If attacked in force Ferguson was to retreat and rejoin
his leader. The Battle of King's Mountain is hardly famous in the
annals of the world, and yet, in some ways, it was a decisive
event. Suddenly Ferguson found himself beset by hostile bands,
coming from the north, the south, the east, and the west. When,
in obedience to his orders, he tried to retreat he found the way
blocked, and his messages were intercepted, so that Cornwallis
was not aware of the peril. Ferguson, harassed, outnumbered, at
last took refuge on King's Mountain, a stony ridge on the western
border between the two Carolinas. The north side of the mountain
was a sheer impassable cliff and, since the ridge was only half a
mile long, Ferguson thought that his force could hold it
securely. He was, however, fighting an enemy deadly with the
rifle and accustomed to fire from cover. The sides and top of
King's Mountain were wooded and strewn with boulders. The motley
assailants crept up to the crest while pouring a deadly fire on
any of the defenders who exposed themselves. Ferguson was killed
and in the end his force surrendered, on October 7, 1780, with
four hundred casualties and the loss of more than seven hundred
prisoners. The American casualties were eighty-eight.
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