Musgrove's Mill, South Carolina

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Musgrove's Mill, South Carolina

MUSGROVE'S MILL, SOUTH CAROLINA. 18 August 1780. In the skirmishing that preceded the Battle of Kings Mountain, Lieutenant Colonels Elijah Clarke, Isaac Shelby, and James Williams combined their two hundred volunteers from Georgia, the Watauga settlements, and South Carolina, respectively, sharing the command between them. They attempted a surprise attack against the Loyalists at the rear of Major Patrick Ferguson's main force. They launched their assault at Musgrove's Mill on the Enoree River. But the surprise failed and Ferguson turned on them. The rebels took up a defensive position and repulsed an attack in which they claimed to have killed sixty-three Loyalists, wounded ninety, and captured seventy, with a loss of only four rebels killed and eight wounded. If these figures are accurate, they make this one of the most one-sided battles of the Revolution.

SEE ALSO Kings Mountain, South Carolina.

                            revised by Michael Bellesiles

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