During the American Revolution the Continental Congress awarded only 14 medals and three were given for heroism at Cowpens near Chesnee, South Carolina.
Three miles east of the small town of Chesnee in South Carolina on Route 11, in a grassy meadow lightly peppered with trees, one of the most crucial battles of the American Revolution. The Cowpens National Battlefield, virtually unknown beyond scholars and Revolution buffs, looks largely unchanged since the events of January 1781.
Banastre Tarleton was a British gentryman, schooled at Oxford, and, at the precocious age of 21, placed in charge of a company of mounted infantry, the dragoons. he volunteered to combat the rebellion in America and fought well in the north in the early years of the war. He found his stride, though, when he followed Lord Cornwallis to South Carolina.
Still only 24, Tarleton commanded the green-uniformed British Legion, a particularly fierce army of American loyalists. Tarleton was even more aggressive than his mentor Cornwallis and his fast-moving infantry set about successfully clearing the South Carolina countryside of American resistance. In the process he earned the moniker Ã'Bloody Tarleton.Ã"
On January 16, 1781, Daniel Morgan learned that Tarleton was on his trail. Morgan never attended a fancy school; he was a brawling frontiersman, a teamster by trade. He won his experience by fighting Indians and proved himself one of AmericaÕs best leaders during the Revolution at Quebec and Saratoga. After an American calamity at Camden he came out of retirement to serve under Nathanael Greene. Cowpens was his first independent command.
MorganÕs crack troops from Maryland and Delaware harassed the British across the Carolina backwoods as he marched to rejoin Greene in early 1781. Tarleton convinced Cornwallis that he could chase down MorganÕs army and, if not destroy it totally, force it into the pincers of the main British force. Cornwallis gave Tarleton a detachment of 1,100 cavalry and infantry, a quarter of his army wintering in nearby Winnsboro.
Morgan was using the network of rivers to protect his march and on January 16 was camped between the Broad and Pacolet rivers. Rather than continuing his flight, Morgan chose to stand and fight between the rivers on land used to winter cattle known locally as HannahÕs Cowpens. An interpretive trail at Cowpens National Battlefield prepares the visitor for what happened next and the terrain tells the tale.
Although outnumbered almost two-to-one, Morgan knew his opponent. His plan was to use his young pursuerÕs audaciousness against him. The ground at Cowpens sloped gradually uphill from the point where Tarleton would be approaching; at the far end were two low crests, separated by a wide swell.
Morgan broke his force into three lines. About 120 sharpshooters were deployed on the lower slope; less experienced militia were stationed along the first crest, and MorganÕs most seasoned Continentals - about 500 men - manned the line behind the crest. The plan was for the first two lines to fire two well-aimed volleys and fall back, luring Tarleton deeper into the American position.
The British closed so quickly on Morgan on the morning of January 16 that his men left their rations cooking in camp fires. Tarleton paused long enough only to enjoy the American breakfast and was ready to strike in the darkness before dawn the next day. Tarleton sent an exploratory force of 50 cavalry to feel out MorganÕs position, and 15 were blasted from their mounts. Undaunted, and true to form, the impetuous Tarleton charged on, attacking without reconnaissance just after dawn.
The British surged through the first two lines, weathering the American volleys as the defenders fell back in concert, as planned. But as the fighting intensified at the third line, American communication broke down. John Edgar Howard, called by Nathanael Greene Ã'as good an officer as the world affords,Ã" ordered his right to fall back and reform, but the order was mistaken as a general retreat and the entire line broke.
Seeing this maneuver, Morgan quickly improvised on his main plan. He rode up, chose new ground for the Continentals to rally on and stopped the retreat. The British, having seen the Americans turn and leave the field, joyfully broke ranks to chase the defeated foe. The redcoats were still cheering when the first return fire struck. The reorganized militia under Andrew Pickens and the cavalry under William Augustine Washington led with a withering charge back down the slope. The British were completely routed as they dashed off the field. Washington raced ahead of his troops and caught Tarleton, briefly engaging him in a sword fight, but the British commander was able to shoot WashingtonÕs horse and flee.
All of these actions can be easily envisioned on the grounds of Cowpens National Battlefield today. The walking tour through the open forest, well-suited for cavalry action, includes the American lines across the Green River Road. The small, single-story visitor center features a lighted map tracing troop movements and an audiovisual presentation describes the importance of Cowpens to the American Revolution. And if you see Mel Gibson in The Patriot, you can see a rough dramatization of the battle at Cowpens in the filmÕs climactic fight sequences.
The fighting at Cowpens lasted barely one hour, but British losses were staggering: 110 dead and over 700 captured and wounded. Morgan lost only 12 killed and 60 wounded in a victory as complete as any in the Revolution. The Continental Congress awarded only 14 medals during the Revolution, and three - for Morgan, Washington and Howard - were given for heroism at Cowpens.
