North Carolina standard. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1850-1852, 1851-06-11
aap n.rrLE oE KING,s MOUNTAIN.

THE BATTLE OF KINGS NUN IAN.
We are q lad to havs opportunity OF bringing 10
fhe notice of ourTeadets the following pa
pefs throwing valuable light on !ne :. Ons
war, and which is supposed TO nave hau al imPoIlah
influence upon its result H.e"' H" ~ L
Eriract of Letter from tie abingdon Literary Cl"6
To tie Editors Of tie .2bingdOn VirginiGn.
To revive in the memory of our young cou ntry'
man the deeds of their oreaters, 10 keep alive the
spiri, of the Revolution which achieved our lnde'
pendence and established our Union, to show wna'
Il cost and how highly it should be valued, the Lit
erary Club of Abingdon send you the following doc
ument for publication. 1t is taken entirely fIom
British writer's and has appeared, as tar as we
have seen, in any American history or publication. II
is the British account of Col. Ferguson, and theiI
own account of the consequences OF the Oaifle Of
Kings Mountain. The reader will particularly no:
tice the account which Col. Ferguson gave to his
brother Dr. Adam Ferguson, of Scotland, OF scene
that took place at the Battle of Brandywne, about
that tme in l777, in which Col. Ferguson states he
had it fully in mis- power to have killed pom Uen'
Washington and Gen. Lafayette. and declined to do
So. The order was given TO three OF his rhemen al
one time and recalled. He himself had levelled his
own rife, and relenied Gen. Washington was about
one hundred yards from him. Ferguson and his men
were perfect marksmeR. He had himself lnvenleu
the rifle used by his corps, which was suPerIo1r, 10
any in our army. If Gen. Washington mao iail r
on that day, what would have been the ta!e OF tHe
American Revolution! How slighf the Inciue!''s !"
the course Of events which seem 10 give
the affairs of this world The fate OF ths great re-
public and rising empire of the West seemed 10 naCe
hung on this occasion on the deterhlnauon VI Col'
Fargnson most skilfui and brave British ohcer'
who was afterwards slain in battle by the VoinoIeerS
of VIRGINIA. of North and South Carolina. on the
Summit of Kings Mountain, in October, I7oO.
The time in which this battle fought gave great
importance TO its consequences. The Summer ahG
fall of 1880 was, perhaps, the most gloomy Psr'Tu VI
the American Revolution. The tide ofdisaster had run
against US for nearly year. In the tail oil II|S our
army was repulsed at Savannah, with immense loss
Here fell the brave Pole, General Pulaski. In the
MAY following Charleston surrendered iarSe aIn'y.
with three or four frigates, and large quantty OF
military Stores few weeks afterwards Col. Dn-
ford with his regiment, was cut to pieces oy Col'
Tarlton of the British army. In August loiiowIhS
Gen. Gates whole army was destroyed al Canueh'
and few days afterwards Gen. SumPter was sur
prised and entirely defeated. In September l|ou,
Arnold's treason was detected. And at this period
our finances were all exhausted, the credit OF Tie
country was the lowest ebb, and the paper money
worthless We had no means to clothe and iced our
armv Gen. Washington was himself almost on the
verge of despair His letters at this period show the
greatest anxiety and distress of mind, and mat ne
Thought the cause almost hopeless.
In such gloomy period of our country's distress
and almost Of despair there up in Southwestern
Virginia and in East Tennessee a gallant army OF
brave young men, who, without pay and without any
orders from their Government volunteered their SER
vices 10 fight the battles of their county. They selz-
ed their own rifles and mounted their own horses,
and marched two hundred miles through Wilderness
and over lofty ountains and, IN less than TWO weeks
from the time they had left the place OF rendezvous
they demolished entirely a British army Of most
formidable character They turned the tide of sue
cess in favor of our country. They broke up Ihe
British generals plan of campaign against orth "a
rolina and Virginia, extinguished nearly forever all
the aid he receiving from the tories OF the Sou'h
and compelled him back into South Carolina
DO save the country he thought entirely conquer
ed and subdued. The documents that follow will
prove these statements. They contain the acknowl-
edgments of British writers, and OF Lord Corn"ails
himself.
Are not these "reminiscences calculated TO attach US
to this Union! Can we think of laying our
parricidal hands upon the work OF our fathers Gan
we ever dare attempt the destruction OF that Gov
eminent which their herosm contributed so greatly
in establishing-which has attracted towards us the
wonder and admiration Of the world, and has given
US degree of prosperity and happiness WHICH no
other nation of which history has given any account
ever enjoyed before
British account Of Co.. Ferguson and the consequences
of the Battle of Kings Mountain.
Historical justice and fairness require that we
should insert what the British writers have said OF
their ow gallant officer with whom mountaineers
contended on their glorious field OF fame. Justice to
an enemy is attribute of msgnanimity, and he who
cannot find in his heart any promPngs OF this noble
and generous impulse is unfit to 1Drite history. He
may, without this manly virtue, write euogIums and
inyectves and fill his pages with defamation bnt
they LviH not be read by Ike candid and the U'se ~
the sacred records IF truth. Let us do justice 10 Col
Patrick Ferguson who commanded the British army
at Kings Mountain. He was the son of an eminent
Scotch Judge, James Ferguson of Phfour, Lord OF
Session and Judiciary, and nephew Of a nobeman of
great literary talents, viz: Patrick Murray, Lord
Elibank,) deemed by Robertson, Ferguson, Hume,
and contemporary sages in genius and erudion. equal
TO the authors Of the Scottish Augusan age. Patrick
Ferguson, (says British writer,) who commanded
the British army at Kings Mountain I" sought fame
by different direction, but Of equally rigorous
and brilliant pO,Uers" In early youth he entered tie
army, and while subaltern of eighteen in the Ger
man war, was distinguished by courage cool as
it was determined his principal object being to be-
come beneficial By professional skill and effort. Be
fore the battle OF Kings Mountain he had already
displayed that combination of intrepid heroism, in
ventive genius and soInd judgment which constitute
he valiant soldier and able commander.
Before the American war he had employed the in
terval Of peace in England by improving himself in
military know ledge and science. When the disputes
between Britain and her colonies vergng to a
civil war, the bOasted skill of the Americans in the
use Of the rifle exhibited object of terror
TO the British troops. These rumors operated the
genius of Ferguson, and his invention produced a
Dreech without using the hammer or turning the muZ
lie away from the enemy, and with such quickness
Of repetition to fire sereui times in a minute. The
r6emen, meanwhile, might be PROSTATE the ground,
and protected from the shot of the enemy by the
smallest emnence, either natural artificial Fer
guson displayed his continuance to the satisfaction of
Lord Townsend, master of the ordnance, and other
military men. When the war commenced, his regl-
nen not being ordered for warlike SERVICE he ex
remey anxious to be actively employed for his King
and country. He was accordingly introduced to the
and appointed to command
corps drafted from regular reg mens, and dscp ne
them for the practice of this invention At the
Br0ndVwlne he