In September 1780, a large group of trans-Appalachian settlers, led by William Campbell, John Sevier and Isaac Shelby, assembled at Sycamore Shoals in response to a British threat to attack frontier settlements. Known as the Overmountain Men, the settlers marched across the mountains to South Carolina, where they engaged and defeated a loyalist force led by Patrick Ferguson at the Battle of Kings Mountain. Overmountain Men would also take part in the Battle of Musgrove Mill and the Battle of Cowpens.