During the American Revolution in the Southern backcountry, there were several battles that served as turning points of the war. These battles outcomes relied on the use/knowledge of the land and weaponry of the opponents. The execution of this knowledge allowed for these simple battles in the South Carolina backcountry to turn into turning points of the entire revolutionary war in the colonies.
In the Southern backcountry, the majority of the fighting forces was made up of militia. According to the interpretive ranger at Musgrove Mill, the requirements of being a part of the militia was one had to own a rifle, one pound of lead, and one pound of gunpowder. However it was basically a requirement to be a part of the local militia if you are
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The militia lived by the motto live to fight another day, so they had a bad reputation of running (Musgrove Mill). The Militia were often not considered a reliable in combat, this reputation was used as an advantage in a very important turning point battle in 1781( Cowpens Tour Guide). Use of landscape and knowledge of the enemy's weapons turned the tide of several battles.
Kings Mountain was a battle a which the knowledge of the land played a significant factor in the end result of the battle. Under command of Major Patrick Ferguson, was a force of one thousand loyalist militia and one hundred Provincial soldiers. Ferguson’s forces was Cornwallis’s left flank of his southern army. Ferguson was a tactical genius, so when he realised a fight was inevitable he decided to take a stand at Kings Mountain. He was being chased by forces commander by Isaac Shelby, John Sevier’s over mountain men, and Colonel William Campbell( Walker 75). Ferguson decided to to make a stand at Kings Mountain, because the ‘mountain’ is a one hundred fifty foot tall