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IMAGE and TEXT: Section 4 of 17: The American Revolution Moves South.
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IMAGE and TEXT: Section 4 of 17: The American Revolution Moves South.
DESCRIPTION:The image is a wide sweeping oil painting done by Lloyd Branson in 1915, depicting the gathering of the "Overmountain Men" before beginning their march. It is a busy scene, with no apparent organization of the men. Young white men in their 20s and 30s are in a variety of colonial clothing, some with more formal three-sided cocked hats and tight knee-length stockings, others in long dirty overshirts and gray round fur caps on their heads. Most of the men are holding or carrying long rifles, their wooden stocks resting on the ground while small groups of men cluster together in discussion. All of their faces are happy and clean-shaven, some in slight smiles while others are fully grinning, denoting the confidence they feel in their undertaking and the almost jovial atmosphere of their gathering. Scattered through the group can be seen a few men wearing small leather pouches slung over their shoulders to carry bullets, along with cow horns on shoulder straps to carry gunpowder slung beside the small leather bags . Some of the men stand beside their horses, securing rolled up blankets full of supplies to the back of their leather saddles. Scattered among the men are women in long gowns with cloth caps of various colors covering their heads. These families are shown saying goodbye to their men as they prepare to mount their horses, with one hand on the saddle and a foot raised to the stirrups. Children are sprinkled throughout the scene as well, wearing miniature versions of their parent's clothing; one on the right is being directed by his mother towards where his mounted father is waving goodbye, while on the left a nursing mother converses with a fellow well-wishing wife. At the edges of each cluster of people are one or two scruffy brown and white dogs who have followed their owners to the scene. The eye is drawn to the middle of the painting where two men are mounted on tan horses with leather saddles. They are wearing three-sided cocked black hats with a faint glimmer of silver or gold edges, blue coats with tan edges around the collar and down the chest, tight tan pants extending to the knee, and knee length leather riding boots. Red sashes around their waist suggest these are men in leadership roles, and each one is reaching down to shake the hands of other men standing around them. In the background a group of men are walking away in two close lines, their rifles carried on their shoulders and rolled-up blankets tied upon their backs. One man of this group is running behind trying to catch up, while another small group of men wave to them and raise their hats to cheer them on. At the far left of the scene in the background can be glimpsed the edge of a river lapping against a thin rocky beach, while in the left foreground is the left flank of a large cow, covered in brown and white hair. The upper right corner of the painting has laid on it a quote, saying "The first link in a chain of evils that... ended in the total loss of America," British General Sir Henry Clinton, Overall commander in North America. The bottom right corner contains the caption that follows.
CAPTION: Mounted Patriots vs. Loyalists on Foot: As this Lloyd Branson painting ”Gathering of the Mountain Men at Sycamore Shoals” suggests, the overmountain patriots were mounted. Their number eventually totaled 2,000. Being on horses enabled them to overtake Major Ferguson and his loyalist forces once the latter knew they were in pursuit. For the final leg the patriots selected 900 of their best mounted and armed men. They surrounded the loyalists at Kings Mountain, defeating them decisively and frustrating Britain’s southern strategy. CREDIT:Tennessee State Museum Collection. QUOTE:"The first link in a chain of evils that . . . ended in the total loss of America." — British General Sir Henry Clinton, Overall commander in North America.
RELATED TEXT: By early 1780 the American Revolution was stalemated. Unable to subdue the northern colonies, the British turned south. Campaigning from Savannah, Georgia, taken in late 1778, the British took Charleston, South Carolina—and 5,000 patriots—in May 1780. Southern colonies now had no
organized resistance to invasion. Soon most of Georgia and South Carolina were occupied, and in August the British again routed patriots at Camden, South Carolina. That meant North Carolina was ripe for invasion. British strategy hinged on rallying Americans to fight for the Crown. War planners believed southern loyalists were many and would fight the patriots if the British gained control. At first the plan seemed to work. British Inspector of Militia for the Southern Provinces Major Patrick Ferguson was to recruit and train this hoped-for loyalist militia. At Ninety Six, a western South Carolina post, Ferguson raised and trained several regiments of loyalist militia to support British forces and to control the re-taken colonies. General Lord Cornwallis, British commander in the South, started moving his army into North Carolina in September 1780. Ferguson and 1,000 loyalists were to advance along the western frontier to recruit more men, protect Cornwallis’s left flank, and deter Scotch-Irish frontier settlers from joining the patriots. Ferguson moved north and west, probing to Gillespie Gap, east of today’s Spruce Pine, North Carolina. He sent a verbal ultimatum to settlers west of the Blue Ridge: quit opposing British arms, or “he would march his army over the mountains, hang their leaders, and lay their country waste with fire and sword.” His demand was a strategic blunder. It forced Scotch-Irish frontiersmen—who largely stayed aloof from events to their east—into the patriot camp. Patriot militia leaders Colonels John Sevier and Isaac Shelby appealed to the patriot militia of southwest Virginia and northwest Virginia militiamen under Colonel William Campbell set out from Abingdon, Virginia. They reached Sycamore Shoals (in today’s Elizabethton, Tennessee) the next day, joining 400 men led by Sevier and Shelby, and 200 more led by Colonel Charles McDowell. On September 26, this 1,000-strong mounted militia set out to the southeast. Their first goal: to join with North and South Carolina piedmont men at Quaker Meadows plantation near today’s Morganton, North Carolina. On September 30, 350 patriots from present-day North Carolina counties of Surry, Wilkes, and Caldwell met there with the over-the-mountains group. The patriot force would eventually total 2,000 men, most mounted, including militia from South Carolina and Georgia. En route the overmountain men had advanced through ridgelines climbing to nearly 5,000 feet. In Yellow Mountain Gap on Roan Mountain, September 27, snow was “shoe-mouth deep.” On a nearby mountain bald they fired a volley to celebrate crossing the Blue Ridge. But that day two men deserted to warn the British of their approach. On September 28 the patriots split their force so the loyalists—assumed nearby—could not elude them. They reunited September 30 west of Quaker Meadows, to hunt for Ferguson in vain for five days. Alerted to their presence and strength, Ferguson was retreating toward the main British army in Charlotte, North Carolina. The breakthrough came October 5 as the patriot militia learned from South Carolina Colonel Edward Lacey of Ferguson’s retreat toward Charlotte. The next day 900 select mounted patriots—both overmountain men and piedmont men—set out in hot pursuit that would last all night. At Hannah’s Cowpens (South Carolina) they rested the horses, ate a light meal, and pondered their next move. That would be the decisive Battle of Kings Mountain, October 7, 1780. The British threat to North Carolina would be thwarted there, forcing a retreat of the main army to South Carolina. Private citizens supplied only by themselves had marched 330 miles—mostly through bad weather, over terrain one must experience to appreciate—to attack and defeat Major Ferguson’s loyalists. The victory allowed a new patriot army to form under General Nathaniel Greene and to resist British moves in 1781. The revolution was back on track.
Description
IMAGE and TEXT: Section 4 of 17: The American Revolution Moves South. DESCRIPTION:The image is a wide sweeping oil painting done by Lloyd Branson in 1915, depicting the gathering of the "Overmountain Men" before beginning their march. It is a busy scene, with no apparent organization of the men. Young white men in their 20s and 30s are in a variety of colonial clothing, some with more formal three-sided cocked hats and tight knee-length stockings, others in long dirty overshirts and gray round fur caps on their heads. Most of the men are holding or carrying long rifles, their wooden stocks resting on the ground while small groups of men cluster together in discussion. All of their faces are happy and clean-shaven, some in slight smiles while others are fully grinning, denoting the confidence they feel in their undertaking and the almost jovial atmosphere of their gathering. Scattered through the group can be seen a few men wearing small leather pouches slung over their shoulders to carry bullets, along with cow horns on shoulder straps to carry gunpowder slung beside the small leather bags . Some of the men stand beside their horses, securing rolled up blankets full of supplies to the back of their leather saddles. Scattered among the men are women in long gowns with cloth caps of various colors covering their heads. These families are shown saying goodbye to their men as they prepare to mount their horses, with one hand on the saddle and a foot raised to the stirrups. Children are sprinkled throughout the scene as well, wearing miniature versions of their parent's clothing; one on the right is being directed by his mother towards where his mounted father is waving goodbye, while on the left a nursing mother converses with a fellow well-wishing wife. At the edges of each cluster of people are one or two scruffy brown and white dogs who have followed their owners to the scene. The eye is drawn to the middle of the painting where two men are mounted on tan horses with leather saddles. They are wearing three-sided cocked black hats with a faint glimmer of silver or gold edges, blue coats with tan edges around the collar and down the chest, tight tan pants extending to the knee, and knee length leather riding boots. Red sashes around their waist suggest these are men in leadership roles, and each one is reaching down to shake the hands of other men standing around them. In the background a group of men are walking away in two close lines, their rifles carried on their shoulders and rolled-up blankets tied upon their backs. One man of this group is running behind trying to catch up, while another small group of men wave to them and raise their hats to cheer them on. At the far left of the scene in the background can be glimpsed the edge of a river lapping against a thin rocky beach, while in the left foreground is the left flank of a large cow, covered in brown and white hair. The upper right corner of the painting has laid on it a quote, saying "The first link in a chain of evils that... ended in the total loss of America," British General Sir Henry Clinton, Overall commander in North America. The bottom right corner contains the caption that follows. CAPTION: Mounted Patriots vs. Loyalists on Foot: As this Lloyd Branson painting ”Gathering of the Mountain Men at Sycamore Shoals” suggests, the overmountain patriots were mounted. Their number eventually totaled 2,000. Being on horses enabled them to overtake Major Ferguson and his loyalist forces once the latter knew they were in pursuit. For the final leg the patriots selected 900 of their best mounted and armed men. They surrounded the loyalists at Kings Mountain, defeating them decisively and frustrating Britain’s southern strategy. CREDIT:Tennessee State Museum Collection. QUOTE:"The first link in a chain of evils that . . . ended in the total loss of America." — British General Sir Henry Clinton, Overall commander in North America. RELATED TEXT: By early 1780 the American Revolution was stalemated. Unable to subdue the northern colonies, the British turned south. Campaigning from Savannah, Georgia, taken in late 1778, the British took Charleston, South Carolina—and 5,000 patriots—in May 1780. Southern colonies now had no organized resistance to invasion. Soon most of Georgia and South Carolina were occupied, and in August the British again routed patriots at Camden, South Carolina. That meant North Carolina was ripe for invasion. British strategy hinged on rallying Americans to fight for the Crown. War planners believed southern loyalists were many and would fight the patriots if the British gained control. At first the plan seemed to work. British Inspector of Militia for the Southern Provinces Major Patrick Ferguson was to recruit and train this hoped-for loyalist militia. At Ninety Six, a western South Carolina post, Ferguson raised and trained several regiments of loyalist militia to support British forces and to control the re-taken colonies. General Lord Cornwallis, British commander in the South, started moving his army into North Carolina in September 1780. Ferguson and 1,000 loyalists were to advance along the western frontier to recruit more men, protect Cornwallis’s left flank, and deter Scotch-Irish frontier settlers from joining the patriots. Ferguson moved north and west, probing to Gillespie Gap, east of today’s Spruce Pine, North Carolina. He sent a verbal ultimatum to settlers west of the Blue Ridge: quit opposing British arms, or “he would march his army over the mountains, hang their leaders, and lay their country waste with fire and sword.” His demand was a strategic blunder. It forced Scotch-Irish frontiersmen—who largely stayed aloof from events to their east—into the patriot camp. Patriot militia leaders Colonels John Sevier and Isaac Shelby appealed to the patriot militia of southwest Virginia and northwest Virginia militiamen under Colonel William Campbell set out from Abingdon, Virginia. They reached Sycamore Shoals (in today’s Elizabethton, Tennessee) the next day, joining 400 men led by Sevier and Shelby, and 200 more led by Colonel Charles McDowell. On September 26, this 1,000-strong mounted militia set out to the southeast. Their first goal: to join with North and South Carolina piedmont men at Quaker Meadows plantation near today’s Morganton, North Carolina. On September 30, 350 patriots from present-day North Carolina counties of Surry, Wilkes, and Caldwell met there with the over-the-mountains group. The patriot force would eventually total 2,000 men, most mounted, including militia from South Carolina and Georgia. En route the overmountain men had advanced through ridgelines climbing to nearly 5,000 feet. In Yellow Mountain Gap on Roan Mountain, September 27, snow was “shoe-mouth deep.” On a nearby mountain bald they fired a volley to celebrate crossing the Blue Ridge. But that day two men deserted to warn the British of their approach. On September 28 the patriots split their force so the loyalists—assumed nearby—could not elude them. They reunited September 30 west of Quaker Meadows, to hunt for Ferguson in vain for five days. Alerted to their presence and strength, Ferguson was retreating toward the main British army in Charlotte, North Carolina. The breakthrough came October 5 as the patriot militia learned from South Carolina Colonel Edward Lacey of Ferguson’s retreat toward Charlotte. The next day 900 select mounted patriots—both overmountain men and piedmont men—set out in hot pursuit that would last all night. At Hannah’s Cowpens (South Carolina) they rested the horses, ate a light meal, and pondered their next move. That would be the decisive Battle of Kings Mountain, October 7, 1780. The British threat to North Carolina would be thwarted there, forcing a retreat of the main army to South Carolina. Private citizens supplied only by themselves had marched 330 miles—mostly through bad weather, over terrain one must experience to appreciate—to attack and defeat Major Ferguson’s loyalists. The victory allowed a new patriot army to form under General Nathanael Greene and to resist British moves in 1781. The revolution was back on track.
Duration
8 minutes, 41 seconds
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