SoulBlazer
Posts: 839
Joined: 10/27/2002
From: Providence RI
Status: offline
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I'm not surprised you have'nt heard of the Battle of Cowpens -- I doubt most Americans would reconize the name either. But it was one of the most important American victories in the Revolution.
Cowpens was fought January 17 1781 in (what I'm almost sure) is now South Carolina. The name came because most of the battle was fought on....well, cowpens, grazing and storing areas. :)
British Tory Banastre Tarleton was commanding one of the wings of Lord Cornwallis as the British army swept through South Carolina. The year previous, the Contentials had suffered a major defeat at the Battle of Camden (basicaly ceading control of the south to the British) and now the Americans were finally re-organizing under the overall command of Generals Daniel Morgan and Nathanal Greene (some of the best generals in the rebel armies, but never really reconized).
Due to worries about the American armies, Cornwallis had spilit his forces in order to use his manpower and training edge to counter a similar move by Greene (the Brits had about four thousand total soliders compared to three thousand under Greene). Tarelton and Morgan clashed at ground that Morgan had chosen, that looked like a trap, at Cowpens.
The American battle plan was simple. In previous battles all through the Revolution, Milita had preformed very badly. They were'nt used to regular combat or the shock weight of a British charge, and even though they were the meat of the Contentional armies, their value was dubious at best. And Morgan was outnumbered here by about three to one. He decided to give orders to his milita to fire two vollies, and then fall back and regroup while the regular Contentianls came forward to fight.
The plan worked better then he dreamed. The milita fired their vollies at the charging British, who, when they saw the Americans turning tail yet again, throught for sure the battle was won and charged -- only to run into devasting fire from the regular soliders as the milita caverly charged in one flank and the milita reformed on the other. The British were totally routed and Tarelton hardly escaped with his life.
Exact losses are unknown, but best estimates say the British lost about 2800 in killed or wounded compared to only 12 Americans killed and 60 wounded.
Between this battle and another victory nearby at a battle called Kings Mountain (fought October 7 1780) the tide had turned in the south. Greene followed up with a draw at Guilfords Court House and another clear victory at Ninty-Six. Faced with this battles and Greene's smart moves to retake the south, Cornwallis fled the Carolinas in the summer of 1781 and headed for the coast of Virginia to resupply and get more men. Hence, enter Yorktown and the end of the war.
Cowpens has been refered to as 'The American Cannae'. One of my favorite historians, Robert Leckie, follows by saying "This battle was the gem of the Revolution -- brought off by a American backwoodsman, who, like the great Hannibal himself, was mearly adapting to men and terrain. This battle, combined with Kings Mountain, also set the stage for Greene's retaking of the south".
Sorry for the long history. :D But I do love to study the Revolution and I carry a MA in American History.
BTW -- for anyone who has seen the movie The Patroit with Mel Gibson -- Cowpens is the battle in the last half hour of the movie, where Mel's character takes his revenge. The movie is pretty accurate with the details of the battle but not the terrain. (and eariler in the movie you see a little of Camden as well).
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The US Navy could probaly win a war without coffee, but would prefer not to try -- Samuel Morison
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