Over mt. men ?

[gunmaker]

A lot has been said about the illegal alien's who went over the treaty line into indian country, and the role they played at King's mt.
  Have any clothing articles ever been documented ?  What could a man from that area eastern KY,TN & GA be seen wearing before say 1770 about ?
 Homespun, leather ?
  As a person descended from those folks always wondered what they really dressed like.
  Unfortunately can't ask my ancestors about it..
  Any thoughts, clues or books around ?    ....Tom

[Don Steele]

Tom,
I'm interested in those fellows myself. Unfortunately I have no first hand knowledge or Primary Source material to share but since you asked for "thoughts"...I'll give you mine.
I've spent most of my life in that region of the country...TN, GA, KY, and N. Carolina. Based on my experience there I have to believe the garment choices would be loose fitting linen in the Summer, Wool in the Winter. There's no way I'm trying to wear any kind of leather regardless of what I saw in the movies.
I'll be following this one for responses from those with more primary-sourced information. All I have is opinion.

[T*O*F]

The book you want is entitled the Annals of Tennessee written by J.G.M. Ramsey.  It is mostly first person accounts from personal rememberances and interviews with the original overmountain men.  Ramsey's father was one of them and Ramsey was a youth when these things occurred.   It was originally published in 1853 and has been reprinted.  I believe it's the definitive volume for east TN history.

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/annals-of-tennessee-j-g-m-ramsey/1012491661?ean=9781570720918

[gunmaker]

Thanks T*O*F  it's ordered....Tom

[jrb]

https://books.google.com/books?id=U0EbAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=annals+of+tennessee&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CCcQ6AEwAGoVChMIyIGryZzgxwIVStCACh0ffwaR#v=onepage&q=annals%20of%20tennessee&f=false

[T*O*F]

Yeah, it's available online, but I can't imagine anyone trying to read a book of almost 800 pages while trying at the same time to mark pertinent facts of interest for future documentation.  It took me several weeks and numerous subsequent partial rereads when I was researching the subject.  A bird in the hand is worth two in the cloud.

[jrb]

Yeah, I'd prefer the paper book version too.

[Ky-Flinter]

I prefer actual books too, but the on-line version is handy, in that it has a search function.

-Ron

[T*O*F]

the on-line version is handy, in that it has a search function.

So does the book.  It's called an index, and this book has a very extensive one for searching.

[SCLoyalist]

I think artist Don Troiani does a pretty good job of researching uniforms and clothing for his paintings, and he did one of King's Mountain.

He depicts a pretty wide range of 'styles' for the Overmountain Boys, which seems reasonable considering they came from several states and social levels.

[omark]

Is the man on the far right actually blowing down the barrel?  Why, he could get in trouble with the NMLRA.   
Mark

[Forrest]

  It looks more like he is reloading

Forrest

[Bill Ladd]

Is the man on the far right actually blowing down the barrel?  Why, he could get in trouble with the NMLRA.   
Mark

Sure looks like it to me:

[Don Stith]

Has not been all that long ago that was a common sight on the line at Friendship

[PPatch]

Is the man on the far right actually blowing down the barrel?  Why, he could get in trouble with the NMLRA.   
Mark

Blowing or spiting a ball down the bore for a quick reload? Looks like he's in a tight spot.

dave

[hanshi]

Is the man on the far right actually blowing down the barrel?  Why, he could get in trouble with the NMLRA.   
Mark

Blowing or spiting a ball down the bore for a quick reload? Looks like he's in a tight spot.

dave

Yep, one or the tuther.

[moleeyes36]

Is the man on the far right actually blowing down the barrel?  Why, he could get in trouble with the NMLRA.   
Mark

What was common practice in the 18th century, or even a decade ago, is really academic.  That is in large part because we live in an age of litigation.  All shooting associations (NRA, NMLRA, IDPA, etc.), gun clubs, shooting ranges and every sports association have rules for conduct that must be followed if a person wants to participate in their events or use their facilities.  It's just a fact of life.  It is strictly up to an individual whether or not he or she wants to participate in an event of some sort or use any association’s facilities.  Nobody is compelling them to do so.  Whether a person agrees with the rules doesn't really matter.  If he or she elects to participate in any association's event or use some facilities they are obliged to abide by their rules of conduct.  If he or she doesn’t want to, what they do elsewhere is their business and I don’t think anyone cares.

Mole Eyes   

[Bill Ladd]

Totally agree Mole Eyes.  Plus, we gotta remember that's a modern painting!

Probably shoulda kept my big trap shut, huh?

[bigsmoke]

Well, in looking at the enlargement closely, it appears that he has just committed suicide.
The barrel is in his mouth, there is a cloud of smoke directly above his head, and to the right of his head, it appears there are chunks of something starting to lift off.  It would benefit from a little red mist, though.
He's probably spitting a ball down the barrel, but my warped mind just happened to see that.  Sorry for the stupid interruption.  You will now be returned to your normal train of thought.
John

[Bill Ladd]

Well, in looking at the enlargement closely, it appears that he has just committed suicide.
The barrel is in his mouth, there is a cloud of smoke directly above his head, and to the right of his head, it appears there are chunks of something starting to lift off.  It would benefit from a little red mist, though.
He's probably spitting a ball down the barrel, but my warped mind just happened to see that.  Sorry for the stupid interruption.  You will now be returned to your normal train of though.
John

That's hilarious.  I totally see that now.

[walks with gun]

   In the actual battle,  I'm pretty sure that man was ejected from the battle field for blowing down his barrel.

[Mike R]

almost certainly the artist was depicting a man loading by spitting a ball into the barrel--this practice in the heat of battle is documented by period references--californians will no doubt be aghast at this abuse of lead!  This practice was also used horseback by buffalo hunters.

[T*O*F]

--this practice in the heat of battle is documented by period references

So, running uphill gasping for breath as he did so:
1. How many large caliber balls did he carry in his mouth during this assault?
2.  Who documented this and what were the actual conditions?
3.  Did they load from the horn, or have pre-measured paper cartridges?
4.  The accuracy of the marksmen during this assault has been noted.  That hardly seems conducive using unmeasured powder charges and bare balls spit down the barrel.  Accuracy would be nil unless occurring a point blank range.

I can see an NA or horseback pursing buffalo doing so, or a man being pursued on foot.  I can't see a trained man doing it during an assault.

[axelp]

I am pretty certain that the practice was not uncommon. Loading on the run in an emergency situation is well documented and so is having a ball or two in your mouth so as to spit down the bore. I have also read of having a roundball tucked between your fingers works-- have tried that once and it works.

It looks to me that in the painting it would be entirely appropriate to get your gun loaded fast and since the targets were quite close, sans patch would work much better than an empty gun.

In my flintlock fowler I recently shot a about a 3 inch group at 25 yards offhand at a casual shoot. I used whatever patching I had in my bag and noticed that the ones with the thinner patching and easier to ram down were hitting as good or better than the ones that had thicker patching and that I had trouble ramming down. I know some prefer just using wadding and no patching at all in their smoothbores and they achieve better than "minute of body" accuracy at way more than point blank distances.

[Mike R]

--this practice in the heat of battle is documented by period references

So, running uphill gasping for breath as he did so:
1. How many large caliber balls did he carry in his mouth during this assault?
2.  Who documented this and what were the actual conditions?
3.  Did they load from the horn, or have pre-measured paper cartridges?
4.  The accuracy of the marksmen during this assault has been noted.  That hardly seems conducive using unmeasured powder charges and bare balls spit down the barrel.  Accuracy would be nil unless occurring a point blank range.

I can see an NA or horseback pursing buffalo doing so, or a man being pursued on foot.  I can't see a trained man doing it during an assault.

   
As you can see from this artists conception the man was in the heat of battle and at close range.  References to putting balls in the mouth go back to matchlock days as an accepted battlefield tactic in europe and are referenced several times in America during the 18th cent [if not before] in use by frontiersman in Indian fights for example.  Loading was typically by powder horn, then spitting ball and after having discharged a normal loaded patched ball--the spit and powder residue held the ball 'well enough' for close work.  If one was using paper cartridges [as in the military], one would not need to put ammo in the mouth in most cases.  Rapid loading when the enemy was 'at hand' was more important than long range accuracy.  At Kings Mt, both long range shooting and enemy charges into the lines occured...have you ever been to Kings Mt?  It isn't much--more like a hill, but was forested.  The artist was showing what it MAY have been like and his ball-spitter was just one possibility; nonetheless ball spitting DID occur on the frontier--and in europe long before...