[revwardoc]

At King's Mountain, Ferguson commanded local loyalist militia (he was the only commissioned British officer at that battle). While he was the only one armed with his namesake firearm, all the men on both sides were armed with Dickert rifles (The Dickert is also known as the Kentucky, Pennsylvania or Virginia long rifle, depending upon who bought it and where). Since the men (both sides) were all Appalachian Mountain men, it was natural for them to have a rifle rather than a musket. It was probably the only battle of that conflict that was fought entirely with rifles. Some of the opposing men were also related to each other giving the fight an early Civil War atmosphere.