Customer Reviews

Kings Mountain: The Defeat of the Loyalists October 7, 1780

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2 star:		(1)
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This book provides a well-formatted and easy to read description of a very important but little-known battle of the American Revolution. The author points out that only one of the soldiers was actually British- Patrick Ferguson- the other men following the British flag were Loyalists militiamen (from America). As such the battle really reflected the bitter hatred and fighting that took place in the rural areas of our young nation. This story is a lot like the fictionalized version (movie) by Mel Gibson- The Patriot. I really liked this book!!! Sometimes books about battles are too long and detailed- this one is short but detailed-thanks!!!

This book provides a very detailed focus on a battle and area that is often overlooked. The Battle of King's Mountain was a brutal struggle fought by backwoodsmen known as The Overmountain Men. The author highlights the fact that the battle was waged between Patriots and Loyalists who were all from the same region yet they fought for opposite sides. There was only one British officer (Patrick Ferguson) and he was the Tory leader. Using unconventional warfare (Indian fighting) techniques, the Patriots surrounded the British (Tory) forces on a high ridge. Using stealth and ranger tactics, they quickly destroyed a large enemy force, which proved to be a great embarrassment to the Crown. I visited the battlefield and the author had excellent photos and maps (original works too) in the book, which I then used as a guidebook for a self-guided tour. I am a high school Social Studies teacher and so I really like this book. While visiting the Carolinas, I also visited neighboring battlefields (Camden, Charleston, Ninety-Six, and Cowpens). The author has also written other books about the American Revolution and I highly recommend them as well.

This one is OK as an introduction, but very short and not much if anything new to say.

A keen little history on one of the Revolutionary War's most important battles.

As a person that primarily studies loyalists, i found it greatly disturbing that the book uses the term "British" to describe them. All the troops but one at King's Mountain were Americans.

I am immediately turned off by books that lump the Loyalists and British together and use the term American to mean "rebel". This causes the falacy of this not being a civil war to continue and does not put things in the correct light.

Please, please, please, stop writing about them this way.