Today I visited the only two Revolutionary War National
Military Parks: Cowpens and Kings Mountain,
both in South Carolina. I was unaware of Cowpens until I saw the
National Parks Service sign on the highway and decided to investigate. The battle took place in January of 1781 when
Continentals and militia from Virginia, Georgia and the Carolinas
won a decisive victory over the British.
It was after this battle that British Gen. Cornwallis abandoned South Carolina to the Patriots and marched north to his eventual
surrender at Yorktown. The visitor center had a film created by the
History Channel in addition to the exhibits.
Kings
Mountain was another
matter. I was familiar with this battle,
as my 5th great-grandfather was involved in it. Robert Bean fought under General Elijah Clarke
with the Patriots in October of 1780 to decimate American Loyalists to “turn
the tide” of the American Revolution, according to Thomas Jefferson. Yes, it was a battle of Americans against
Americans. No British were
involved. The visitor center here had a
full 30-minute History Channel film about the battle and the exhibits were the
best I’ve seen yet on my trip. I left
feeling very proud of my ancestor.
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