The Americans killed 323 Tories, some in cold blood after they surrendered, severely wounded 163 others, and took 698 prisoners, while reporting only 28 killed and 62 wounded. Ethan and his compatriots were unaffected by the knowledge that, except for Ferguson, all the casualties were doubly despised Americans who supported the Tory cause. After searching through the woods to find their own casualties, the patriots left the dead American Volunteers for the hogs, wolves, and vultures to eat. The next morning, a Sunday, the families of some of the local Tories arrived at the site and were overwhelmed with horror as they drove off the animals and searched through the dead bodies for their husbands and sons.

Leaving behind a small contingent to complete the burial of their own dead, the Over Mountain men and other militia began marching with the prisoners up the Broad River toward Gilbert Town, which was on the way to their homes in the Watauga Valley. A special squad executed those who were too weak or wounded to proceed. When they came to a sweet potato patch, the rebels stripped it and ate the potatoes raw, the first food they had had in three days. There was not enough to share with the prisoners, but the next evening some raw corn and pumpkins were thrown to the Tories.

Under pressure from the more militant rebels, Colonel Campbell ordered a court-martial to be held six days after the battle, and thirty-six of the accused prisoners were found to be guilty of murder and other high crimes. In a driving rain, ten of them were hanged before Sevier and other Over Mountain leaders stopped the executions. One of the spared men stated that Tarleton had been expected to join their forces, and the rebels resumed their march northwestward until they crossed the Catawba River, which was rising rapidly following the heavy rains. Bone-tired and worried about their families, the Georgia and South Carolina militiamen had no desire for another military engagement, and decided to return to the Watauga Valley, while a few Over Mountain men delivered the remaining prisoners to Virginia. Neither Ethan Pratt nor any other junior officers raised any objection about the harsh treatment of the captured men.

The bloody victory at King’s Mountain was a turning point for American forces in the Revolutionary War. When General Cornwallis received word of the King’s Mountain battle, he realized that he was not able to protect his flank in western Carolina and could not make a rapid advance into Virginia. He decided to withdraw southward to Winnsboro and eventually camped near Ninety Six. His message to London described Ferguson’s defeat as “not by soldiers but by savages.”