American Revolutionary War: American militia defeat <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loyalist_(American_Revolution)" id="mwSQ" rel="mw:WikiLink" title="Loyalist (American Revolution)">royalist</a> irregulars led by British major <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrick_Ferguson" id="mwSg" rel="mw:WikiLink" title="Patrick Ferguson">Patrick Ferguson</a> at the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Kings_Mountain" id="mwSw" rel="mw:WikiLink" title="Battle of Kings Mountain">Battle of Kings Mountain</a> in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Carolina_in_the_American_Revolution" id="mwTA" rel="mw:WikiLink" title="South Carolina in the American Revolution">South Carolina</a>, often regarded as the turning point in the war's <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_theater_of_the_American_Revolutionary_War" id="mwTQ" rel="mw:WikiLink" title="Southern theater of the American Revolutionary War">Southern theater</a>.