The Kentuckian

It is time we turn our attention to the South once more. The region is full of first patriots whose names were legendary to the generations after the struggle for independence but are now faded into the mists of time. The Southern struggle is most remembered for the exploits of Marion and Sumter. Yet countless others played roles both big and small. Not the least of these were those tough fighters called the “Over Mountain Men.” Hard-nosed and tough-fisted settlers west of the Appalachian Mountains, experienced in hunting, fighting, and hard liquor. This edition profiles one of these: Isaac Shelby.

Family of Migrants

Isaac Shelby was born in Hagerstown, Maryland, on December 11, 1750. His father, Evan Shelby, from Tregaron, Cardiganshire, Wales, had come to America in 1734. Around 1773, Evan moved his family to the Holston region of what is now upper East Tennessee, which was then part of Virginia.

In mid-18th century, the Alleghenies
were the western frontier

Raised on the Range

Young Isaac grew up immersed in the rough and tumble world of frontier life and fighting. He quickly learned to use arms and became familiar with the hardships of Western life. He received a solid education, worked on his father's plantation, occasionally surveyed land, and became a deputy sheriff at age eighteen.

Frontier cabin

Big Strong Man

Isaac Shelby was a large man, standing six feet tall, strong, and well-proportioned, with a striking face and a ruddy complexion. He could endure long hours of work, physical hardships, and great fatigue. Dignified and impressive in manner, he was also friendly and charming. In short, he was a natural leader. Additionally, he was intelligent and had clear executive skills that helped him both in peace and in war.

Shelby in later life

 Lord Dunmore's War

When the Earl of Dunmore, Virginia's Royal Governor John Murray, went to war with the Shawnee under Chief Cornstalk, Shelby joined the local militia as a lieutenant, serving under his father. On October 10, 1774, young Shelby fought in the Battle of Point Pleasant. He scored an early victory in the fight by charging the high ground on the Indian flank, causing them to leave the field. This was just a preview of what was to come.

John Murray,Royal Governor of
Virginia

A Rebel Goes West

The American Revolution intensified in 1775, and by 1776, Shelby had rejoined the militia, this time as a captain. Virginia’s governor, Patrick Henry, appointed him to a position on Virginia’s western frontier. There, he provided direct support to Colonel George Rogers Clark’s campaign into the Illinois Territory. Isaac also contributed to his father’s victory over the Indian chief Dragging Canoe in a battle on the Tennessee River in 1779.

Shelby provided logistic support to
George Rogers Clark's western campaign

Me? A Tar Heel?

Eighteenth-century boundaries in this region were mostly informal. When he discovered that his homestead was actually in North Carolina, Isaac became a militia colonel there. He also earned a seat in the state assembly. 

Although a newly minted Tar Heel, Shelby was in Kentucky when Charleston fell to the British in 1780, and the victorious and exuberant redcoats began to overrun his state. Upon hearing of the new threat, he rushed home and gathered around 200 men for the cause. He quickly teamed up with Colonel Joseph McDowell to try to stop the advance of British General Charles Cornwallis and his Loyalist supporters.

The Fall of Charleston opened up the Carolinas
to the Southern Strategy

Guerrilla Days

His first major test came on July 31 when Shelby and his men managed to surround Thickety Fort on the Pacolet River. His confidence and cleverness allowed him to persuade the commander to surrender his 94 men. Shelby then joined forces with a group of partisans led by Lieutenant Colonel Elijah Clarke. With a combined force of 200 men, they attacked a Loyalist outpost at Musgrove Mills. Although outnumbered nearly two to one, they drove off the Loyalists in a fierce skirmish.

Enter the Counter Guerrilla

These activities threatened Cornwallis’s security, leading the British general to send arguably the army’s top guerrilla fighter, Major Patrick Ferguson. However, after the patriot army under General Horatio Gates was defeated at Camden on August 16, 1780, nearly all resistance broke down across the south. It appeared that the British “southern strategy“ was about to succeed.

Major Patrick Ferguson

 Run Away

For his part, Shelby retreated west with McDowell, and their forces disappeared into the frontier hinterland. There, they waited out the events. However, local atrocities committed by Loyalist bands angered the Southerners, leading to a series of partisan and guerrilla actions, and they continued to resist.

Partisan militia

 The Lord's Prayer

Seeking to bring the Carolinas under British control, Lord Cornwallis marched an army into North Carolina in a risky move that would end up backfiring. Alongside him was Ferguson, who issued a bold challenge to the “Over Mountain Men,” as the frontier rebels were called. The message was clear: submit to the crown, or their homes would be destroyed. But the men of the west were not impressed. In fact, this only motivated the frontiersmen.

Major General Charles Cornwallis

Band of Brothers, Tough Mothers

Shelby, along with another Overmountain man from Tennessee, John Sevier, assembled a force of 200 volunteers, gathered at Sycamore Shoals, and soon headed into war-torn North Carolina. There, they joined forces with Colonel William Campbell. Driven by a desire for revenge, the Overmountain men fiercely advanced to confront Ferguson. The feeling was mutual. The famed counter-guerrilla led a force of about 900 Loyalists eager to suppress the rebels.

John Sevier - another
Over Mountain Bad Ass

Go Tell it to the Mountain

But the tide turned against Ferguson, who was trapped on a high ground called King’s Mountain (just over the border in South Carolina) and cut off from the main British column under Cornwallis. Withering and accurate fire from the western rifles devastated the Loyalists. Ferguson was shot while trying to rally a defense and soon died. The few who did not taste lead eventually surrendered. Shelby played a key role in planning and executing the operation and soon became a local hero.

Kings Mountain was a turning point in the South

 Draining the Swamp, with the Swamp Fox

After King’s Mountain, Cornwallis’s strategy began to fall apart. However, there was still more fighting to be done. Shelby teamed up with the famous partisan general Francis Marion and helped capture Monk’s Corner. Fighting continued throughout the South even after Cornwallis's surrender at Yorktown in October 1781. Nonetheless, the British and their loyal allies were defeated.

Francis Marion and his partisan militia

The Kentuckian

After the war, Shelby retired to private life, where his heroics during the conflict paved the way for a successful political career. He moved to Kentucky and helped organize the territory, build infrastructure, and strengthen defenses against the Indians and their British allies. On April 19, 1783, at Boonesboro, he married Susannah Hart, the daughter of Captain Nathaniel Hart, one of Kentucky's earliest settlers. Susannah eventually bore him eleven children.

Susannah Hart Shelby

 Politician, Pundit, and Warrior

In 1792, he was elected governor of the recently admitted state. He criticized President Washington’s foreign policy. Many westerners wanted a more aggressive stance against the British forts to the west and the Native Americans. 

However, he provided unwavering support to Major General Anthony Wayne’s Legion during the Indian campaigns of 1794. In 1812, Shelby was elected governor once again. His military and organizational skills were put to work mobilizing Kentucky’s militia for war. In 1813, he personally led a force of 3,500 mounted riflemen north to support General William Henry Harrison’s army near Thames, Ontario. After the war, Congress struck a gold medal in his honor.

Gen Anthony Wayne's American Legion

 Diplomat to the Indians

 In 1817, he turned down President James Madison’s offer to serve as Secretary of War. His last major contribution to the Overmountain region came in 1818 when he, Andrew Jackson, and others negotiated the “Jackson Purchase,” which transferred control of the western districts of Kentucky and Tennessee from the Chickasaw Indians. This opened the western region to settlement. To honor this service, the Tennessee General Assembly named Shelby County (Memphis) after him.

President James Madison

 A Model for the West

The fighting governor died near Danville, Kentucky, in July 1826. He was mourned as a distinguished public servant and soldier. One of the nation’s most notable frontiersmen, Shelby served as an example for future frontiersmen who would help establish the Republic of Texas and strengthen America’s westward expansion.

Shelby Cemetery is a KY historic site