A crowd of more than 60 people were on hand on Wednesday, October 5, when a group of frontiersmen were honored with a North Carolina Highway Historical Marker.
The marker recognizing the Overmountain Men was dedicated at NC 108 at County Line Road, east of Mill Spring. The marker is near Alexander’s Ford on the Green River, a well-known crossing point.
Polk County natives Garry and Tarry Bradley, who have family connections to the land where the Overmountain Men were encamped, along with Polk County Board of Commissioners Chairman Tommy Melton and Commissioner David Moore unveiled the marker during a dedication ceremony. To learn more about the marker, click here.
The Overmountain Men were American frontiersmen from west of the Appalachian Mountains who were encamped in Polk County and who helped change the course of the Revolutionary War with their actions. The term “overmountain” arose because their settlements were west of, or “over,” the Appalachians, which was the primary geographical boundary dividing the 13 American colonies from the western frontier. The Overmountain Men hailed from parts of Virginia, North Carolina, and what is now Tennessee and Kentucky.
Also in attendance for the Historical Marker’s unveiling were Robin Ramsey (who represented Sen. Richard Burr), Drew Christy (who represented Gov. Roy Cooper), Representative Jake Johnson, Register of Deeds Sheila Whitmire, Columbus Mayor Pat McCool, County Commissioners Chairman Tommy Melton and Commissioner David Moore, County Manager Marche Pittman, Parks and Recreation Mickey Edwards and Laura Baird, Ansley Wegner (from the N.C. State Highway Historical Marker Program), and Diana Bramble (Superintendent of Cowpens National Battlefield & Kings Mountain National Military Park).
Local organizations who were represented at the event were: Overmountain Victory Trail Association (who served as reenactors during the dedication), Polk County Historical Association, Daughters and Sons of the American Revolution, House of Flags, and VFW Honor Guard.
Two days before the Oct. 7, 1780, Battle of King’s Mountain, about 1,400 of the Overmountain Men, camped at Alexander’s Ford. These soldiers were preparing to meet the British and Tory forces in Ninety-Six, South Carolina. But with the arrival of new intelligence describing the whereabouts of another British force led by Major Patrick Ferguson, they changed their course and headed toward the Charlotte area. The decision provided Patriot forces with some of the best riflemen during the Battle of King’s Mountain, which was a turning point of the campaign. From then on, revolutionary forces controlled the Southern theater of war.
This surprising victory of the American Patriot militia over the Loyalists followed a string of Patriot defeats at the hands of Lord Cornwallis, and greatly raised the Patriots’ morale. With Ferguson’s death in the battle and his Loyalist militia destroyed, Cornwallis canceled his plan to invade North Carolina and retreated into South Carolina.
