I had the pleasure of being invited to the 2020 Cowpens Commemoration and to speak about General Daniel Morgan's success at the Battle of Cowpens, one of the more decisive battles of the Revolutionary War. Here is the text of the article written by Adam Orr, staff writer for the Cowpens National Battlefield.
Just two good shots.
That’s all American Brigadier General Daniel Morgan wanted from his first line militiamen at the Battle of Cowpens on Jan. 17, 1781, according to Jim Stempel, the author of “American Hannibal.” It may have turned out to be a stroke of genius by the American commander, whose troops led their aggressive British foes into an encirclement — and a sound defeat — in roughly an hour, Stempel said.
“It’s a huge, huge American victory at a time the Americans had to have a big victory,” Stempel said Saturday at Cowpens National Battlefield. “I’d give it an A-plus.”
Revolutionary War re-enactors braved intermittent downpours Saturday to commemorate the battle’s 238th anniversary. Normally held each January, Saturday’s ceremony was a makeup date made necessary by this winter’s federal government shutdown. Part of the American Revolutionary War’s southern fighting, the Battle of Cowpens resulted after British forces had captured or destroyed much of the Southern Continental Army, and held Savannah, Charleston, and Camden, according to the National Parks Service.
Stempel said Morgan, 44 at the time of the battle, had come of age as a rough-and-tumble teamster on America’s frontier and earned a reputation as a talented commander during earlier conflicts in Canada and the American Revolutionary War’s Saratoga campaign. He faced off against Lieutenant Colonel Banastre Tarleton, just 26 at the time, who was considered both an able commander and brutal by American forces, according to the NPS.
The two sides met near an area of grassy pastureland near what is today the town of Cowpens, according to Stempel. Against tough, well-trained British troops, Morgan had a mixed-bag of trained fighters and militiamen. In the past, militia forces had fled in the face of advancing British bayonets, according to Stempel.
“So Morgan figures he’s got good ground right here to fight on, but he’s still got a problem,” Stempel said. “What’s he going to do with his militia? This is when he comes up with a very sensible plan.”
Morgan placed his militiamen forward and arrayed his forces three lines deep. Facing an aggressive British attack, Morgan’s militia fired their volleys and fell back, until they reached Morgan’s third line of defense. “But the effect was that the Americans were sucking them into a trap,” Stempel said.
In the chaos of battle, Stempel said the British advance ground to a halt, and patriot fighters circled Tarleton’s men, effectively pulling off a victory like that of Hannibal Barca over the Romans in 216 B.C. “In fairness, the double envelopment was spontaneous and not something that Morgan planned, but the effect was the same,” Stempel said. “Fortunately, for American posterity and the British who were there, it doesn’t end with a slaughter.” Stempel said the victory forced British forces to give chase and helped lead to the Battle of Yorktown some six months later, the last major land engagement of the war.
