The Battle of Kings Mountain: The Turning Point That Saved the Revolution
Most Americans have never heard of Kings Mountain, yet this remote South Carolina battlefield witnessed one of the most decisive moments of the Revolutionary War on October 7, 1780. When British Major Patrick Ferguson threatened to march his army “over the mountains” and hang the leaders with fire and sword, he awakened a sleeping giant among the frontier settlers. Over 900 “Over Mountain Men” from what is now Tennessee, along with patriots from Virginia and the Carolinas, surrounded Ferguson’s force of 1,100 loyalists and British regulars on the rocky summit.
The battle lasted just 65 minutes, but its impact echoed through history. Ferguson was killed along with 157 of his men, while 163 were wounded and 698 captured. The patriot forces suffered only 28 killed and 62 wounded, according to military records preserved in the National Archives. British General Cornwallis, who had been advancing north with confidence, was forced to retreat back into South Carolina, delaying his campaign by crucial months.
The Battle of Plattsburgh: Naval Victory That Ended the War of 1812
While everyone remembers the Battle of New Orleans, the real decisive engagement of the War of 1812 happened on Lake Champlain near Plattsburgh, New York, on September 11, 1814. British Admiral George Downie commanded a fleet of 16 vessels with 92 guns, facing American Commodore Thomas Macdonough’s 14 ships mounting 86 guns. The British had assembled their largest invasion force since the Revolution, with 11,000 troops ready to march on Albany and New York City.
Macdonough’s tactical genius turned the tide when he used kedge anchors to pivot his flagship Saratoga during the battle, bringing fresh guns to bear against the British flagship Confiance. Within two hours, Downie was dead and his fleet either captured or destroyed. The stunning naval defeat forced the British army to retreat back to Canada, effectively ending major British offensive operations and leading directly to the Treaty of Ghent.
The Battle of Glorieta Pass: The Gettysburg of the West
Deep in the New Mexico Territory, a little-known Civil War battle on March 28, 1862, shattered Confederate dreams of a Pacific empire. Confederate General Henry Sibley had marched his Texas Brigade up the Rio Grande Valley, capturing Santa Fe and planning to seize the Colorado gold fields and California ports. Union Major John Chivington led 418 Colorado volunteers in a daring flanking maneuver around the Confederate position at Glorieta Pass…