October 7, 1780, was the turning point in the American Revolution: the Battle of Kings Mountain.
Beginning on September 24, private citizens from Virginia, North Carolina, and Georgia, supplied only by themselves had marched 330 miles to attack and defeat British General Lord Cornwallis's protector, Major Patrick Ferguson, at Kings Mountain.
Major Ferguson's mistake had been in goading the borderlands heritage of the Scots-Irish overmountain and piedmont settlers. Generations of oppression in Scotland and Ireland had prepared them to fight decisively for the patriot cause.
The Overmountain Victory National Historic Trail reenacts the march to Kings Mountain. The reenactment is open to everyone, both on foot and in cars.
Partners of the Trail include High Country locations of the Orchard at Altapass, Blue Ridge Parkway, Museum of North Carolina Minerals, Fort Defiance, Historic Burke Foundation, Lake James State Park, Old Wilkes, Inc., and W. Kerr Scott Dam and Reservoir.
For more information, visit www.nps.gov/ovvi
