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This is my favorite post in the American Revolution series I've shared with all of you. It centers on one of the the most significant engagements of the war, indeed one of the most studied and brilliant military maneuvers in history. It is the Battle of Cowpens.

It holds a special place in my heart because I am descended from a militia hero of the war, Gustavus Rape. I was inducted into the Sons of the American Revolution based on his heroic stand. He was wounded at Cowpens when British fire struck his powder box in the attack. Though severely burned, he continued the fight until the Patriot victory. He later fought in the Battles of Orangeburgh and Eutaw Springs.

On this day in history, January 17, 1781, General Daniel Morgan wins the Battle of Cowpens, a victory military strategists often call the single most brilliant victory of the American Revolution.

After its defeat at Saratoga, the British army redirected its efforts to subdue the southern states, quickly conquering much of Georgia and South Carolina and destroying most of the American southern army in the process.

In December of 1780, General Nathanael Greene took over the decimated Continental Army in the south and split his much smaller army in two, hoping to divide the British forces. Part of the army was given to Brigadier General Daniel Morgan, a hero of earlier battles at Quebec and Saratoga. Morgan was to harass British troops in the backcountry and organize patriot militia there. When General Charles Cornwallis learned of this, he immediately sent 1,100 troops under Lt. Col. Banastre Tarleton to stop him.

Tarleton was only 26 years old and had earned a notorious reputation when his men killed a group of militia trying to surrender to them at the Battle of the Waxhaws. In early January, Tarleton learned of Morgan's location and set off to find him. Morgan retreated at first, but decided to stand his ground at an area known as the Cowpens, a sparsely wooded and hilly meadow in a bend of the Broad River.

Morgan's strategy included three lines of soldiers, a first line of sharpshooters hidden behind trees, a second line of militia 150 yards back from them and a third line of experienced Continental soldiers 150 yards behind them and hidden by a low hill. As Tarleton attacked, the sharpshooters were to fire on them and then draw back to the second line, which was to fire two volleys and then retreat up the hill. Then, as the British pursued them up the hill, they would run into the third line of experienced soldiers coming at them downhill. The first two lines would weaken and disconcert the British soldiers and the third line would finish them off. Meanwhile, a cavalry charge would come from around the hill and flank the attacking soldiers.

Morgan's strategy worked brilliantly and just as planned. Tarleton's forces were decimated as they pursued the "fleeing" second line. Nearly the entire army was killed or simply collapsed on the ground in exhaustion and fear. Military strategists have called the victory at Cowpens the greatest tactical victory of the war and one of the greatest of all time. Of Tarleton's 1150 troops, 110 were killed, 229 wounded and over 800 captured. Tarleton himself escaped, but not before a hand-to-hand fight with Colonel William Washington, George Washington's second cousin and leader of the American cavalry. Tarleton shot Washington's horse from under his feet and escaped.

The Battle of Cowpens was one of a string of victories, including the Battle of King's Mountain and the Battle of Guilford Courthouse that turned things around in the south. This series of battles so weakened Cornwallis' army that he was forced to abandon his plans to conquer North Carolina and head for the Virginia coast to await reinforcements from New York that never arrived due to the French blockade of the Chesapeake. Instead, George Washington took advantage of Cornwallis' weakened state and brought the war to an end.

The Battle of Cowpens

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Not bad for a bunch of illiterate farmers facing the greatest army on the planet.

Love hearing personal histories like this, Para.

My family settled on the Pacolet river right outside of Cowpens around 1771. I have a copy of the Land Grant from the English government somewhere. I did a lot of research to see if any of my ancestors fought in the Revolution for either side and could not find anything. Thought surely they might have been miltia since they lived that close. I assume since they had just gotten off the boat they were probably hesitant to pick sides.

20 years later they were in what was to become Florida.

My direct 4th great-grandfather with my family name and his 3 brothers were all in the Continental Army. One was killed in a battle and another had a unknown death. My 4th great-grandfather was a Colonel in the Quartermaster. He lived on the VA/NC border but I have no info on where he or his brothers served.

Really enjoyed this post, and doing a little additional reading. My mom was DAR, our ancestor being Asahel Lovell (he fought in New Jersey and settled in upstate NY after the War).

Cowpens is a fun battlefield to walk. It is compact and well marked.

Very interesting! I grew up a mile from the park in Chesnee, SC. It was nothing like now. Just a small marker if I recall. Think it was the 70s when the park was expanded to its current layout.
There was always a certain amount of pride to know that some serious redcoat ass-whooping had taken place right down the road from my house. We would ride our bikes there and roam around. Plenty of times the battle playing out in our minds, even though I didn’t fully comprehend the significance of it then.

I’m pretty certain this character in the movie The Patriot was based in large part on Banastre Tarleton:

My Civil Air Patrol group had a good time at the anniversay celebration 2 Saturdays ago, but I missed it.

Thanks for the link.

Wife’s direct ancestor was killed at Kings Mountain. His son who my wife descended from, was a child at home.

An interesting piece of our history, TY.

James Woods is awesome. World War 2 always had my interest. By I am slowly switching to the Revolutionary War. Its amazing we won.

Look below his commentary on X. A website he posts is revolutionary-war-and-beyond.com

quote:

Originally posted by Leemur:
Not bad for a bunch of illiterate farmers facing the greatest army on the planet.

Illiterate farmers hardly describes the American Revolution.

Truthfully, I’m not sure it described anyone, other than the slaves, in American history, until the impoverished Euros and Chinese were imported to be factory labor.

Maybe the Scots-Irish in Appalachia?

The colonies were able to leave, because of their very high level of privately held wealth. The Revolution was mostly organized by those individuals who were very wealthy.

Thanks for sharing this, para. Very interesting.

My great x 8 grandfather was wounded at the Battle of King's Mountain in Colonel Isaac Shelby's Sullivan County (then NC, now TN) Regiment of Overmountain Boys. I checked the roster on Carolana.com and found that Colonel Shelby wasn't at Cowpens but his brother Major Evan Shelby, Jr., had brought a "detachment" of one company from the regiment. Major Shelby had been wounded at King's Mountain too.

the History of the American Revolution was re-written after the civil war. Before that it was common knowledge that the war was won in South Carolina... Two battles turned the tide. Cowpens and Kings Mountain.