Of "The King's American Regiment," and second in command at King's Mountain on the British side. See "The Affair at King's Mountain," Chapter 2.

Watts

CHAPTER 2.

"The Affair at King's Mountain", an Article giving the British version of that battle, by John de Peyster, nephew of Abraham de Peyster, second in command at the battle, Oct., 7, 1780.

In the Revolutionary War the de Peyster family, one of the oldest New York families, had three sons who were Loyalists and served on the British side as officers. One of these was Capt. Abraham de Peyster who was second in command on the Loyalist side and succeeded to the command when Patrick Ferguson, Major 71st Regiment Loyalists, was shot and killed at Kings Mountain.

Another was Captain Frederick de Peyster who attained the rank of Captain in the Revolutionary War, distinguished himself at Eutaw Springs and died in New York in 1834.

Another was Captain James de Peyster, born May 16, 1753, who at the age of twenty was commissioned Captain-Lieutenant, and served in the Loyalist Army, and died unmarried at Lincelles, Flanders, August 19, 1793, being at the time 1st Lieut. of Artillery.

Capt. Abraham de Peyster of Kings Mountain was born February 18, 1853, and after the close of the Revolution became Treasurer of New Brunswick and died there leaving descendants.

Gen. John Watts de Peyster, the author of the article "The Affair at Kings Mountain," produced below, was a great nephew of Abraham de Peyster of Kings Mountain and was a voluminous writer, especially on military subjects. He was a kinsman of Gen. Phil Kearney of the Union Army in the Civil War and wrote his biography. This article was first published in 1880, 41 years ago, and is now out of print. More than a generation of Americans have come on the stage of action who never heard of the article or its author, and who, while they will not endorse various things in it, will welcome a Loyalist view of a supremely important battle in which pioneer Tennessee bore so splendid a part.

"THE AFFAIR at KING'S MOUNTAIN.

7TH. OCTOBER, 1780

"The principal object of this article is to present in new but true colors the prominent features of this battle: delineations novel, although authentic, because contrary to narratives hitherto given as correct.

"The chief facts are these:

"1st. The fall of Ferguson did not determine the battle. He was not killed at the end of the action, as always hitherto represented, but early in the action,' and, therefore, his second in command and successor must have some credit for the protracted resistance instead of being held amenable to the charge of having surrendered as soon as his superior was slain, and the responsibility devolved upon him. He had gone through pretty much all of the previous receiving and giving of hard knocks, and had been shifted like a shuttle from one point of impact to another, wherever danger threatened, again and again, throughout the whole engagement, and he continued to fight on until, as his subordinate subsequently testifies (Charlestown, 30th January, 1781), "Captain de Peyster, on whom the command devolved, seeing it impossible to form six men together, thought it necessary to surrender to save the lives of the brave men who were left.' 'We lost, early in this action, Major Ferguson, of the 71st Regiment.' Ferguson's obituary notice in Rivington's Royal Gazette (New York), 24th February, 1781, begins: 'On the death of Maj. Patrick Ferguson, who was killed early in the action at King's Mountain, South Carolina.' Another letter, dated Charlestown, 4th March, 1781, written by an officer who also was in the battle, says, 'after our misfortune in losing Major Ferguson, the command devolved on Captain de Peyster; he behaved like a brave, good officer, and disputed the ground as long as it was possible to defend it.' Finally, General Lenior ('Wheeler's North Carolina,' 105) who was a Captain with Major Winston's command, writing to correct 'accounts of that battle (King's Mountain) which are very erroneous,' states, 'Colonel Ferguson had seven or eight bullets shot through him, and fell some time before the battle was over.'

"If General Graham, in his plan of the battle, locates correctly the spot where Ferguson fell, it is not unlikely that he was shot in repelling one of the effective charges at the west end of the summit, opposing the advance of the left under Cleveland. It is conceded on all sides that Ferguson might have burst through the American forces when his lieutenant drove their first attack down the slope in the direction of Tarleton and Cornwallis, as the latter advised him to do. Shortly after Major Winston came in to the right, and the circle was complete.

“2nd. There was no corps of British Regulars in the fight, but those called 'Regulars' were a detachment of selected troops from the 'Provincial Corps' or 'Brigade' of American Loyalists,

and Ferguson was 'territorial' Brigadier. Like Hanging Rock and other severe collisions, King's Mountain was a fight altogether between Loyal and Whig Americans, not between British, proper, and Colonists.

"3rd. Instead of the British outnumbering the Americans, the latter were to the British as 1 3-4 to 1; as 1310 (Shelby) to 1,370 (calculation), to 908 (Allaire) to 960 (Stedman), or to 850 (Warren), or to 960 (Davidson, W. N. C. 103); perhaps the Whigs were fully twice as many as the Loyalists, 1,900 to 950.

"4th. With the exception of the 100 Provincials, Regulars, or 'Veteran Volunteers,' the British were all green troops or militia

"5th. The Americans were not green militia, properly speaking, but men acclimated to battle, seasoned by life-long service to fighting.

"In order to understand the importance of the battle of King's Mountain, the decisive battle of the Revolutionary War of the South, and, perhaps, the decisive result everywhere, it is necessary to consider the preceding events, their bearing upon this engagement and its influence upon what followed.

"The defeat of Camden was a terrible blow to the colonies. No disaster was so unexpected. None was followed by such lasting consequences. It left Cornwallis in the centre of the new State the master of the situation; and if Clinton had given him a few more troops, or the British Government had followed the advice of every general of ability and poured reinforcements in at once and at critical points, the South would have been irretrievably lost. The Southern States were always the vulnerable point of the Union, and it was in this quarter Washington expected an invasion when made Lieut.-General, and preparing against hostilities on the part of the French.

"Cornwallis had with him a man remarkable for spirit, ability and courage, Patrick Ferguson, Junior, or Second Major of the Seventy-first Regiment Highlanders. He possessed many of the qualities which ennoble a soldier. He was temperate in his habits, magnanimous in his disposition, fearless in danger, and manly at all times. Such was the confidence reposed in him by Cornwallis that he conferred upon him a Brevet of Lieutenant-Colonel; constituted him a 'local' or 'territorial' Brigadier-General of militia; confided to him an independent command and allowed him to select his subordinates and troops. His mission was to insure the submission of the western part of the two Carolinas, embody the Loyalists, organize and discipline them, sweep away the partisan corps and guerillas which endangered communications, utilize the resources of the country, and, in fine, act as his chief's left arm in the effectual subjugation of the outlying territory. Ferguson had already won considerable reputation in the German wars, and at an early age, before he came out to America in 1777. He brought with him his own invention, the first breech-loading

rifle ever used by regular troops in actual battle, combining a number of improvements deemed of comparatively very recent discovery or application. These rifles, contructed upon this principle, were issued to a picked body of men, at the Brandy-wine, 11th September, 1777, astonished the American sharpshooters by the superiority of their aim and the rapidity of their fire. In this battle Ferguson had his right arm shattered, and lost the use of it so as to become in reality the 'one-armed devil' that he is represented as having been during his service, elsewhere, and to the South.

"Ferguson had been uniformly successful in every operation confided to him. He distinguished himself at the seige of Charleston (29th March-12th May, 1780), and in the operations subordinate thereto, especially at Monk's Corner and Lanneau's Bridge, in connection with Tarleton. American writers on these events do not stint the praise so justly due to his military capacity. They style him 'the celebrated Ferguson.'

"The animosity aroused by Ferguson's penetration so deep into their fastnesses, and his manifest intention of sparing no exertions to restore the authority of the king, inspired the hardy element, which dwelt amid the Alleghanies, to unite with their freinds to crush out one who seemed to be the most dangerous common enemy. It is usual and proper to attribute the general irritation against Ferguson to his own severity and the outrages committed by his followers. This is totally inconsistent with the language used about him by local historians. It is needless to dwell on his intrepidity, for that he was utterly fearless is acknowledged by every one; likewise his extraordinary ability. If any one to whom he was nearest and dearest desires to see his praises set forth in the strongest language they need only to resort to Ramsey and to Wheeler.

"Patrick Ferguson was no ordinary man. General Davidson styles him 'the Great Partisan;' General Lenior 'the celebrated Colonel Ferguson." His rank in 1780, has occasioned considerble controversy. In different works and on different occasions he is styled 'Major,' 'Colonel' and 'General.' This is easily explained. He held the 'line' commission of Second Major in the Seventy-first Regiment ("White') Highlanders; was 'breveted' Lieutenant-Colonel; is addressed as Colonel, a few days before he fell, by Colonel Cruger in the latter's last communication to Ferguson from '96;' and held the 'local' rank of Brigadier-General of Militia. The English have a variety of military titles which are unknown and unrecognized on other services, especially our own; 'local' or 'territorial,' is one of these; 'temporary,' another; there are five or six.

"Shortly after Sir Henry Clinto returned to the North and Cornwallis succeeded him in command at the South, Patrick Moore, against the instructions of Cornwallis, placed himself at the head of a strong body of Loyalists from Tyron (afterward