearing in a recent issue of the Forest City (North Carolina) Courier, written by Clarence Griffin, news editor and county historian. The writer gives authentic data on the Maury countian, who came here from North Carolina and a representative of the Democrat found that his will was recorded here on January 8th, 1824, and it is an interesting document. The North Carolina paper was publishing a series of historical articles and the HOLLAND sketch appeared in the issueof July 3rd. [1930] The article was prefaced with a sketch about William GILBERT, said to have been a loyal friend of King George, but the writer denies this relationship. GILBERT was the father-in-law of HOLLAND and of the two, Griffin writes as follows:

1. North Carolina Militia: See North Carolina State Records, vol.10, pages 911 and 937. Capt. Joseph Hardin was the member from Tryon in that congress, afterwards removed to Tennessee. Hardin county was named for him, and he seems to have been the progenitor of the Hardins in that section.

GILBERT.—William GILBERT, of "Gilbert-town," near present Rutherfordtown, N. C. In Commission of Peace of old Tyron county up to April, 1776; tax assessor, in Commission of Peace of new county of Rutherford; in House, 1779, 1780, 1782, 1783. His daughter, Sarah GILBERT, married James HOLLAND, in January, 1780. His wife was Sarah MCCANDLESS of Philadelphia. She died at the HOLLAND place in Maury county, Tenn., 1822. GILBERT is called "a loyalist" in Draper's "King's Mountain," which absurd error, Mr. Rivers ascertained, is due solely to the fact that Major Ferguson camped several weeks at Gilbert-town in September, 1780.

"In 1777 and 1778, he was assessor of taxes and, in 1778, collector of taxes. Mr. GILBERT held the office of justice of the peace in Old Tryon County, taking his seat in July, 1778. In 1779, he represented Tryon in the North Carolina House of Commons.

"On February 8th, 1779, he was forced to resign his commission as justice of the peace on the charge of duplicating his vouchers as commissary of militia of Tryon County. His guilt or innocence can never be known. Despite the charge, when Rutherford County was formed from Old Tryon, GILBERT represented the new county in the North Carolina House of Commons. He was selected in 1779, 1780, 1782, and 1783.

"GILBERT was appointed justice of the peace for Rutherford County in 1781. At the October, 1781, term of the Rutherford County Court, he was chosen chairman of the court. The court vindicated him of the legislative charge of duplicating his vouchers by an order in October 1781, reading 'On motion of William GILBERT, Esq., and testimony produced to the satisfaction of the court, it is ordered that the opinion of the court be entered on the records, to-wit: It is the opinion of the court that the said William GILBERT is not guilty of the charge laid against to the General Assembly, and we do certify that the said William Gilbert never plundered, nor was guilty of plundering, to our knowledge.'

"GILBERT was charged with treason, because Ferguson used the Gilbert home as his headquarters. Lyman Draper in his definitive history, King's Mountain and Its Heroes, on page 159, states GILBERT 'was a Loyal friend of King George.' In 1897, Flournoy Rivers wrote in a Nashville newspaper that 'Draper seemed to have presumed that GILBERT was a Loyalist simply because Major Ferguson camped at Gilbert Town, as though an invading army would ever quarter on a friend while in an enemy's country. As a fact, the Assembly was then sitting at Hillsborough and GILBERT, being the county's representative in the House of Commons, was most likely absent there, and Ferguson, in his absence, most probably quartered on [GILBERT] as an object lesson by way of making treason odious, as it were.'

"North Carolina records indicate that on October 25th, 1775, GILBERT and others, including the Committee of Safety, signed the 'Association Oath,' expressing profound regret that 'his Brittannic Majesty had been so ill-advised as to encroach on the undoubted rights of the colonists as Englishmen, with the firmly expressed intention of sustaining both the Continental and Provincial Congresses.'

"In October, 1783, GILBERT wanted to visit his wife's relatives in Philadelphia. The court, sitting at his son-in-law's house, prepared, under the seal of the court, a statement of his standing and civic virtues, by way of a letter of introduction. 'That the said William GILBERT hath long been an inhabitant of this county, hath frequently represented the same in the General Assembly; that he is first in commission of the place, and that it appears from the lists of assessments returned into the clerk's office that he is possessed of and hath given in for assessing more taxable property than any other person in the county of Rutherford, and that he hath uniformly distinguished himself as a warm Whig and a true friend to his county in times of greatest distress and defection during the war.'

"Despite his successful defense of the charges of treason, GILBERT continued to have legal problems after the war, being engaged in numerous lawsuits, and eventually lost his property. In 1786, 1787, and a portion of 1788, he lived in Charleston, South Carolina. He later returned to Gilbert Town to live at the home of his son-in-law, James HOLLAND, where he died in 1790. He was buried on Ferguson's Hill above Gilbert Town.

"GILBERT's wife, Sarah McCanless GILBERT, lived until 1822. She went with the James HOLLAND family in 1790 to Maury County, Tennessee, and is buried at Holland's Ford on the Duck River.

"James HOLLAND married GILBERT's daughter Sarah. He represented Rutherford County in the North Carolina House of Commons and the Senate. He was elected to the first board of trustees of the University of North Carolina."

My Son:

The following list of ancestors may possibly be of interest to you at some period of life.

Your great grand-father was named JOHN. He emigrated from Trenton, N. J., and settled in Lincoln County, N. C. Your great grand-mother COX was named Margaret. Her maiden name was MORRIS, a sister of ROBERT MORRIS, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence and Secretary of the Treasury under President Washington.

Your grand-father's name was Elisha COX. His oldest brother was Morris, the others, Paul, Aaron, and Elijah. The sisters were as follows - "Polly" who married James SULLIVAN; Rebecca married a BONEHAM; Elizabeth married FERGUSON; Rachel married CARSON; Nancy married MOORE; Susan married CARPENTER.

Your great grand-mother's name was Margaret HOLLAND. Your great grand-father on that side was Isaac HOLLAND, a respectable, sensible man and one of the heroes of King's Mountain. His children were Isaac & Oliver, twin brothers, yet living, and James, who is dead. One other of the three sisters married a DICKSON, one a HALL, and if now living are in Tennessee. One other married William BAIRD and went to Indiana. Most of the relatives have emigrated to the Western States. I know but little of where they are.

Elijah COX's family are about Murphreesboro, Tenn.

Your great grand-mother HOLLAND was named Hannah WILEY. Many of the family are scattered thro the West. She was twice married. Her first husband was LIGGETT, by whom she she had one son, William whose family are in Tenn.

Editorial Notes:

October 7, 1780, near the North and South Carolina border

The plateau of the mountain is in Cleveland County, North Carolina

The battlefield and park are in York County, South Carolina

By Peggy Beach, Public Information Officer, Cleveland County, North Carolina

Phone: 704-476-3012; e-mail: p e g g y . b e a c h @ c o u n t y n t 2 . c o . c l e v e l a n d . n c . u s

Historians consider the Battle of Kings Mountain to be the "turning point in the South" in America's War for Independence. The victory of Patriots over Loyalist troops destroyed the left wing of Cornwallis' army. The battle also effectively ended, at least temporarily, the British advance into North Carolina. Lord Cornwallis was forced to retreat from Charlotte into South Carolina to wait for reinforcements. The victory of the Overmountain Men allowed General Nathaniel Greene the opportunity to reorganize the American Army.

When British General Henry Clinton learned of his men's defeat at Kings Mountain, he is reported to have called it "the first link of a chain of evils" that he feared might lead to the collapse of the British plans to quash the Patriot rebellion. He was right. American forces went on to defeat the British at Cowpens. A little more than a year after Kings Mountain, Washington accepted Cornwallis's surrender at Yorktown, Virginia.

PATRICK FERGUSON -- KEEN RIFLEMAN

The leader of the Loyalist troops was Major Patrick Ferguson. Ferguson would be the only British regular to serve at Kings Mountain. All other soldiers were Americans -- Patriot and Loyalist.

Joining the British army at age 15, Ferguson was a well known marksman and the inventor of a breechloading rifle. The son of a Scottish judge, Ferguson had an affable disposition, a gentle face and was slight of build. Nevertheless, his soldiers named him "Bulldog."

Ferguson distinguished himself early on in his military career. Serving as a cornet in the Royal North British Dragoons, Ferguson was considered by his superiors as a courageous fighter during the wars of Flanders and Germany in the 1760's. In 1768, he joined the Seventieth Regiment of Foot in the West Indies, where British troops engaged in guerilla warfare with the native Carib tribes. Ferguson went for garrison duty at Halifax, Nova Scotia in 1773 but soon became bored.

Ferguson's ability with a rifle was well known. While visiting his family's estate in Scotland before the American Revolution, he began to develop a rifle of his own. After completing the invention, Ferguson displayed the rifle for military leaders and even King George III witnessed one of Ferguson's demonstrations.

During one demonstration, Ferguson fired at a rate of 4-6 shots per minute during pouring rain and high wind. Apparently, Ferguson only missed the target three times while firing from a distance of 200 yards -- this was not possible with the British Brown Bess musket. A patent was issued and a limited number of the breechloading rifles were produced. Ferguson established an elite rifle corps which joined Sir Henry Clinton in America. Their mission: to help stop the rebellion in the colonies.

FERGUSON HAS WASHINGTON IN HIS SIGHTS

At the Battle of Brandywine (September 11, 1777), Ferguson was wounded in the arm and his rifle corps was later disbanded. The Ferguson rifles were removed and very few have been seen since. There is no evidence that the Ferguson rifle was used at the Battle of Kings Mountain.

It was at the Battle of Brandywine that Ferguson distinguished himself further though many did not know about it until the 20th century. Scholars believe that  Ferguson was the British soldier who had George Washington in his gun sight. Ferguson did not pull the trigger, saying that "it is ungentlemanly to shoot a man in the back of the head." 

Ferguson himself mentioned the incident in a letter he dictated a few months later. During the battle, he did not realize the identity of the American officer. While recuperating in the hospital from his arm injury, he discovered that the American officer in question was George Washington. Ferguson wrote that even if he had known, he would not have pulled the trigger. Ferguson's letters are available in the library at Edinburgh University.

Ferguson later fought in the battles of Monmouth and Little Egg Harbor. He was also active in many other battles in the New York and Hudson area. Impressing his superiors with his valor, Ferguson was promoted to Major in 1779.

Late that year, he was selected to command a corps of 300 men, called the American Volunteers. The men were Loyalists, handpicked from units in the New York and New Jersey area. The corps, along with Ferguson, arrived in the South in early February 1780. Ferguson, a persuasive individual, immediately gathered support in Savannah and Augusta before Clinton ordered him to Charleston.

During the invasion of that city, Ferguson worked with the legendary Banastre Tarleton, who had angered many Patriots after his massacre of soldiers trying to surrender to him at Waxhaw. Author Washington Irving later wrote that Ferguson and Tarleton were "equally intrepid and determined but Ferguson is cooler, and more open to the impulses of humanity." In fact, some researchers believe that Ferguson despised Tarleton's methods.

After Charleston fell, Ferguson was appointed to the position of Inspector General of the Militia. Clinton and Cornwallis gave him the mission to organize a volunteer corps of Loyalists troops. Ferguson's men thought highly of him -- he had a natural ability to gain their affection and respect. The Scot was known for spending hours in conversations with the ordinary people around the villages and towns in South Carolina. South Carolina remained a Loyalist stronghold until the end of the war, largely due to his influence.

PRELUDE TO BATTLE

During the summer of 1780, Ferguson and his provincial corps of 150 traveled through South Carolina and into North Carolina gathering support for His Majesty's cause. While marching through the upcountry of South Carolina, the Loyalists engaged in minor skirmishes with militia regiments. Some of those small battles happened at places like Wofford's Iron Works, Musgrove's Mill, Thicketty Fort, and Cedar Spring. However in August, after the Americans lost at the Battle of Camden, the Over Mountain Men retired to their homes in western North Carolina to rest before going after Ferguson again.

THE MARCH TO KINGS MOUNTAIN

Meanwhile in September, Cornwallis invaded North Carolina. His final objective was to march into Virginia. To protect his troops from guerilla attack, Cornwallis ordered Ferguson to move northward into western North Carolina before joining the main British Army in Charlotte.

In late September, Ferguson camped at Gilbert Town (near present day Rutherfordton). He sent a message to Colonel Isaac Shelby, whom he considered to be the leader of the "backwater men." The message said that if Shelby and his men did not stop their opposition to the British, Ferguson would march his army over the mountains, hang their leaders and "lay the country waste with fire and sword." The Patriots would have none of it.

On September 25, Patriot leaders and Colonels Charles McDowell, John Sevier, Isaac Shelby and William Campbell gathered at Sycamore Shoals on the Watauga River (near present day Tennessee). They marched five days over the snow covered mountains to the Quaker Meadows Plantation owned by McDowell's family (in present day Morganton). There, they were joined by  more frontiersmen including those serving under Benjamin Cleveland and Joseph Winston. The troops marched toward Gilbert Town and Ferguson.

Spies told Ferguson the Patriots were on their way. Ferguson had stayed at Gilbert Town hoping to intercept another Patriot force, heading northward. Calling in reinforcements, the Scot began to march toward Charlotte to receive the protection of Cornwallis' main army. He sent an appeal to loyal North Carolinians  -- for them to save themselves from the "backwater men...a set of mongrels." Late on October 6, Ferguson received word from his spies that the Americans were close behind him. Camping at Kings Mountain, near the North Carolina border, he sent a message to Cornwallis requesting reinforcements. "Three or four hundred good soldiers," he wrote, "would finish the business. Something must be done soon." Desperately short of provisions, Ferguson sent out a foraging party of 150 men. He then organized a defense and prepared to meet the enemy.

When the Patriots realized that Ferguson was not at Gilbert Town, they became determined to pursue and fight him. The soldiers followed Ferguson, leaving their weak comrades and horses at Gilbert Town. On October 6 at Cowpens in South Carolina, the Over Mountain Men were joined by 400 South Carolinians under Colonel James Williams and others. The soldiers learned from spy Joseph Kerr that Ferguson was definitely camped about 30 miles ahead in the vicinity of Kings Mountain. Shelby was especially pleased to learn that Ferguson was quoted as saying,   that he "was on Kings Mountain, that he was king of that mountain and that God Almighty and all the Rebels of hell could not drive him from it."

The seven colonels chose Campbell as their officer of the day to carry out the plans they adopted collectively. Fearing Ferguson would escape, the colonels selected 900 of their best men to pursue the Loyalists.

The Patriots marched through the night and the next day, through pouring rain and intermittent showers. They reached Kings Mountain the next day, Saturday October 7 just after noon.

Kings Mountain is an outlying portion of the Blue Ridge Mountains. A heavily rocky and wooded area, the mountain rises 60 feet above the plain surrounding it. The campsite was supposedly an ideal place for Ferguson to camp because the mountain has a plateau at its summit. The plateau is 600 yards long and 70 feet wide at one end and 120 feet wide at the other. The Scot considered the summit too steep to be scaled.

THE BATTLE BEGINS

Upon arriving at Kings Mountain, the Patriot soldiers dismounted. After tying up the horses, the soldiers formed in a horseshoe around the base of the mountain behind their leaders, who remained on horseback.

Ferguson was right in believing that his would be attackers would expose themselves to musket fire if they attempted to scale the summit. But Ferguson did not realize his men could only fire if they went out into the open, exposing themselves to musket fire. Most of the Patriot troops were skilled hunters who routinely killed fast moving animals. On this day, Ferguson's men would not find escape an easy task.

The fighting began around 3 p.m. when some of Ferguson's men noticed the Patriot soldiers surrounding the mountain. After a brief skirmish, the shooting began in earnest when two of the Patriot regiments opened fire on the Loyalists simultaneously. The Loyalists fired back but the Patriots were protected by the heavily wooded area.

The regiments commanded by Colonels Isaac Shelby and William Campbell marched toward Ferguson's men but were driven back twice by Loyalist fire. But as one regiment was driven back, another would advance. Ferguson had to shift his reserves from one place to another while continuing to take heavy losses from the concealed American sharpshooters in the trees. Eventually, other Patriot troops provided enough support that Shelby and Campbell's regiments reached the summit.

During the battle, Patrick Ferguson commanded his men with the use of a silver whistle. Many Patriot fighters later recalled hearing the sound of Ferguson's whistle over the sound of the rifle fire. The whistle and the checkered hunting shirt he wore over his uniform made the Scottish commander quite noticeable on the battlefield.

After nearly an hour of fighting, Ferguson suddenly fell from his horse. One foot was hanging in his stirrup -- several, perhaps as many as eight bullets were in his body. Some accounts say he died before he hit the ground. Other accounts say that his men propped him against a tree, where he died. Ferguson was the only British soldier killed in the battle -- all others were Americans, either Loyalist or Patriot.

Ferguson's second in command then ordered that a white flag of surrender be hoisted.

Despite the call for surrender by the Loyalists, the Patriots could not immediately stop their men from shooting. Many Patriots remembered that the infamous Colonel Tarleton had mowed down Patriot troops at Waxhaw despite the fact that the troops were trying to surrender. Eventually, the fighting at Kings Mountain stopped.

In all, 225 Loyalists were killed, 163 were wounded, 716 were taken prisoner. 28 Patriots were killed and 68 were wounded. Among the Patriot dead: Colonel James Williams of South Carolina.

BATTLE ENDS: PATRIOTS MARCH PRISONERS TO HILLSBOROUGH

After the battle, the victorious Patriots and the captured Loyalists had to camp together. Soon it became dark and the cries of the wounded were heard and often unheeded.

The next morning, the sun came out for the first time in days. Fearing that Cornwallis would soon be upon them, many of the Patriot militia left for their homes. A contingent of Patriots took the prisoners northward to the Continental Army jurisdiction in Hillsborough.

During the journey, a number of prisoners were brutally beaten and some prisoners were hacked with swords. A number of unjust murders took place -- not the Patriots' finest hour. The injustices continued a week later when a committee of Patriots appointed a jury to try some of the so-called "obnoxious" Loyalists. 36 Loyalists were found guilty of breaking open houses, burning houses and killing citizens. Nine were hanged.

CORNWALLIS IS SHAKEN BY THE NEWS; WITHDRAWS INTO SOUTH CAROLINA

Cornwallis was shaken when the news of Ferguson's defeat reached his headquarters. He remained in Charlotte a few days before withdrawing back into South Carolina to the British post at Winnsboro. 

The British could not count on reinforcements from other South Carolina posts to help them -- the news of victory at Kings Mountain had revived Patriot hopes. The victory triggered bonfires and street dancing in cities held by the Patriots. Soon, Patriot leaders such as Thomas Sumter, Elijah Clarke and Francis "The Swamp Fox" Marion stepped up their harassment of British troops. Patriot sympathizers increased their assaults on Tory neighbors.

COUNTDOWN TO YORKTOWN

Cornwallis was not inactive however. He sent Tarleton and a Major Wemyss in hot pursuit of Marion and Sumter. On November 9, Sumter was fully prepared when Wemyss attempted a surprise attack on his forces at Fish Dam Ford. Wemyss and 25 of his men were captured. Sumter then moved with 240 toward the British fort at Ninety Six. Tarleton stopped his pursuit of Marion and went to Fort Ninety Six. Deciding not to face Tarleton at that time, Sumter fled northward to Blackstock's Plantation. On November 20, Tarleton attacked Sumter's forces but to no avail. Tarleton lost 100 men while the Americans only lost three. Tarleton then rejoined Cornwallis.

Meanwhile, Clinton sent General Alexander Leslie to Virginia to prepare for battle there. Leslie was to be under the direct orders of Cornwallis. Cornwallis  ordered Leslie to come to South Carolina -- he planned to resume his invasion of North Carolina as soon as Leslie arrived. Believing that Patriot leader Daniel Morgan planned to attack Fort Ninety Six, Cornwallis sent Tarleton to deal with the backwoodsman. Expecting Leslie to arrive in mid-January, Cornwallis planned to advance rapidly northward and cut off the two American armies (Nathaniel Greene's men in the South from George Washington's men in the North). He also hoped to stop the advance of Morgan's forces should they survive the expected encounter with Tarleton.

Cornwallis's hopes were dashed. Morgan's men soundly defeated Tarleton's Legion at the Battle of Cowpens on January 17. Morgan, who was ill with rheumatism and other ailments,  joined Greene's army before returning to his home in Virginia. Greene saw that Cornwallis, who had left South Carolina, was getting further away from his train of supplies and provisions. Eventually, the two forces met in the Battle of Guilford Courthouse. Technically, the British won that battle but it was a Pyrrhic victory because British losses were high. One man in four was killed, wounded or captured.

Throughout the summer, skirmishes were fought across the Carolinas and Virginia. In September, the army of Cornwallis and the army of Washington met at Yorktown. After a 20-day battle, Cornwallis surrendered. The war officially ended with the signing of the Treaty of Paris two years later.

LEGACY OF KINGS MOUNTAIN

Many of the Patriot leaders at Kings Mountain went on to serve in their new country's government.

John Sevier became Governor of Tennessee and Isaac Shelby became Governor of Kentucky. Returning to his home in Burke County, Charles McDowell served in the N.C. State Legislature and later the U.S. Congress. Joseph Winston also served in the U.S. Congress. He later represented his home of Surry and Stokes counties in the N.C. State Legislature. Benjamin Cleveland served as a judge for many years before his death in 1806.   William Campbell did not survive the war. He died of a heart ailment in August 1781 while visiting relatives in Hanover County.

As the years passed, the battle of Kings Mountain was remembered by historians and local residents alike. Many roads and towns in Western North Carolina bear the names of the battle's participants. McDowell County is named Charles McDowell and his family. McDowell and his soldiers thought so highly of Daniel Morgan that they persuaded residents of Burke County to name the county seat Morganton.

The North Carolina city of Kings Mountain used to be called White Plains. When the city was incorporated in 1874, Mrs. James Wright Tracey decided that Kings Mountain would be a more appropriate name since the community was the closest town to the mountain.

The City of Shelby is named for Isaac Shelby. Many streets in Shelby including Washington, Lafayette and Marion, are named for Revolutionary War heroes.

Shelby and Kings Mountain are in Cleveland County, which was named for Benjamin Cleveland. The county was formed in 1841 and until 1885, spelled its name "Cleaveland," just the way the colonel spelled his name. However, in 1885, Grover Cleveland became president and there was some confusion over the spelling of the county's name. In 1887, a special bill was passed in the North Carolina General Assembly which authorized the elimination of the letter a.

Very few Cleveland County residents actually fought in the battle of Kings Mountain. Historians estimate that the number was around 35 persons -- the area at the time was not heavily populated. One soldier who did fight was Colonel Fredrick Hambright. Hambright led a company of men onto the battlefield. He was severely wounded in the thigh, which caused him to limp for the rest of his life.

Commemorating the battle has been important throughout the years. At the Centennial Celebration in 1880, a 28-foot granite monument was unveiled. Through the efforts of Congressmen E.Y. Webb of North Carolina and D.E. Finley of South Carolina in the early 1900's, Congress appropriated $30,000 to erect a taller monument. That monument was unveiled in 1909.

In 1912, the legendary lawyer William Jennings Bryan was the guest speaker at a celebration of the battle. On October 7, 1930, President Herbert Hoover rode down from Washington in a train to visit the battlefield and speak at the 150th anniversary celebrations. In 1933, Congress authorized $225,000 to make the Kings Mountain battlefield a National Military Park. In 1994,  the park entertained more than 451,000 visitors.

Patrick Ferguson has also received a measure of fame. As mentioned earlier, 20th century scholars believe Ferguson was the would-be George Washington assailant at the battle of Brandywine. Ferguson has also received acclaim for his invention, the breechloading Ferguson rifle. Sycamore Shoals State Park and the John Sevier State Historic Site are looking for working Ferguson rifles for their museum exhibits. Some gunsmiths say that further use of the rifle would possibly have changed the outcome of the American Revolution and definitely the result of the War of 1812.

Historians agree that the battle of Kings Mountain was the beginning of the end of British rule in its former colonies. In less than one hour of battle, the Overmountain Men not only captured the day but also punctured holes in the British strategy for keeping America under its control.

Written by Peggy Beach, Cleveland County Public Information Officer

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Epitaph on Major Patrick Ferguson

by Woodward

Here soldiers sighing o'er a hero's grave,
Tell how he fought and died - here Genius bends,
Mourning the patriot worth she could not save,
While Social Virtue weeps the best of friends.

Here bleeding Pity, viewing what is done,
In silent woe laments her darling son:
For ne'er a milder warrior thus was laid,-
His generous breast no evil e'er repaid:
His heart no selfish passion ever felt,
For there the chastest love of glory dwelt.
His martial ardour tend'rest feelings crown'd,
And, but too daring, not a fault was found.
Let Honour pay the debt his actions claim;
Let candour give to future time his fame;
Let grateful Britain, to her children just,
With never fading laurel shade his dust:
His gallant deeds her youthful soldiers tell,-
Teach them, like him, in glory to excel:
For this he fought; For this, alas, he fell!

'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

Maj. Patrick Ferguson, 71st Highlanders

Patrick Ferguson was interred at King's Mountain. Beside him is "Virginia Sal," evidently a loyalist refugee who was killed while tending the Loyalist wounded. Her surname may have been Featherstone.

Patrick Ferguson was the second son of James Ferguson of Pitfour (1700 - 1777) and Anne Murray (1708 - 1793), the sister of Patrick, Lord Elibank, who were married in 1733.

At King's Mountain, the inscription on Patrick Ferguson's monument is as follows:

TO THE MEMORY OF
COL. PATRICK FERGUSON
SEVENTY-FIRST REGIMENT,
HIGHLAND LIGHT INFANTRY.
---
BORN IN ABERDEENSHIRE,
SCOTLAND IN 1744,
KILLED OCTOBER 7, 1780
IN ACTION AT
KING'S MOUNTAIN
WHILE IN COMMAND OF
THE BRITISH TROOPS.
---
A SOLDIER OF MILITARY
DISTINCTION AND OF HONOR.
---
THIS MEMORIAL
IS FROM THE CITIZENS OF
THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
IN TOKEN OF THEIR APPRECIATION
OF THE BONDS OF FRIENDSHIP AND
PEACE BETWEEN THEM AND THE
CITIZENS OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE.
---
ERECTED OCTOBER 7, 1930.

'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

Excerpt from the Diary of Lt. Anthony Allaire (22 February 1755, New Rochelle, Westchester County, New York, British North America - 9 June 1838, Fredrickton, New Brunswick, Canada, British North America), of Ferguson's Corps, 6 - 15 October 1780:

Friday, 6th Got in motion at four o'clock in the morning, and marched sixteen miles to Little King's Mountain, where we took up our ground.

Saturday, 7th. About two o'clock in the afternoon twenty-five hundred Rebels, under the command of Brig.-Gen. Williams, and ten Colonels, attacked us. Maj. Ferguson had eight hundred men. The action continued an hour and five minutes; but their numbers enabled them to surround us. The North Carolina regiment seeing this, and numbers being out of ammunition, gave way, which naturally threw the rest of the militia into confusion. Our poor little detachment, which consisted of only seventy men when we marched to the field of action, were all killed and wounded but twenty; and those brave fellows were soon crowded as close as possible by the militia. Capt. DePeyster, on whom the command devolved, saw it impossible to form six men together; thought it necessary to surrender to save the lives of the brave men who were left. We lost in this action, Maj. Ferguson, of the Seventy-first regiment, a man much attached to his King and country, well informed in the art of war; he was brave and humane, and an agreeable companion; in short, he was universally esteemed in the army, and I have every reason to regret his unhappy fate. We had eighteen men killed on the spot; Capt. Ryerson and thirty-two privates wounded of Maj. Ferguson'S detachment; Lieut. Mcginnis, of Allen's regiment of Skinner's Brigade, killed. Taken prisoners, Two Captains, four Lieutenants, three Ensigns, and one Surgeon, and fifty-four sergeants rank and file, including the mounted men under the command of Lieut. Taylor. Of the militia, one hundred were killed, including officers; wounded, ninety; taken prisoners, about six hundred. Our baggage, all taken, of course. Rebels lost Brig.-Gen. Williams, one hundred and thirty-five, including officers, killed; wounded, equal to ours.

Sunday, 8th. They thought it necessary to move us sixteen miles, to one Waldron's plantation where they halted.

Monday, 9th. Moved two miles and a half to Bullock creek;* forded it, and halted on the banks. [* Apparently Boren's Creek — Bullock's creek was some fifteen or eighteen miles distant.— L.C.D.]

Tuesday, 10th. Moved twenty miles and halted in the woods.

Wednesday, 11th. Moved at eight o'clock in the morning; marched twelve miles to Col. Walker's and halted.

Thursay, 12th. Those villains divided our baggage, although they had promised on their word we should have it all.

Friday, 13th. Moved six miles to Bickerstaff's plantation. In the evening their liberality extended so far as to send five old shirts to nine of us, as a change of linen — other things in like proportion.

Saturday, 14th. Twelve field officers were chosen to try the militia prisoners — particularly those who had the most influence in the country. They condemed thirty—in the evening they began to execute Lieut.-Col. Mills, Capt. Wilson, Capt. Chitwood, and six others, who unfortunately fell a sacrifice to their infamous mock jury. Mills, Wilson, and Chitwood died like Romans— the others were reprieved.

Sunday, 15th. Moved at five o'clock in the morning. Marched all day through the rain—a very disagreeable road. We got to Catawba and forded it at Island Ford,¹ about ten o'clock at night. Our march was thirty-two miles. All the men were worn out with fatigue and fasting — the prisoners having no bread or or meat for two days before. We officers were allowed to go to Col. McDowell's, where we lodged comfortably. About one hundred prisoners made their escape on this march.

1. Island Ford: Island Ford, in what was Rutherford County, North Carolina but now in what is Cleveland County, was the residence of the family of Thomas CAMP III. See G0497A: Thomas CAMP III in Descendants of Thomas Camp (1665 - 1711).

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View of King's Mountain Battle-Ground

KING'S MOUNTAIN:
A Ballad of the Carolinas

by William Gilmore Simms

[The battle of King's Mountain, fought October 7, 1780, constituted a turning point in the war of the Revolution in the South; the British and Tories, under Colonbel Ferguson, being defeated, with great slaughter, by the mountaineers of Virginia, Georgia, and the two Carolinas. The battle took place in South Carolina, but only a mile and a half south of the North Carolina line. Colonel Ferguson was one of the most distinguished of the British partisan warriors in America during the Revolution. He was especially opposed, as a great leader of riflemen, to the Southern riflemen; was himself an inventor of an improved rifle which, in that day, gained him large reputation. His bravery was remarkable, as well as his skill. During the battle he used a silver whistle, which was to be heard sounding every where through all the din of the conflict. The Tory chiefs were executed on the spot soon after the battle. Tradition says that ten were hung from the tree which appears on the right in our view of the battle-ground. The Deckard rifle was named, we beleive, from a famous maker of that region; it was the weapon most in use among the mountaineers of the South during the period of the Revolution. It is, perhaps, not so generally known that, along the dividing ridges of the two Carolinas, there have been manufacturers of the rifle famous for the excellence of this weapon from a very early period. Even in the Revolution the native rifle has been known to kill across a river 250 yards wide. This range, at that period, was held to be almost miraculous.]

HARK! 'tis the voice of the mountain
And it speaks to our heart in its pride,
As it tells of the bearing of heroes
Who compassed its summits and died!
How they gathered to strife as the eagles,
When the foeman had clambered the height!
How, with scent keen and eager as beagles,
They hunted him down for the fight.
.....................................................Hurrah!

Hark! through the gorge of the valley,
'Tis the bugle that tells of the foe;
Our own quickly sounds for the rally,
And we snatch down the rifle and go.
As the hunter who hears of the panther,
Each arms him and leaps to his steed.
Rides forth through the desolate antre,
With his knife and his rifle at need.
.....................................................Hurrah!

From a thousand deep gorges they gather,
From the cot lowly perched by the rill,
The cabin half hid in the heather,
'Neath the crag which the eagle keep still;
Each lonely at first in his roaming,
Till the vale to the sight opens fair,
And he sees the low cot through the gloaming,
When his bugle gives tongue to the air.
.....................................................Hurrah!

Thus a thousand brave hunters assemble
For the hunt of the insolent foe,
And soon shall his myrmidons tremble
'Neath the shock of the thunderbolt's blow.
Down the lone heights now wind they together
As the mountain-brooks flow to the vale,
And now, as they group on the heather
The keen scout delivers his tale:
.....................................................Hurrah!

"The British - the Tories are on us
And now is the moment to prove
To the women whose virtues have won us,
That our virtues are worthy their love!
They have swept the vast valleys below us
With fire, to the hills from the sea;
And here would they seek to o'erthrow us
In a realm which our eagle makes free!"
.....................................................Hurrah!

No war-council suffered to trifle
With the hours devote to the deed;
Swift followed the grasp of the rifle
Swift followed the bound to the steed;
And soon, to the eyes of our yeomen,
All panting with rage at the sight,
Gleamed the long wavy tents of the foeman,
As he lay in his camp on the height.
.....................................................Hurrah!

Grim dashed they away as they bounded,
The hunters to hem in the prey,
And, with Deckard's long rifles surrounded,
Then the British rose fast to the fray;
And never with arms of more vigor
Did their bayonets press through the strife.
Where, with every swift pull of the trigger
The sharpshooters dashed out a life!
.....................................................Hurrah!

'Twas the meeting of eagles and lions;
'Twas the rushing of tempests and waves;
Insolent triumph 'gainst patriot defiance,
Born freemen 'gainst sycophant slaves;
Scotch Ferguson sounding his whistle,¹
As from danger to danger he flies,
Feels the moral that lies in Scotch thistle
With its "touch me who dare!" and he dies!
.....................................................Hurrah!

An hour, and the battle is over;
The eagles are rending the prey;
The serpents seek flight into cover,
But the terror still stands in the way:
More dreadful the doom that on treason
Avenges the wrongs of the state;
And the oak-tree for many a season
Bears fruit for the vultures of fate!
.....................................................Hurrah!

1. Scotch Ferguson sounding his whistle: The whistle to which Simms refers was the light-infantry whistle, made of silver, that Ferguson used for drilling the personnel in the Loyalist militia. [See M. M. Gilchrist, Patrick Ferguson: A Man 'O Some Genius (National Museum Of Scotland Enterprises: 2003)

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(2) Mary WILIE, wife of Oliver WILIE, died Aug. 21, 1822, aged 78. This was Mary SHELBY, the wife of Oliver WILEY, Jr.

(3) Mary WILEY, wife of Moses WILEY, died June 7, 1818. This was Mary ALEXANDER, the wife of Moses Cicero WILEY, the son of Oliver WILEY, Jr.

(4) Margaret KIRKPATRICK, wife of Robert KIRKPATRICK, died July 7, 1822, aged 31 and Milus C. KIRKPATRICK, son of Robert Kirkpatrick, died July 7, 1822, aged 5 months [both on one stone]. This was Margaret WILEY, the daughter of Oliver WILEY, Jr. and the wife of Robert KIRKPATRICK. She and her son, Milus, evidently perished in some mishap that occurred on 7 July 1822.