Articles

The American Hannibal of the Revolutionary War

It is dawn, August 2, 216 BC, and lightning is about to strike the Roman Republic. On a ridge overlooking the expansive plain, Hannibal Barca watches as a massive Roman force – eight enormous legions consisting of 87,000 infantry and cavalry – marches directly, irresistibly toward his troops arranged on the ground below. Two years before, he had led his army over the Alps and descended into Northern Italy to harass and defeat the Romans time-and-again. Now, led by the Consul Varro, the Romans have assembled a massive force for one purpose only – to destroy Hannibal and his army. He watches as dust swirls around the approaching Romans, their breastplates glinting in the rays of the rising sun. He’s been expecting them.

Daniel Morgan and the Battle of the Cowpens

I published an article for History News Nework on the subject of a nonfiction work American Hannibal, The Extraordinary Life of American Revolutionary Hero Daniel Morgan at the Battle of Cowpens.  They gave the article a very snappy title: 

You Remember the American Victory At Cowpens, Don't You?

"On a bone-chilling morning in January, 1781 one of the most remarkable, decisive, and significant victories in American military history took place in the backwoods of South Carolina, yet its historical importance has rarely been recognized.

"That morning British Lt. Colonel Banastre Tarleton, hand-picked by General Charles Cornwallis, was opposed by American Daniel Morgan, a rough and tumble son of the frontier. On ground known as the Cowpens, Morgan employed a psychological ploy and tactical scheme so brilliantly conceived and masterfully executed that within an hour the British found themselves overwhelmed, enveloped, and routed from the field. It was an engagement that had significant repercussions. Morgan’s stunning victory ended a two year Revolutionary impasse, rekindled hope throughout the colonies, and put Cornwallis on a reckless path that would end with his surrender at Yorktown, thus catapulting the infant United States to independence. That’s why Morgan’s victory was so important, but don’t go looking for evidence of that in most works detailing battles of the modern era. You won’t find it.