Revolution in the South too

I tend to forget that the Revolutionary War included the southern states too. Washington’s army and the battles in Boston and New York seem to grab most of my attention, but the Carolinas played an important role in the war. Jimmy Carter portrayed this in his historical novel “The Hornet’s Nest,” which was unfortunately marred by poor writing.

In 1780 Cornwallis’ forces occupied South Carolina and began a push into North Carolina. While there were many loyalists in the area, there were also a number of neutrals—folks up in the mountains who just wanted to be left alone. Cornwallis believed these people could be swayed to the British side and made some threats to push them into the British camp. Bad move. Mountain men don’t like to have their property and families threatened, so they took action.

At King’s Mountain about 1,000 militia men loyal to Britain (not regular British army, but colonists) were engaged by about an equal number of patriot militia men. The patriots had no military training, but they were superb hunters with rifles and they used their skills effectively. It was a decisive patriot victory. It altered British strategy in regard to the Carolinas, and it gave the patriots a much needed morale boost and hope. The battle is considered a turning point in the war.

In another sense, I think the battle showed how new technology (the rifle as opposed to the musket) coupled with new strategies and tactics (dispersed fire from cover) exploited the weakness of the British system of warfighting.