sourced story
17 January 1781Primary source · 2 sourcesWell documented

The Battle of Cowpens

Daniel Morgan's double envelopment destroys Tarleton's British Legion

On the timeline · around 17 January 1781 · A New NationThe War for IndependenceA New NationThe Battle of Cowpens1780178117821783

Quick facts

Location
Cowpens, South Carolina
Date
17 January 1781
American commander
Brigadier General Daniel Morgan
Casualties
About 868 British; 149 American

What happened

General Nathanael Greene, who had replaced Gates in the South, split his army, sending Brigadier General Daniel Morgan to threaten British supply lines. Cornwallis dispatched Lieutenant Colonel Banastre Tarleton, notorious among Americans for showing "no quarter" to surrendering troops after an earlier battle, to hunt Morgan down. At Cowpens, South Carolina, on 17 January 1781, Morgan arranged his militia and Continentals in a layered defense, using the militia's expected retreat as a deliberate lure before Continentals and cavalry enveloped Tarleton's advancing British Legion from both flanks. The result was a near-total destruction of Tarleton's force, with roughly 868 British casualties or captures against about 149 American losses.

Why it matters

Cowpens humiliated Tarleton and destroyed one of Cornwallis's most effective units, directly weakening the British position in the Carolinas ahead of Guilford Courthouse. Morgan's tactics, using militia deliberately rather than hoping they would simply hold, are still studied as one of the war's most skillfully fought battles.

How we know

American Battlefield Trust's narrative draws on troop movement records and casualty figures reported by American and British officers after the engagement.

Sources

See something wrong? . Corrections with a source get fixed fastest.

Part of a timelineThe American Revolution30 events · How a tax dispute among British colonists became a war for independence and a new republicView all →
The Battle of Cowpens · The American Revolution · SourcedStory