Today I get to write about one of my favorite battles of the Revolutionary War. A battle that has been largely forgotten, even though it was an almost perfect performance by an American army.
In 216 B.C., Hannibal destroyed a Roman army in the Battle of Cannae. He managed to double envelope the Romans. Since then, every general has dreamed of pulling that off. It has been done only once in American history and it was done by a frontiersman who was an unlikely general.
In 1780, George Washington sent his best subordinate, Nathanael Greene, to command colonial forces in the south. This was to counter the British army led by Lord Cornwallis. The British strategy was to tap into the supposedly large loyalist citizenry. The British spanked the patriots at Savannah, Charleston, and Camden. Greene had been sent to “spirit up the people”.
In 1781, Greene made the dangerous decision to divide his forces. He sent Brig. Gen. Daniel Morgan (cousin to Daniel Boone) into the backwoods country to forage and boost backwoods morale. Morgan was already famous. He had fought in the French and Indian War. He was with Benedict Arnold when he attacked Quebec. Morgan was capture but exchanged. He and his riflemen played a crucial role in the American victory at Saratoga. To counter Morgan, Cornwallis detached his British Legion under the infamous Lt. Col. Banestre Tarleton. Tarleton was notorious for an incident where his cavalrymen had killed surrendering militiamen at Waxhaws, South Carolina. “Tarleton’s quarter” became a patriot rallying cry.
Tarleton chased Morgan’s force and was breathing down his neck when Morgan decided to stop running and give battle. His army had been reinforced by militia under guerrilla fighter Andrew Pickens. Some of his men had been victors at King’s Mountain. Morgan’s force has been estimated to be around 1,800 soldiers. Morgan chose a pasture for grazing cattle called Cowpens. To his back was the Broad River. Morgan did not want his men thinking retreat. It was do or die. The night before the “Old Waggoner” visited campfires to encourage his men. He told his often unreliable militia that all he wanted them to do was fired two shots and then they could retreat.
The battle was fought on Jan. 16, 1781. Morgan’s plan worked almost as he had planned. He had his riflemen in the first line. They took shelter between trees. When Tarleton arrived on the battlefield, his men were exhausted and hungry from their dogged pursuit of Morgan, but thinking the river behind the Americans meant they could not run, he decided to immediately attack. The British Legion had about 1,100 men. Some of them were loyalists.
Tarleton felt a frontal attack would do the trick against those colonial bumpkins. First, he sent his dragoons to disperse the riflemen. The riflemen targeted his officers and they broke the British charge. Next, the British infantry moved on the second line, which was the militiamen. They fired their two shots and then withdrew to the rear. Now the remaining Redcoats attacked the third line, which was on a hill. This line was Morgan’s Continentals. Most of them were one of the most famed battalions in Washington’s army – Gen. John Howard’s Marylanders. They would not run. Unfortunately, when the British made a move to turn Howard’s flank, he ordered his men on the right to turn to face the British. The men misunderstood this as an order to retreat. The British thought the Americans were retreating, so they pushed forward in disarray. The order was quickly clarified and the men stopped and fired a devastating volley. The Brits were marching into a bag because by this time the militia had reformed and attacked the British left. ( The battle probably saw the best performance of the militia since Bunker Hill.)
Meanwhile, Morgan’s cavalry under Col. William Washington (second cousin to George) hit the British right. It was a classic double envelopment. In the center, Howard’s Continentals charged with bayonets. Many undoubtedly yelling “Tarleton’s quarter”. The British Legion was crushed. Only a small group were able to escape, including Tarleton. Washington gave pursuit and caught up to Tarleton. “Where’s your boasting now?” taunted Washington. The two cavalrymen dueled with pistols and swords. Washington was about to be killed by one of Tarleton’s two companions, but his bugler shot the sword-wielder. Tarleton got away and reported his defeat to Cornwallis. We can assume the lord was shocked.
Tarleton’s casualties were 110 killed, more than 200 wounded, and 500 captured. He had lost 55% of his unit. Morgan had 12 killed and 60 wounded. The battle marked a turning point in the war in the south. It started a fall of dominoes, the last of which was Yorktown
https://www.nps.gov/cowp/learn/historyculture/the-battle-of-cowpens.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Cowpens
https://www.britishbattles.com/war-of-the-revolution-1775-to-1783/battle-of-cowpens/
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