In the summer of 1780, while British troops - regulars from Britain and Loyalists from the colonies - roamed the southern countryside striking fear into the hearts of rebels, a hardy group of "over-the-mountain men" from Tennessee vowed to band together and defend their families and farms. They eventually forged a force of nearly 1,800 militia. At King's Mountain, in northwest South Carolina, this small volunteer contingent of frontiersmen met the British in early October. The American victory there forced the British forces to retreat, turned the tide in the American Revolution's southern campaign, and dashed Britain's hope of attracting Americans to their cause.