January 16, 1781 – Significant American Revolution Victory at Cowpens in South Carolina

Cowpens has been called one of the most significant victories in American military history.

As historian Jim Stempel writes:

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 in South Carolina 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.”

The morning of the battle, Morgan was trying to elude a British trap. Scouts informed him that Banastre Tarleton had crossed the Pacolet River, six miles south, and was coming up fast. This put Morgan in a precarious position. If he crossed the Broad River six miles away, most of his militia would probably desert him. If Tarleton caught the Americans on the road or astride the river, they could all be cut down. Morgan chose to stand and fight, and the terrain at the Cowpens, on the road to a ford across the Broad River, offered him some advantages.

Daniel Morgan

As Stempel describes the battle, Morgan decided to deploy his troops in three lines: first a skirmish line, second a strong line of militia partially obscured by a swale, and third a line of Continentals and veteran Virginians:

He asked the skirmishers to fire two or three shots then retire to the militia line behind them. Likewise, the militia was asked to do the same then withdraw to the line of Continentals, where the entire force would make a final stand, the militia now shielded by the Continentals’ bayonets.”

Tarleton fell right into Morgan’s trap. Both the skirmish and militia lines were able to wreak havoc on the British assault. Next, the entire American line withdrew, but at the last moment, turned around and unleashed a murderous volley into the faces of the pursuing Redcoats. Then, with the command of “Charge bayonets!,” the Americans surged out and over the stunned British. In short order, Stempel observes, “the Redcoats were enveloped, surrounded, and utterly defeated.”

Daniel Morgan, then 45, was already legendary for bravery. The National Park Service (NPS) reported that in 1756, while serving as a teamster in the British Army, he struck a British officer and was sentenced to 500 lashes with a cat-o’-nine tails. He not only survived, but later claimed that the British still owed him one lash.

When the Revolutionary War began, Morgan led a unit of Virginia sharpshooters to Boston where they joined the Continental Army. He was captured and exchanged and came back into service with another unit of Virginia sharpshooters. He took a brief leave of absence for illness, but rejoined the army yet again in September 1780. Promoted to brigadier general, he was sent by Major General Nathanael Greene into western South Carolina to operate as a “flying army” harassing the British left flank and rear.

Major General Charles Cornwallis sent Banastre Tarleton to remove the threat that Morgan created. Tarleton, 26, who had purchased his commission in the British Army, had a reputation for being ruthless, and was widely hated in South Carolina for his butchery of Continentals, even those who had surrendered.

“Lieutenant-Colonel Banastre Tarleton” by Sir Joshua Reynolds

Morgan knew he would be outnumbered by Tarleton’s forces, so good strategy was of paramount importance. He did not disappoint. The battle was over in a hour. British losses were staggering: 190 dead, more than 200 wounded, and nearly 600 captured. Morgan’s losses, by comparison, were 24 killed and 104 wounded. Morgan later told a friend he had given Tarleton and the British a “devil of a whipping.”

Sir Henry Clinton later wrote that Morgan’s victory was “the first link of a chain of events that followed each other in regular succession until they at last ended in the total loss of America.”

Statue of General Morgan erected in 1881 in Spartanburg, South Carolina

A number of counties in America were named in Morgan’s honor, and The Daniel Morgan Graduate School of National Security in Washington, D.C., established in 2014, was named after Morgan because of his brilliant use of strategy and intelligence during the American Revolution.