06/12/2026
Domestic Dispute - the Battle of Kings Mountain is significant in multiple ways. This Revolutionary War action on October 7, 1780, was a major turning point of the war in the South. The Loyalist militia defeated here were a large part of British plans for splitting the colonies (isolating the north). They were soundly defeated (nearly all killed, wounded, or captured) by Patriot militia from Virginia, North and South Carolina, and what is now Tennessee. Second, like other battles in the Southern theater, it was another chapter in the story of America's first civil war. There was only one British soldier here, Major Patrick Ferguson, commander of the Loyalists. There was at least one family, the Goforths of North Carolina, who lost brothers fighting on opposite sides. It was the largest such action in the bloody fight of neighbors and families against each other. Returning here for me was also a personal victory. Last visit was 12 years and four cardiovascular surgeries ago. And my last visit was in February, when the climb of about 1,000 feet was not slowed down further by late May heat and humidity.
I found it interesting the National Park signage referred to the combatants in political terms (Whigs and Tories) as opposed to Loyalists and .
