American Victors

As the sun set after the battle at Kings Mountain, hundreds of men in similar dress milled around the hillside while Whigs and Tories slept on wet, cold ground amid the groans of wounded and dying men. The rebel colonels decided to leave the next morning because Cornwallis was not far away. Messengers rode out to carry word of victory to George Washington, and three weeks later the news reached Philadelphia. By then, the patriot regiments had disappeared into the Southern forests. After Kings Mountain, nothing would ever be the same for these men and for the patriot cause. The battle brought Whig John Sevier fame and political good fortune for the rest of his life; he was elected governor of Tennessee six times and also served in the United States Congress. Other Whig leaders, including Shelby, Cleveland, and Winston, also enjoyed long success in frontier politics.

Smyrna, South Carolina · United States