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The battle of Cowpens was one of the most important battles of the American War of Independence. The generally (but not always) succesful British Legion, led by Lt Colonel Tarleton, suffered a crippling defeat at the hands of Danial Morgan, with the Patriot militia playing a important role in the victory. Although the aftermath of this battle appeared to have gone the way of the British, it actually triggered the series of events that ended with the surrender at Yorktown
On the Patriot side we get brief biographies of Nathanael Greene, the overall American commander in the south, and Daniel Morgan, the victor of the battle. Morgan is an interesting figure – a rare example of a frontiersman general on a Patriot side largely dominated by gentlemen and slave owning Plantation owners. Morgan’s dissatisfaction with the way the Patriot army was being run saw him resign in June 1779 and not rejoin until October 1780, thus avoiding some of the main Patriot disasters in the south. It was his understanding of the strengths and in particular the weaknesses of the milita that led to the Patriot victory at Cowpens.
We get a very one sided view of Tarleton. A series of examples of atrocities are given, all of which are ‘may be apocryphal’, but ‘consistent with documented murders, mutilations, and other atrocities’. If this is genuinely the case then use those documented examples, not the exaggerated fictional ones. One gets the distinct impression that Tarleton’s main offense in the eyes of many of the rebels was that he had won a series of victories while commanding the Loyalist British Legion. As a unit formed of American Loyalists this rather went against the image that the rebels want to paint of their cause. His most controversial moment was at the battle of Waxhaws, where the Rebels turned down a chance to surrender before the battle, and then suffered heavy casualties in the resulting defeat. The controversy developed around the possibility that the Rebel commander had attempted to surrender, but if so this happened at a time when Tarleton was out of action, trapped under his horse. Many of the rebels attempted to surrender after their line had collapsed but the Loyalist cavalry continued to fight. The battle ended as a Loyalist victory, with very one sided casualty figures – 17 killed and wounded on the Loyalist side, 113 killed and 150 wounded on the Patriot side. This was not unusual for the period – at Great Bridge in 1775 the Patriots had suffered one wounded, the British between 60-100 killed or wounded along an unknown number of casualties amongst Loyalist militia. At Huck’s Defeat in 1780 the Patriots lost 1 dead and 1 wounded, the Loyalists 81 killed, wounded or captured, with many of the killed or wounded struck down while fleeing. What is significant is that the Patriots used Waxhaws as a rallying cry, and Tarleton’s bad reputation was widely believed at the time.
The authors include a good section on the different troop types in Morgan’s army, focusing in particular on the militia, who made up 60% of the army. We get a good explanation of why it is almost impossible to be sure how many militiamen fought at the battle, or even how what units they were organised into, and also of why they were not well regarded by most Patriot commanders, including Morgan himself. Problems came when commanders tried to use their militia as regular infantry, but Morgan’s plan was build around the assumption that they would retreat after a fairly short fight with the British regulars.
On the British side we start with a look at the four main types of troops present – Regulars, German mercenaries, Provincials and Militia – then move on to look at the British Legion itself. This was a self contained unit with its own light infantry, cavalry and artillery.
The account of the campaign makes you realise how brutal this war was – it was effectively a civil war, with neighbour fighting neighbour, and little distinction between civilians and military.
The key to Morgan’s victory was his careful use of the terrain at Cowpens, his understanding of the limits of his militia and his knowledge of Tarleton. The authors know the battlefield, which appears flat but actually has enough difference in height to allow Morgan to place his Continentals on a reverse slope where they would be hidden from the British. His militia were posted on one of the ridges, where they would be visible to the British, with a line of skirmishers further forwards. The plan was to lure the impetous Tarleton into an attack on the militia. The skirmishers were under orders to fire twice and then retreat to positions on either side of the militia. Morgan expected the militia to retreat after putting up brief resistance. The British would be lured into breaking their formation to chase the militia and would then be exposed to a surprise attack by the concealed Continentals.
Tarleton played into Morgan’s plan. He pushed his army hard, and reached the Cowpens early in the morning. All he could see were the skirmishers and militia, so he ordered his men to make an immediate attack. We get a good clear account of the resulting fighting, which didn’t go entirely as Morgan planned. His militia fought for longer than he had expected, but those on the flanks also retreated further than he hoped, followed by Tarleton’s cavalry. This crisis was averted by the arrival of Morgan’s cavalry, which drove off the British. His plan to have the Continentals surprise the British regulars certainly worked, resulting in close range exchange of musketry in which the Americans held their own. However a second crisis developed when the British began to outflank the Patriots, and an attempt to refuse the threatened flank turned into a general withdrawal along the Patriot line. This inadvertant move decided the battle – British discipline broke as they pursued what they believed was a broken foe, the Americans turned and fired a volley that broke the British line. In the aftermath of this the bulk of the British infantry surrendered, leaving only some of the dragoons to escape.
The account of the battle itself is followed by a look at the immediate aftermath, which saw Morgan and Greene safely escape from a larger British force under Cornwallis which pursued them to the River Dan, on the border with Virginia. This part of the campaign is just as important as the battle itself – if Cornwallis had been able to catch Greene and Morgan then the victory at Cowpens would have counted for nothing, but the Patriot army escaped largely intact.
The text is supported by a good series of maps, including three showing the phases of the battle itself, and two showing the route of the American retreat in the aftermath.
This is a good account of both the battle and campaign of Cowpens, allowing us to see how remarkable Morgan’s leadership was.
Chapters
Chronology
Opposing Commanders
Opposing Forces
Opposing Plans
The Battle of Cowpens
Aftermath
Author: Ed & Catherine Gilbert
Edition: Paperback
Pages: 96
Publisher: Osprey
Year: 2016