Diagram of the Battle of Kings Mountain

This map, published in Lyman Copeland Draper’s book King’s Mountain and Its Heroes (1929), shows the topography and location of the Battle of Kings Mountain. Major Patrick Ferguson’s Loyalist troops had set up their encampment at the top of the mountain on October 6th, 1781. The Continental force, made up of a combined group of volunteer militia from the Tennessee hills, North and South Carolina, and 400 Virginians under the command of Colonel William Campbell, surrounded Ferguson’s troops almost completely. They attacked on October 7, taking Ferguson by surprise. The Continental Army victory at King’s Mountain prevented the British from assembling a large Loyalist military force, which had been key to their strategy in the South.