"How many are there of you?" asked a young girl.
"Enough," said one of the riflemen, "to whip Ferguson, if we can catch him."
"He is on that hill yonder," replied the girl, pointing to the high range about three miles away.
Shelby had sent out Enoch Gilmer as a spy. He came back, saying that he had met a young woman who had been at the enemy's camp to sell chickens, and that Ferguson was encamped on the spot where some hunters had been the year before. These same hunters were with Shelby, and at once said they knew every inch of the way. Two captured Tories were compelled to tell how the British leader was dressed.
It was now three o'clock. It had stopped raining, and the sun was shining. All was hurry and bustle. The plan was to surround the hill, to give the men a better chance to fire upward, without firing into each other.
When the patriots came within about a mile of the ridge, they dismounted and tied their horses. The watchword was "Buford," the name of the brave officer whose troops had been massacred by Tarleton after their surrender. Each man was ordered to fight for himself. He might retreat before the British bayonets, but he must rally at once to the fight, and let the redcoats have "Indian play."
Sevier led the right wing. Some of his men by hard riding got to the rear of Ferguson's army, and cut off the only chance for retreat. Cleveland had charge of the left wing, while Campbell and Shelby were to attack in front. So swiftly did the different detachments reach their places that Ferguson found himself attacked on every side at once.
On horseback the gallant Briton leads his regulars in a bayonet charge down the steep hillside. With the Indian war whoop, which echoes and reëchoes, Campbell's riflemen rush forward. They have no bayonets, and are driven down the hill. In a voice of thunder, Campbell rallies his men, and up the hill they go with a still deadlier fire, as the regulars retreat.
| Charging the British at King's Mountain |
Now Shelby's men swarm up on the other side. Again the bayonets drive these new foes down the rocky cliffs. No sooner do the redcoats retire, than up comes Shelby again at the head of his men, nearer the top than before.