TThe Battle of Cowpens has been called by many as "The perfect tactical battle.” It is also known as the battle that saved the South for the colonial army and the turning point of the United States' War for Independence. And perhaps it's fair to use all of these monikers to describe it.
However you want to describe it, it was a victory that the colonists needed in the worst way. After their army was almost completely destroyed at the Battle of Camden, the victory at Cowpens saw the defeat of a feared British commander and started the dominoes that led to George Washington's victory at Yorktown.
Greg Simbeck explains.
The Battle of Cowpens. By William Ranney, 1845.
War Shifts to the South
By the time of the Battle of Cowpens, the Patriots' southern forces were in disarray. British General Lord Charles Cornwallis brought the war to the South to take advantage of the large Loyalist population. These were individuals in the colonies who were still loyal to King George of England.
And with loyalist assistance, the British had already captured Charleston, South Carolina, massacred colonial troops at the Battle of the Waxhaws, and dealt a crushing defeat to the Southern American army under General Horatio Gates at the Battle of Camden.
The only things that were holding the Patriot cause together in the South were the Overmountain Men's defeat of British Major Patrick Ferguson's forces at the Battle of Kings Mountain, and the harassment of partisans like Elijah Clark, Thomas Sumter, and the "Swamp Fox," Francis Marion. It was in this environment that General Nathanael Greene was appointed by General. George Washington on October 14, 1780, to take command of the Patriot effort in the South.
Greene Takes Command
The group that greeted Greene when he assumed command of the Southern Continental army at present-day Charlotte, North Carolina, on December 3, 1780, was low on morale, and a "ghost of an army" with little equipment, clothing, supplies, or the will to fight. The group consisted of 2.300 men, but only 1,500 were present that day, and far fewer were equipped to do battle. Provisions were low, and clothing was almost non-existent.
On his way down to North Carolina, Greene attempted to procure additional funds from the leaders of Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia, but they were all low on money and credit. In addition, moving an army from point to point in the South was hampered by a lack of roads and swamps that were hard to navigate. Next, Greene did the unthinkable.
He decided to split his army in two to play a war of harassment with the British until he could recruit more soldiers to fight a pitched battle.
Greene was fortunate that "The Old Waggoner," Brigadier General Daniel Morgan, had come out of retirement to aid the cause. Morgan earned his nickname when he drove wagons for the British during the French and Indian War. After striking an officer, he received 500 lashes, which would kill most men. From then on, he had a deep hatred for the British army.
Green sent Morgan and 600 men to the Western part of South Carolina to threaten the British forts in the area. Cornwallis countered this move by dispatching Lieutenant Colonel Banastre Tarleton and his British Legion to destroy Morgan and his army. Tarleton was hated by the Colonials due to his ruthlessness and apparent massacre of forces at the Battle of Waxhaws.
Prelude to the Battle
Tarleton's scouts located Morgan's army five days before the Battle of Cowpens. His dragoons closed the gap on the colonial troops, and a skirmish between Morgan's cavalry under the command of Lt. Col. William Washington and a large group of Tories resulted in Washington's capture of 40 British sympathizers. On January 15, Morgan sent a message to Greene saying he didn't think he could defeat Tarleton with the number of troops he had.
But Tarleton's close proximity to his force changed his decision. As Tarleton closed in on Morgan and his troops at "Hannah's" Cowpens, a frontier pasturing ground, with the Broad River at his back, Morgan decided that he and his troops would stand and fight at this location. Morgan spread word to the militia in the area to rendezvous at the Cowpens. Col. Andrew Pickens' militia began to arrive in camp on the eve of the battle.
The field at Cowpens was a half mile wide and one mile long. There were first-growth pines and hardwood, but no undergrowth. The field had a sloped ridge, which led to a shallow swale, then rose to another slightly higher ridge. Behind the highest point of this ridge was a deep gully that could obscure the location of Morgan's cavalry.
Battleplan and Disposition of Troops
Morgan used the topography of the field and his knowledge of Tarleton to create his battle plan. His troops would form three lines of battle. The first line would consist of skirmishers from the Virginia Militia, under the command of Majors. John McDowell and John Cunningham. Their orders were to fire two volleys and retreat to the second line, some 150 yards behind them.
Manning the second line was the militia of North Carolina, South Carolina & Georgia, commanded by Colonel Pickens. They were also ordered to fire two volleys and then repair back to the third line, 150 yards up the hill. Both of these lines would include some army veterans to help stabilize these militiamen.
The third line had 450 Continental troops, commanded by Lt. Col. John Howard. They would be flanked on both sides by 200 Virginia independent riflemen. Washington's cavalry would be hidden in the deep gully out of sight in reserve.
Morgan knew that the militia was prone to retreating when the fighting started. Still, with the Continentals behind them and the swollen, unpassable Broad River behind all of the troops, they would be forced to stand and fight. Morgan, knowing Tarleton's aggressive nature, would see this as a full retreat of the militia. He would send his dragoons in, thereby exposing them to the full force of the third line of Continentals.
There is still great debate about how many forces Morgan commanded at Cowpens. Morgan, in his official report, placed the number at 800. Tarleton would report back to Cornwallis that he faced opposition from 1,900 men. Consensus puts the number at around 1,000. Rough breakdown of his troops is as follows:
Militiamen: 533
Continentals: 237
Cavalry: 80
Independent Riflemen: 200
Tarleton's battle plan was simple and uncomplicated. The majority of his infantry would line up in a linear formation and head straight to Morgan. The flanks of this line would be protected by cavalry. The 250-man battalion of Scottish Highlanders commanded by Major Arthur MacArthur was the reserve corps. And Tarleton kept the 200-man cavalry contingent of his Legion ready to attack the Americans when they broke and ran.
Tarleton had the following contingent of 1,000 troops:
British Regulars: 500
Cavalry: 300
Loyalists: 276
Artillerymen: 24
Battle
Tarleton roused his troops at 2 am on January 17, 1981, and marched toward the Cowpens. He rode his troops hard, and forty-eight hours before the battle, the British ran out of food and water, and were operating on under four hours' sleep. His men arrived at the site of the battle hungry and tired. Morgan's men, having arrived at the Cowpens on January 13, were rested and well-fed.
So the battle would begin at 7 am as Tarleton and his army arrived at the Cowpens. His first battle line was from right to left: the Light Infantry Battalion, the British Legion, and the 7th Fusiliers, along with two small cannons. Protecting the flanks were 50 dragoons on each side. Their presence there would also threaten the colonists' flanks. Tarleton's reserves consisted of MacArthur's Highlanders and 200 horsemen from the British Legion.
Tarleton, in his desire to destroy Morgan and his troops, signaled for the attack to begin before all of his army was in formation. He then directed some of his dragoons to break up the skirmish line. The skirmishers followed their orders and fired their two volleys, and one group retired to the second line while the other fell into the third line alongside the Continentals.
Tarleton recalled the dragoons who had suffered some losses while simultaneously, his right wing started their charge, accompanied by cover from the two cannons, as they thought the Americans were in full retreat. The British were able to reform their line somewhat. When they came within 150 yards of Pickens and his militia, the militia fired a deadly volley into Tarleton's oncoming troops, injuring and killing several infantrymen and mounted legionnaires.
The militia fired another volley and dropped back to reform on the left side of Howard's line. The veteran British soldiers reformed their ranks and continued their advance. Tarleton, seeing another group of retreating Americans, released 50 dragoons to pick off the retreating colonists. In panic, some militiamen did not reform and instead kept running.
Morgan understood the gravity of the situation and sent Col. Washington's cavalry to disperse the dragoons, which they did. Meanwhile, Morgan and Pickens rallied most of the militia and they reformed directly behind Howard's line. Tarleton, believing that victory was at hand, called for the Highlanders to attack on the left while his cavalry would assault the American right.
A ferocious battle ensued with neither side giving ground. Morgan noticed that the Highlanders were starting to overlap Howard's right flank and called on Col. Washington to attack the Highlanders before they could overwhelm the Americans. At this point, someone in Morgan's command mistakenly called for a retreat.. Somehow, Morgan and Howard were able to reform the lineup on the rising slope. This was the turning point of the battle.
Once again, seeing the Americans retreat, Tarleton and his men could smell blood. They ran up the slope in a disorganized fashion, where they ran into a deadly volley from Howard's Continentals. This stopped the British in their tracks, and sensing their confusion, Col. Howard called for an all-out charge with bayonets. Before this, Tarleton had sent the rest of his cavalry into the fray.
But to their surprise, they received a volley from an unknown source. They tried to rally, but Pickens' men, who had fired the volley, charged Tarleton's cavalry, led by Morgan. With Washington sweeping down on the British from the right and Morgan and Pickens assaulting on the left, Tarleton and his men were caught in a double envelopment. This sent most of his force into a panic, and they retreated in haste, with many dropping their arms when they fled.
No matter what Tarleton and his officers said or did, they could not prevent the rout. Washington's cavalry swept down, capturing most of the fleeing soldiers and their two cannons. The Highlanders tried to hold back the forces of Morgan and Pickens, but with the loss of their cavalry support, they were soon overtaken by Col. Howard's men on the other side, and they broke in panic. Shortly thereafter, Maj. McArthur would surrender his sword to Pickens.
Tarleton, attempting to rescue the Highlanders, approached with 55 dragoons but were immediately intercepted by Col. Washington and his cavalry and the British were forced to leave the field. The Americans gave chase, and Washington and his force caught up to Tarleton and some of his men. Tarleton parried with Washington, but after seeing the futility of the situation, he shot Col. Washington's horse out from under him and rode off.
Aftermath
British casualties at the Battle of Cowpens were 110 killed, 229 wounded, and 800 captured or missing. American totals were 25 killed and 124 wounded. Daniel Morgan and his troops won a game-changing battle for the fledgling colonials. Military instructors and historians still study Morgan's tactical brilliance in the battle.
After that battle, Morgan would reunite with Greene in North Carolina to continue to fight the ongoing war in the Southern Theatre. Unfortunately for Morgan, back and other ailments forced him to leave the army and return to his Virginia home.
As for Tarleton and the British army in the South, he would continue to serve under Cornwallis, but his defeat at the Cowpens soiled his reputation and depleted the British army of valuable troops. The battle forced Cornwallis to chase Greene and Morgan into North Carolina, where he would engage in several small, inconclusive, but costly battles with the American forces. Tired and lacking supplies, he left for Yorktown, Virginia, to rest his troops and resupply.
As we all know, while at Yorktown, he was surrounded by George Washington's army, the French navy, and a French army contingent under the command of Lt. Gen. Comte de Rochambeau and was forced to surrender on October 19, 1781. This would be the last major conflict of the American Revolution. Two years later, both parties signed the Treaty of Paris, allowing the United States to finally gain its independence.
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