Isaac Shelby

Isaac Shelby was definitely not a “fence sitter” during the war with the mother country.  He was, as a son of his father Evan Shelby, a proponent by deed of the Fincastle Resolutions and had resolved to "live and die" while never surrendering his "inestimable privileges".(1)  He understood Freedom and slavery.  He understood the Quebec acts as intolerable to his Protestant background, his sense of justice and his rights as a citizen to have a say in how one is governed.

Later in life he would be called “Old King’s Mountain." 

He won that nickname at the age of 29 on the wet, steep hillsides of King’s Mountain. There, British Col. Patrick Ferguson waited for his approach. Along with Shelby came over a thousand Patriot warriors from Over the Mountain.  

Ferguson had a poor view of Shelby and the Over the Mountain men.  In his mind they had run from him at Wofford's Iron Works (Battle of Cedar Springs) in Spartanburg. The band of rugged Patriots had taunted the King's men from a hill and led them on a merry chase that left Ferguson frustrated.

The British leader also considered them a group of thieves who had settled in the lands off limits to British subjects.  

Having just missed Shelby and the others at the battle of Musgrove Mills on August 19th, 1780, he set out in pursuit towards Gilbert Town, near present day Rutherfordton, NC.  

Ferguson was seeking a fight and grew more confident as the Loyalist poured into his camp for safety.

His letter to Cornwallis revealed a positive attitude towards the number of loyalists coming into camp. Ferguson then made ready to gather more supplies and search for cattle to feed his growing army. (2)

But Ferguson was unaware that he was being tricked and was in a chess match with his betters. Shelby, along with his fellow leaders at Musgrove Mill, convinced the inhabitants of the mountain regions around Gilbert Town to take shelter under the King's protection. By doing this they would be able to save their cattle that they had hid away in the mountain passes for the Patriot cause.

Ferguson's soldiers sallied forth out of camp in search of beef among the Patriot farmers.  Finding a herd they began their work of preparing the meat for the meals.  As they were well into their work, Ferguson was informed that they had been decimating the herds of three of his own loyalist men.  Ferguson had been duped by Colonel Shelby and British influence in the area suffered even more.

About that same time, Colonel Ferguson paroled an Over the Mountain prisoner in his entourage and sent him with a message to Isaac Shelby in particular.  Samuel Philips found Shelby and relayed the message, "If they did not desist from their opposition to the British arms, he would march his army over the mountains, hang their leaders, and lay their country waste with fire and sword."  Philips, ever the soldier, then set about giving particulars on the makeup of Ferguson's army to Colonel Shelby.

Shelby and the leaders at Musgrove Mills had foreseen that Ferguson had plans for their mountain homeland even before he had left the South State.  They had agreed to begin recruiting an army to confront Ferguson as soon as the opportunity presented itself. Now was the time. 

Shelby would take the lead and find John Sevier and other leaders and start towards the invading army.  Dispatches and messengers were sent throughout the mountains.

They came in droves.  Hundreds from different counties and valleys converged on the meeting places in Morganton and Gilbert Town.  They came, on horseback and on foot, with a purpose to confront the threats of Colonel Ferguson and the British realm.  These were wild hunters of hearty stock who understood Freedom and self government.  They were armed with rifles and were expert marksmen. They came over the snow covered mountains and down through the valleys.  They forded mountain streams and rivers while keeping their powder dry.  They came on knowing that they might not come back.  They came in droves. With Colonel Shelby....They came for a Reckoning!

Ferguson, at first, did not comprehend his peril. He allowed his personal biases to not see his enemy for what it was...a battle-hardened foe led by Colonel Shelby (and others).  He either couldn't or wouldn't see that Shelby was neither awed by British might nor one to lose a fight.  Colonel Ferguson lingered, hoping to cut off Georgia Patriot Col. Elijah Clarke coming from Augusta, Ga. He would wind his way back down the mountain passes, stall for a little more time for Clarke to appear.  The Redcoats would then feint southwest towards Ninety Six and ultimately head east to draw on support from Lord Cornwallis. Clarke never showed, but Shelby and company came on with a purpose and closed the distance.

Cornwallis was easily within reach at Charlotte, NC had Ferguson simply been prudent. But Ferguson chose the small mountain spur of King's Mountain to make his stand.  He had trained and bragged about his group of Loyalists in his camp and now that confidence would be tested. Ferguson trusted in his position and his loyal troops numbering close to 1000 men at arms.  He would even boast about his chosen defensive position and swore it could not be taken.(3)  

After being on the march for 2 weeks, Colonel Shelby made sure the British threats were answered. On October 7, 1780 the Mountain men surrounded the summit and were urged to do their duty; and if they did, the day would be won.

Drawing on his experience fighting the Shawnee, Shelby would tell his men at King’s Mountain, “Be your own officer...If in the woods, shelter yourselves, and give them Indian play; advance from tree to tree, pressing the enemy and killing and disabling all you can.”(4) 

The battle raged for just over an hour and Ferguson was left dead on the field.  His words to Colonel Shelby had inflamed the Patriot zeal and left the British leader cold and prostrate.  Shelby, by contrast, stood erect, unscathed and was every bit in control of his men and his duty.

After the battle of Kings Mountain and before the march off the precipice, the prisoners were ordered to line up and shoulder rifles that were stacked. An elderly loyalist of King George feigned old age as a reason for not picking his up.  Shelby slapped him with the flat edge of his sword and said, that he(Shelby) had brought one so the tory could take one away.  The tory jumped to, grabbed a rifle and got into line.(5)

In 1781 Shelby would fight under Francis Marion and add more wins to his war record.

He would later become the first and fifth governor of Kentucky and serve in the War of 1812.(6)

Fearless, determined and able, Colonel Shelby was one of the many heroes of King's Mountain and the Revolution in the South.  He was followed and feared in the cause of Liberty all throughout his life and the Country owes him great respect and gratitude.

Many towns and counties were named in his honor, including the North Carolina city just north of Kings Mountain.  Freedom Reigns!

(1) http://www.holstonia.net/files/GlanvilleFR2010.pdf
(2) https://allthingsliberty.com/2018/08/skulking-shots-on-the-flank-the-skirmish-at-cane-creek/

(3) Before They Were HEroes at King's Mountain, Randell Jones
(4) The Battles of Kings Mountain and Cowpens: The American Revolution in the Southern Backcountry, Melissa A. Walker

(5) History of the Upper Country of SC, Logan

(6) https://www.battlefields.org/learn/biographies/isaac-shelby

Thicketty Fort

Captain Johnson had a hard time wrestling Tory Captain Patrick Moore into submission.  Moore and his Loyalist sympathizers had been on the run from their defeat at Ramsour’s Mill near Lincolnton, NC for 12 days and were not too willing to fall into the hands of these Liberty Men. At six foot seven inches tall(1), Moore was giving his fair share and was able to open up multiple cuts on Johnson’s head and thumb. Despite it all, Captain Johnson was hauling him in towards the rest of the Patriot contingent.  The spilled blood; however, got into the Johnson’s powder and he misfired as reinforcements arrived for the Loyalist leader.  While Johnson retreats through the bushes, Captain Moore escapes and is able to make it home on Thicketty Creek, outside of Gaffney, SC. (2)

Captain Moore had reinforced a fort there and commanded a body of loyalist men with good stores of weaponry.  Undaunted by his near fatal encounter with Johnson, Moore’s command had become a staging point for the Tories to launch raiding parties on the Patriot homes and farms in the back country. So much so that it raised the ire of not only General Sumter in South Carolina, but also Col. McDowell from NC.  Both were in the area of conflict attempting to win and subdue the land for the cause. Independently they had both sent out warriors to attack Fort Thicketty.  Elijah Clarke, Isaac Shelby, Andrew Hampton and Charles Robertson met and combined their forces to put and end to the threat. 

The fort itself was surrounded by abatis that made it difficult to approach without impaling oneself on the pointed timbers.  Similar structures were used at the star fort at Ninety-Six and other conflict areas. Fort Thicketty sat upon a rise above the creek and had loopholes in the walls from which to fire at the enemy from cover. To overcome even a crude abatis takes coordination and firepower under extreme exposure.  To make offensive operations against the fort even worse, the fort had only one opening by which to enter the enclosure.  Moore’s men were more than confident that they could repel the forces that approached their bastion in the back country.(3)

Colonel Shelby and his men of daring were not ones to shrink from a fight.  Shelby arrived at the fort on July 26, 1780 and sent word to Moore to surrender at once.  Moore refused, and he and his Tory militia steeled their nerves for the fight. Col. Shelby then arrayed all 600 of his men into firing positions in a way that was meant to intimidate.  All along the wood line surrounding the fort, Moore and his militia observed the Liberty Men step out with their rifles and storied hunting shirts.  Certainly, they had the set jaws and determination of men used to conflict on the Indian frontier and mimicked their leader as they put on a show of force.  Shelby, again, called out for a parley with Moore.  Moore assured his men, as he left out for the discussion of terms, that he would not be surrendering and that he intended to fight.

Perhaps it was his recent brush with death at the hands of some of these same men outside of Lincolnton.  Or perhaps it was his subsequent near-death experience near the Wofford’s Iron works at the hands of Captain Johnson not 24 days removed.  Or perhaps it was a combination of so many seasoned fighting men standing before Moore’s little fort of friends and neighbors. Whatever the single or combination of reasons, Captain Moore agreed to surrender the fort if his men were spared and paroled.  To the dismay of his men, the Loyalist Captain walked back to the fort under Patriot escort and turned the fort over without firing a shot in defense.

 

Col. Shelby’s ruse worked, and the Sons of Liberty were fortunate, indeed.  Among the stores of weaponry were found ready muskets loaded with “buck and ball” at the gun ports of the fort.  Had Captain Moore fought it out, Colonel Shelby may have been hard pressed to win without cannon.  At the very least he would have paid dearly with the lives of his men to win the day.   Captain Moore’s capitulation without a fight saved many lives that day on both sides, but he held the title of coward in the eyes of his superiors in General Cornwallis’ camp.(2, Ibid)

The month was a sore one for the British in the upstate.  Having taken Charleston, the British had set their sights on the upcountry, but suffered some setbacks.  Lt. Col. Turnbull wrote Cornwallis about his Ramsour’s Mill investigation and chastised the Loyalist timing at Lincolnton.  He also warned of the Scots Irish,  "As for the majority Scots-Irish inhabitants of the Catawba River Valley," Turnbull wrote: "I wish I could say something in their favor. I believe them to be the worst of creation - and nothing will bring them to reason but severity.”(4)  

But Cornwallis did not understand what the threat in this quarter really was. He was on the move and was concentrated on the Continental army.  He had a destiny with Gates at Camden.  His response for the left flank of his army was to send Major Patrick Ferguson.  He would write later, after the blinders were off, "A numerous and unexpected enemy came from the mountains.  As they had good horses, their movements were rapid."(3,ibid)

 

A reckoning was coming!  And for the next 72 days Liberty was in question.  Freedom Reigns!

(1)      Kings Mountain and It’s Heroes:  The Battle of King’s Mountain, October 7^Th, 1780, and the Events Which Led to It, Lyman Copeland Draper, Anthony Allaire

(2)      Parker’s Guide to the Revolutionary War in South Carolina, John C. Parker Jr.

(3)      Before they were Heroes at King’s Mountain, Randell Jones

(4)      Neighborhood in Constant Alarm: The Battle of Ramsour’s Mill and Partisan Divisions in the Carolina Backcountry Communities During the American Revolution, Austin William Smith