"From the New York Times bestselling author--the first Ballad novel to feature the epic, and gorgeously-portrayed, American Revolution John Sevier had not taken much interest in the American Revolution, he was too busy fighting Indians in the Carolinas and taming the wilderness. But when an arrogant British officer threatened his settlement--promising to burn the farms and kill families--the war became personal. That arrogant officer is Patrick Ferguson of the British Army--who is both charmingly antagonistic and surprisingly endearing. Inventor of the Ferguson rifle, and the devoted lover to his mistress, Virginia Sal, Patrick becomes a delightful anti-hero under McCrumb's watchful eye. Through varying perspectives, King's Mountain is an elegant saga of the Carolina Overmountain Men--the militia organized by Sevier (who would later become the first governor of Tennessee) and their victory in 1780 against the Tories in a battle that Thomas Jefferson later called, "The turning point of the American Revolution." Peppered with lore and the authentic heart of the people in McCrumb's classic Ballads, this is an epic book that will build on the success of The Ballad of Tom Dooley and her recent return to the New York Times bestseller list. Featuring the American Revolution, this a huge draw to readers old and new, and special to McCrumb who can trace her lineage to the character John Sevier"--

The story of the campaign, fighting, and aftermath connected to the Battle of King's Mountain and the British Southern Campaign during the American Revolution.

Learn the little-known history of the turning-point battle of Kings Mountain, one of the most decisive American victories in the Revolutionary War. The Battle of Kings Mountain was the most remarkable, unexpected, and unorthodox patriot victory of supreme importance that was fought during the course of the American Revolution. The victors of Kings Mountain were South Carolina, Virginia, and North Carolina Backcountry volunteers (including men from today’s Tennessee) of a ghost army that suddenly materialized practically out of thin air from both sides of the Appalachian Mountains on its own and without authorization from the Continental Congress or Continental officers. To defend their farms and families and the land they loved, on October 7, 1780, this ad hoc force of Backcountry volunteers from remote settlements across the frontier suddenly descended upon a well-trained and well-equipped force of more than one thousand Royal Provincial and Loyalist troops, who defiantly made their last stand on the summit of Kings Mountain, after having been caught by surprise. During one of the hardest fought and bloodiest battles of the American Revolution, this one-sided (the entire enemy force—the vital left wing of Lord Charles Cornwallis’ Army—was killed, wounded, and captured) patriot victory at Kings Mountain was a major turning point of not only the war in the South, but also of the American Revolution. Ironically, no battle of the American Revolution more forcefully demonstrated the lethal effectiveness of Southern militia and the future surreal horrors of America’s first civil war. This decisive battle in northwest South Carolina was fought between fellow Americans, including not only neighbors but also relatives, even fathers and sons, nearly three-quarters of a century before the Battles of First Manassas, Antietam, and Gettysburg, when young Americans once again slaughtered each other for what they believed was right. When it appeared at the time that the war in South Carolina had been lost to the British, the patriots of Kings Mountain rose splendidly to the challenge to win an amazing success that best personified the essence and spirit of the revolution, which the victors kept alive during one of the darkest periods of the American Revolution. Most importantly, the dramatic patriot victory at Kings Mountain on October 7, 1781 helped to set the stage and pave the way for the surrender of Cornwallis’ Army at Yorktown only a year later, which was an event that all but ended the war and ensured the independence of a new nation.

Through government documents, autobiographies, correspondence, this book presents a look at the Southern backcountry that engendered its role in the Revolutionary War; with attention to political, social, and military history.