It seemed every man followed the advice of Col. Shelby to use rock and tree in the laborious advance up the hill and into enemy fire. Cleveland's regiment was ten minutes late getting started due to the marshy terrain, and once moving forward ran into musket fire and the bayonet. Gradually the Patriot forces, some 1,840 of them, over came the 1,000 or so Tories and British troops.
Major Patrick Ferguson, wearing a bright red coat, was an easy target on horseback. Many claimed they fired the bullet that put an end of his life. Ferguson's boot caught in his stirrup and his body, continuing to receive lead, was dragged hundreds of yards. With his death, the battle ended in a massive Patriot victory.
When British General Cornwallis heard of the defeat, he reduced his ambitions in the Carolinas. After the Battle of Guilford Courthouse, North Carolina, a Pyrrhic victory the next year, he 'cornered' himself at Yorktown, Virginia. Bottled up by Washington and the French fleet, he surrendered in October 1781, a year after the Battle of King's Mountain After six years of combat, the American Revolution was won.
Who fired that shot that killed the arrogant Scotsman Ferguson (pictured above)? Watauga County, North Carolina historian, John Preston Arthur, probably reporting local folklore, wrote in 1915 that the American Patriot was none other than Benjamin Greer! Other historians have listed the names of other soldiers. One suspects a dozen American marksmen may have fired at Ferguson, so plainly visible dressed in a red coat on a large horse.
One hopes this ancestor of ours finally obtained some rest that winter of 1780/81. His summer of 1780 is, of course, literally one for the history books. He made war on both the Cherokee, Tories and the British Empire. In these endeavors, he was successful. Was his work done? Not yet. The back country of Wilkes County still suffered from Tory infestation, some neighbors against neighbors.
Next, Benjamin Greer rescues his King's Mountain commander, Col. Benjamin Cleveland, from a Tory band.
POSTED BY GLENN N. HOLLIMAN AT 4:05 AM 1 COMMENTS 
LABELS: BENJAMIN GREER
4/9/11
When We Were Greers, Part XVII
by Glenn N. Holliman
Benjamin Greer Gives a Hint!
John Preston Arthur in his work on Watauga County, North Carolina history, published in 1915, records an incident during 1780 hostilities that resonated through the decades.. The piece of folklore or fact (probably leans toward 'fact') deals with a private soldier, Capt. Benjamin Greer who chewed tobacco, and Col. Benjamin Cleveland, a commander in the Patriot militia who was not usually concerned about legal or mannerly niceties.
This story tells us something more about the personality of this ancestor. I lift it verbatim from Arthur's work.
"Greer's Hint - This 'hint' is thus accounted for by Dr. Draper (a 19th Century historian) in a note at foot of page 442: Greer was one of Cleveland's heroes. One of his fellow solders stole his tobacco from him, when he threatened he would whip him for it as soon as he should put his eyes on him.
Cleveland expostulated with Greer, telling him his men ought to fight the enemy and not each other. "I will give him a hint of it, anyway," said Greer, and when he met the tobacco pilferer he knocked him down.
Greer's hint was long a by-word in all that region. - Col. W.W. Lenoir."
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