The Overmountain Victory National Historic Trail
The Overmountain Victory National Historic Trail preserves and commemorates the route of Patriot militia during the 1780 Kings Mountain campaign.
During that historic event, on October 6, 1780, American forces stopped here at the Cow Pens to rest and eat before continuing on that night in pursuit of the British force.
Part of a larger National Trails System, the Overmountain Victory National Historic Trail stretches approximately 330 miles from Abingdon, Virginia, through East Tennessee, over the high mountains of North Carolina, across the piedmont of North and South Carolina to Kings Mountain National Military Park administered by the National Park Service.
"We marched to the Cowpens,
Campbell was there,
Shelby, Cleveland, and
Colonel Sevier;
Men of renown, sir,
Like lions, so bold-
Like lions undaunted,
ne'er to be controlled.
We set out on our march
that very same night;
Sometimes we were wrong,
sometimes we were right;
Our hearts being run in
true liberty's mold,
We valued not hunger,
wet, weary, or cold.
On the top of Kings Mountain
the old rogue we found,
And, like brave heroes,
his camp did surround;
Like lightning, the flashes;
like thunder, the noise;
Our rifles struck the poor
Tories with sudden surprise."
Lossing, Vol. ll
Marker is on Chesnee Highway (Route 11).
Courtesy hmdb.org
