TROOP POSITIONS
THE BATTLE OF KINGS MOUNTAIN
KINGS MOUNTAIN NATIONAL MILITARY PARK
SOUTH CAROLINA

[High-resolution Map]

Gen. Nathanael Greene, American Commander in the South, 1780-81. Courtesy Emmet Collection, New York Public Library.

General Greene (left) meets General Gates at Charlotte, N. C., to assume command of the Southern Department of the Continental Army in December 1780.

The patriots rested on the battleground overnight. On Sunday morning, October 8, they started the homeward march. One week later they reached Bickerstaff’s plantation near Gilbert Town with their prisoners. The frontiersmen had not dared delay their march, for they feared Cornwallis would send Colonel Tarleton in pursuit to avenge Ferguson’s defeat. At Bickerstaff’s, a court martial was held and 30 Tories were condemned to death; of these, 9 were hanged and the remainder spared. Since an investigation showed that these 9 Tories had robbed, pillaged, and committed more serious crimes, the patriots believed they were justified in this action. They also wished to retaliate for similar types of rude justice rendered so often in the past by the British.

“The Surrender of Lord Cornwallis at Yorktown, Virginia, 19 October 1781.” From a painting by John Trumbull. Courtesy Yale University Art Gallery.

The patriot detachments reached Quaker Meadows on October 15 with the prisoners. From this point they were marched northward toward Virginia; this was in accordance with the instructions of October 12 from General Gates, the American commander in the South. On October 26, Colonel Campbell entrusted Colonel Cleveland with the safekeeping of the prisoners and, with Colonel Shelby, called upon General Gates to determine the fate of the remaining Tories.