More good news for preservationists and Rev War buffs! A few years ago the Foothills Conservancy of North Carolina initiated an effort to identify the location of the Battle of Cane Creek, where Charles McDowell’s Whigs faced off against Patrick Ferguson’s Tories in September 1780. An archaeologist has linked the battlefield to a tract of land in eastern McDowell County, and the Foothills Conservancy has acquired the property.
Cane Creek wasn’t a large engagement, but it was an important prelude to the critical Battle of King’s Mountain. McDowell’s men headed west after the Cane Creek fight to take refuge among the Watauga settlers of present-day East Tennessee. Soon afterward, of course, refugees and overmountain settlers alike mustered and marched east for a showdown with Ferguson’s Loyalists.
I’m very glad to hear of the Foothills Conservancy’s success. It’s a wonderful Christmas present for those of us interested in the Southern Campaign.
Past in the Present 