Kings Mountain National Military
Park’s 1.5–mile Battlefield Trail walks visitors through
the site of the battle.
Recycled rubber covers the
paved trail, providing a cushioned walk. Some people use the trail for their
daily walk or jog and it’s been fun getting to know some of these regular
visitors.
Signs, which we learned are
called “waysides,” tell the story of the battle. One day Bill scrubbed all the
waysides, which was quite a job.
A number of monuments line the path. This map shows some of the monuments.
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| Battlefield Trail map showing Patriot militia positions |
The Chronicle monument (the
left monument in the image below) is the second oldest Revolutionary monument
in the country. (Lexington,
Massachusetts has the oldest
one.) The inscription is quite weathered, so the monument on the right with the
same inscription was added later. They commemorate the men in Colonel
Chronicle’s militia who died in the battle.
Here Ranger Lamar, holding
his carved rifle prop, explains about the marker to a tour group.
The trail starts by skirting
the base of the ridge where the Patriots started the battle. They encircled the
ridge, trapping the Loyalists on the top of the hill. As the trail starts to
climb, a side trail leads to the Hoover
monument.
In 1930 Herbert Hoover spoke
here commemorating the 150th anniversary of the battle. It was one of the
biggest gatherings up to that point with an estimated 75,000 attending. The
hillside was clear cut for the event to form a natural amphitheater, but the forest
has been growing since. The next year Kings Mountain
became a National Park.
As the trail continues
climbing, it traverses where the fighting began. When the militias led by
Colonel Campbell and Colonel Shelby charged up the hill, the Loyalists were
able to temporarily drive them down, but the Patriots eventually took the
eastern part of the ridge. Other militias charged up the hill and the fighting
continued along the ridge where the trail now goes.
The next monument along the
way is the park’s newest – just placed last year – a marker commemorating the
black men who fought in the battle.
At the top of the ridge is
the Centennial monument placed at the 100th anniversary of the battle by the
Kings Mountain Centennial Association. This private organization and the
Daughters of the American Revolution maintained the site before the federal
government took it over.
A marble plaque on the
monument says, “Here the tide of battle turned in favor of the American
Colonies.”
As the trail starts to
descend, it approaches the tallest monument and the only monument funded by the
US
government. It marks the place where the battle ended with the surrender of the
Loyalists.
In the picture below Ranger
Leah leads a guided walk in front of the US Monument. Do you see Bill in the
crowd?
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| engraving on the US Monument |
The final stop along the
trail is Ferguson’s
grave.
Colonel Patrick Ferguson was
the only British soldier at this battle from England. His troops consisted
primarily of local Loyalist militia plus some Provincials from the Northeast.
He had threatened Patriot settlers “with fire and sword” and they were out to
get him. He was shot seven times, fell from his horse, and was dragged as his
foot caught in the stirrup. He and Virginia Sal, a woman follower, are buried
here. This site became a cairn as people put rocks on his grave – a Scottish
tradition, but also a symbolic effort to keep his spirit in the grave.
The trail winds back to the Visitor Center.
