Following the rout of American forces at Camden, South Carolina, Gen. George Washington replaced Gen. Horatio Gates as his Southern commander with Gen. Nathanael Greene, among his most trusted senior officers. Greene, going against traditional military wisdom, divided his army by sending Brig. Gen. Daniel Morgan into the backcountry of South Carolina. His mission: to cut British supply lines and hamper British operations.
Banastre Tarleton
Gen. Charles Earl Cornwallis, commander-in-chief of British forces, countered Greene's move by sending Lt. Col. Banastre Tarleton and his "Tarleton's Brigade" in hot pursuit of Morgan. Tarleton was feared for his reputation of killing American soldiers trying to surrender. Forcing his cavalry and infantry to march almost all night on an empty stomach, he crossed the Pacolet River and approached the American army assembled at the "cow pens," a 500-foot-square area of open pastureland well known in that area as a strategic crossroads.
Daniel Morgan
Realizing that battle was now inevitable,and having picked the ground for battle, Morgan deployed his army in three lines. The first line was comprised of North Carolinian and Georgian sharpshooters whose charge was to pick off as many British dragoons and officers as possible. The second line consisted of 300 South Carolina militiamen under the command of Col. Andrew Pickens. The third line, Continental regulars commanded by Lt. Col. John Howard, was positioned on a hill at the center of the American position. In reserve was a battalion of light dragoons commanded by Lt. Col. William Washington (George Washington's second cousin).
Unlike other battles in which the militia turned and ran with the first British onslaught, there would be no retreat from Cowpens. Directly behind the American lines flowed the flood-swollen Broad River.
The Battle of Cowpens
On the bitter cold morning of January 17, 1781, Tarleton, anxious for battle and believing he had the enemy boxed in, pushed his men hard straight at the American lines. The first line of sharpshooters gave way after inflicting heavy looses on British officers. After firing two shots at the advancing British, the line of Pickens' militia, too, seemed to collapse and fall back.
Tarleton now ordered his dragoons to charge into the retreating Americans. Facing them was the full force of the more experienced third line of Continentals. Tarleton nonetheless sent in his infantry. The Continental line wavered, but did not collapse. Morgan himself rode into the breech, urging his men forward. The Continentals stood and fired. On the flanks, Lt. Col. Washington led his light dragoons in a cavalry charge while the reformed militia swarmed around both sides of the hill. Trapped in a double envelopment, the exhausted British troops began dropping to the ground and surrendering.
Tarleton attempted a counter-attack and the 71st Highlanders, held in reserve, fought hard against Howard's Continentals. Finally, however, Tarleton saw that the cause was lost and retreated toward Cornwallis's army.
Legacy
The Battle of Cowpens was a rousing victory for the Americans, caused, in no small part, by the brilliant tactical maneuvers of Daniel Morgan. As a result of the victory, the tide of British success in the American South was reversed. Of more serious concern to Cornwallis, the famed Tarleton's Legion had been all but destroyed. Morgan had succeeded in "spiriting up he people" to carry on the fight.
Source:
The Devil of a Whipping: The Battle of Cowpens by Lawrence E. Babits, University of North Carolina Press, December 2000
