Battle of Cowpens
Battle of Cowpens | |||||||
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Part of the American Revolutionary War | |||||||
The Battle of Cowpens, painted by William Ranney in 1845. The scene depicts an unnamed black man (left), thought to be Colonel William Washington's waiter,[2] firing his pistol and saving the life of Colonel Washington (on white horse in center). | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
United States | |||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Daniel Morgan | Banastre Tarleton | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
1,887–1,912 [3] |
1,150 2 guns[4] | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
25 killed 124 wounded[5] |
110 killed 229 wounded 629 captured or missing 2 guns lost[6][7] | ||||||
The Battle of Cowpens was an engagement during the
). The battle was a turning point in the American reconquest of South Carolina from the British.Morgan's forces conducted a double envelopment of Tarleton's forces, the only double envelopment of the war. Tarleton's force of 1000 British troops were set against 1000 troops under Morgan. Morgan's forces suffered casualties of only 25 killed and 124 wounded. Tarleton's force was almost completely eliminated with almost 30% casualties and 55% of his force captured or missing, with Tarleton himself and only about 200 British troops escaping.
A small force of the
) under commander Tarleton to defeat Morgan's command. Upon learning Morgan's army was not at Ninety Six, Tarleton, bolstered by British reinforcements, set off in hot pursuit of the American detachment.Morgan resolved to make a stand near the
Tarleton's brigade was wiped out as an effective fighting force, and, coupled with the British defeat at the Battle of Kings Mountain in the northwest corner of South Carolina, this action compelled Cornwallis to pursue the main southern American army into North Carolina, leading to the Battle of Guilford Court House, and Cornwallis's eventual defeat at the siege of Yorktown in Virginia in October 1781.
Background
On October 14, 1780, Continental Army commander General
On December 3, Brigadier General Daniel Morgan reported for duty to Greene's headquarters at
Morgan was exchanged in January 1777 and placed by George Washington in command of a picked force of 500 trained riflemen, known as
Greene decided that his weak army could not meet the British in a stand-up fight. He made the unconventional decision to divide his army, sending a detachment west of the Catawba River to raise the morale of the locals and find supplies beyond the limited amounts available around Charlotte.
Meanwhile, Lord Cornwallis was planning to return to North Carolina and conduct the invasion that he had postponed after the defeat at Kings Mountain.[20] Morgan's force represented a threat to his left. Additionally, Cornwallis received incorrect intelligence claiming that Morgan was going to attack the important British fort of American Loyalists at Ninety Six, in western South Carolina. Seeking to save the fort and defeat Morgan's command, Cornwallis on January 1, 1781 with a followup message on January 2 ordered cavalry (dragoons) Lieutenant Colonel Banastre Tarleton to the west.[21]
Tarleton was 26 years old and had enjoyed a spectacular career in his service with the British in the colonies. In December 1776, he and a small party surprised and captured Colonial General
Tarleton and the Legion marched to Ninety Six. After learning Morgan was not there, Tarleton asked for reinforcements of British regulars, which Cornwallis sent. Tarleton set out with his enlarged command to drive Morgan across the Broad River.[23] On January 12 he received accurate news of Morgan's location and continued with hard marching, building boats to cross rivers that were flooding with winter rains.[24] Receiving word that Tarleton was in hot pursuit, Morgan retreated north to avoid being trapped between Tarleton and Cornwallis.[25]
By the afternoon of the 16th, Morgan was approaching the Broad River, which was high with flood waters and reported difficult to cross. He knew Tarleton was close behind. By nightfall, he had reached a place called locally "Hannah's Cowpens", a well-known grazing area for local cattle.[26] Pickens, who had been patrolling, arrived that night to join Morgan with his large body of irregular militia. Morgan decided to stand and fight rather than continue to retreat and risk being caught by Tarleton while fording the Broad River. Learning of Morgan's location, Tarleton pushed his troops, marching at 3 a.m. instead of camping for the night.[27]
Prelude
Continental force
The size of the American force at Cowpens remains in dispute. Morgan claimed in his official report to have had about 800 men at Cowpens, which is substantially supported by historian John Buchanan, whose estimate is between 800 and 1000 men.[28] In contrast, historian Lawrence E. Babits, in his detailed study of the battle, offers an alternate estimate, contending that the strength of Morgan's command on the day of the battle was closer to 1,900, composed of:
- A battalion of Continental infantry under Lieutenant Colonel John Eager Howard of Baltimore, with one company from Delaware ("Delaware Line"), one from Virginia, and three from the famous stalwart "Maryland Line" regiment, each with a strength of sixty men (300)[29]
- A company of Virginia state militia troops under Captain John Lawson[30] (75)[31]
- A company of South Carolina state troops under Captain Joseph Pickens (60)[32]
- A small company of North Carolina state troops under Captain Henry Connelly (number not given)[30]
- A Virginia militia battalion under Frank Triplett[33] (160)[34]
- Three companies of Virginia militia under Major David Campbell (50)[35]
- A battalion of North Carolina militia under Colonel Joseph McDowell (260–285)[36]
- A brigade of four battalions of South Carolina militia under Colonel Andrew Pickens, comprising a three-company battalion of the Spartan Regiment under Lieutenant Colonel Benjamin Roebuck, a four-company battalion of the Spartan Regiment under Col. John Thomas, five companies of the Little River Regiment under Lieutenant Colonel Joseph Hayes, and seven companies of the Fair Forest Regiment under Col. Thomas Brandon. Babits states[37] that this battalion "ranged in size from 120 to more than 250 men". If Roebuck's three companies numbered 120 and Brandon's seven companies numbered 250, then Thomas's four companies probably numbered about 160 and Hayes's five companies about 200, for a total of 730.
- Three small companies of Georgia militia commanded by Major Cunningham[38] who numbered 55[39]
- A detachment of the 1st and 3rd Continental Light Dragoons under Lieutenant Colonel William Washington (82), who was a second cousin of George Washington.[40]
- Detachments of state dragoons from North Carolina and Virginia (30)[41]
- A detachment of South Carolina state dragoons, with a few mounted Georgians, commanded by Major James McCall (25)[42]
- A company of newly raised volunteers from the local South Carolina militia commanded by Major Benjamin Jolly (45)[43]
Babits's figures can be summarized as follows: 82 Continental light dragoons, 55 state dragoons, 45 militia dragoons, 300 Continental infantry, about 150 state infantry, and 1,255–1,280 militia infantry, for a total of 1,887–1,912 officers and men. Broken down by state, there were about 855 South Carolinians, 442 Virginians, 290–315 North Carolinians, 180 Marylanders, 60 Georgians, and 60 Delawareans.
Morgan's forces were strengthened by these core elements of relatively seasoned troops and his own brilliance in leadership. His Continentals were veterans (Marylanders from the 1776
British force
Tarleton's force included:
- The British Legion: 250 cavalry and 200 infantry,[44]
- A troop of the 17th Light Dragoons (50),
- A battery of the Royal Artillery (24) with two 3-pounder cannons[45]
- 7th Regiment of Foot (Royal Fusiliers)(177)
- Light infantry company of the 16th Regiment of Foot(42)
- 71st Regiment of Foot (Fraser's Highlanders) under Major Arthur MacArthur (334)
- Light company of the Loyalist Prince of Wales's American Regiment (31)
- A company of Loyalist guides (50)
A total of over 1,150 officers and men.[46]
Broken down by troop classification, there were 300 cavalry, 553 regulars, 231 provincials, 24 artillerymen, and 50 militia. From these numbers, nearly half of Tarleton's force were Provincial troops recruited from the Loyalist population of the colonies (481 out of 1,158). Tarleton's regular troops from the Royal Artillery, 17th Light Dragoons, and the 7th, 16th, and 71st Regiments of Foot were reliable and seasoned soldiers.[47] Tarleton's own Provincial unit, the British Legion, had established a fierce reputation as formidable pursuers, being used to great effect at Waxhaws and Camden,[48] but had an uncertain reputation when facing determined opposition.[48]
Morgan's plan
Morgan turned to his advantage the terrain of Cowpens, the varying reliability of his troops, his expectations of his opponent, and the time available before Tarleton's arrival.[49] He knew that untrained militiamen, which comprised a large portion of his force, were generally unreliable in a pitched battle, and in the past had routed at the first hint of defeat and abandoned the regulars.[50] For instance, the Battle of Camden had ended in disaster when the militia, which comprised half of the American force, broke and ran as soon as the fighting started, leaving the American flank exposed. To eliminate that possibility, he defied convention by placing his army between the Broad and Pacolet rivers, thus making escape impossible if the army was routed.[51][52] Selecting a low hill as the center of his position, he placed his Continental infantry on it,[53] deliberately leaving his flanks exposed to his opponent. With a ravine on their right flank and a creek on their left flank, Morgan reasoned his forces were sufficiently protected against possible British flanking maneuvers at the beginning of the battle.[54]
Morgan surmised that Tarleton would be highly confident and attack him head-on, without pausing to devise a more subtle plan. He therefore arranged his forces to encourage this presupposed impetuosity of his opponent by establishing three lines of soldiers: one of
In developing his tactics at Cowpens, as historian John Buchanan wrote, Morgan may have been "the only general in the American Revolution, on either side, to produce a significant original tactical thought".[57]
Tarleton's approach
At 2:00 a.m. on January 17, 1781, Tarleton roused his troops and continued his march to Cowpens. Lawrence Babits states that, "in the five days before Cowpens, the British were subjected to stress that could only be alleviated by rest and proper diet". He points out that "in the forty-eight hours before the battle, the British ran out of food and had less than four hours' sleep".[58] Over the whole period, Tarleton's brigade did a great deal of rapid marching across difficult terrain. Babits concludes that they reached the battlefield exhausted and malnourished. Tarleton sensed victory and nothing would persuade him to delay. His Tory scouts had told him of the countryside Morgan was fighting on, and he was certain of success because Morgan's soldiers, mostly militiamen, seemed to be caught between mostly experienced British troops and a flooding river.[59] As soon as he reached the spot, Tarleton formed a battle line, which consisted of dragoons on his flanks, with his two grasshopper cannons in between the British Regulars and American Loyalists.[60]
Tarleton's plan was simple and direct. Most of his infantry (including that of the Legion) would be assembled in linear formation and move directly upon Morgan. The right and left flanks of this line would be protected by dragoon units. In reserve was the 250-man battalion of Scottish Highlanders (71st Regiment of Foot), commanded by Major Arthur MacArthur, a professional soldier of long experience who had served in the Dutch Scotch Brigade. Finally, Tarleton kept the 200-man cavalry contingent of his Legion ready to be unleashed when the Americans broke and ran.[60]
Battle
A few minutes before sunrise, Tarleton's vanguard emerged from the woods in front of the American position. Tarleton ordered his dragoons to attack the first line of skirmishers, who opened fire and shot fifteen dragoons. When the dragoons promptly retreated, he immediately ordered an infantry charge, without pausing to study the American deployment or to allow the rest of his infantry and his cavalry reserve to make it out of the woods. Tarleton attacked the skirmish line without pausing, deploying his main body and his two grasshopper cannons. The American skirmishers kept firing as they withdrew to join the second line manned by Pickens's irregular militia. The British attacked again, this time reaching the militiamen, who (as ordered) poured two volleys into the enemy, especially targeting commanders. The British—with 40% of their casualties being officers—were astonished and confused. They reorganized and continued to advance. Tarleton ordered one of his officers, Ogilvie, to charge with some dragoons into the "defeated" Americans. His men moved forward in regular formation and were momentarily paused by the militia musket fire, but continued to advance. Pickens's militia seemed to "flee" as usual, around the American left to the rear as planned after getting off their second volley.[61]
Taking the withdrawal of the first two lines as a full-blown retreat, the British advanced headlong into the third and final line of disciplined Maryland and Delaware regulars which awaited them on the hill. The 71st Highlanders were ordered to flank the American right. John Eager Howard spotted the flanking movement and ordered the Virginia militiamen manning the American right to turn and face the Scots. However, in the noise of battle, Howard's order was misunderstood and the militiamen began to withdraw. It was now 7:45 am, and the British had been fighting for nearly an hour. They were tired and disorganized, but they saw the Virginia militia on the rebels' right withdrawing and believed the Americans were on the run. They charged, breaking formation and advancing in a chaotic mass. Morgan ordered a volley. Howard's "fleeing" militia suddenly stopped their withdrawal and made an about-face. The Virginians fired into the British at a range of no more than thirty yards, with massive effect, causing the confused British to lurch to a halt. John Eager Howard shouted, "Charge bayonets!"[62]
The Continentals in the center, as ordered, mounted a bayonet charge. Tarleton's force, faced with a terrible surprise, began to collapse; some men surrendering on the spot, while others turned and ran. Howard's men charged forward and seized the two British grasshopper cannons. William Washington's cavalry came around from behind the opposite American left to hit the British on their right flank and rear. Pickens's militia, having now reorganized, charged out from behind the hill, completing a 360-degree circle around the American position to hit the 71st Highlanders on the British left flank and rear. Howard ordered the Virginia militia, whose withdrawal had brought on the British ill-fated charge, to turn about and attack the Scots from the other direction.
The shock of the sudden charge, coupled with the reappearance of the American militiamen on the left flank where Tarleton's exhausted men expected to see their own cavalry, proved too much for the British. Nearly half of the British and Loyalist infantrymen fell to the ground whether they were wounded or not. Their will to fight was gone. Historian Lawrence Babits diagnoses "combat shock" as the cause for this abrupt British collapse—the effects of exhaustion, hunger, and demoralization suddenly catching up with them.[63] Caught in a clever double envelopment that has been compared with the Battle of Cannae in ancient times,[64] many of the British surrendered.
When Tarleton's right flank and center line collapsed, only a minority of the 71st Highlanders were putting up a fight against part of Howard's line. Tarleton, realizing how desperate his situation was, rode back to his sole remaining intact unit, the British Legion cavalry. He ordered them to charge, but they instead fled the field.
Aftermath
Morgan's army took 712 prisoners, which included 200 wounded. Even worse for the British, the forces lost (especially the British regulars and the dragoons) constituted the cream of Cornwallis's army. Additionally, 110 British soldiers were killed in action, and every artilleryman was either killed or incapacitated by wounds.[70] Tarleton suffered an 86 percent casualty rate, and his brigade had been wiped out as a fighting force.[7] John Eager Howard quoted Major McArthur of the 71st Highlanders, now a prisoner of the Americans, as saying that "he was an officer before Tarleton was born; that the best troops in the service were put under 'that boy' to be sacrificed."[71] An American prisoner later recounted that when Tarleton reached Cornwallis and reported the disaster, Cornwallis placed his sword tip on the ground and leaned on it until the blade snapped.[72]
Historian Lawrence E. Babits has demonstrated that Morgan's official report of 73 casualties appears to have only included his Continental troops. From surviving records, he has been able to identify by name 128 Colonial soldiers who were either killed or wounded at Cowpens. He also presents an entry in the North Carolina State Records that shows 68 Continental and 80 militia casualties. It would appear that both the number of Morgan's casualties and the total strength of his force were about double what he officially reported.[73]
Tarleton's apparent recklessness in pushing his command so hard in pursuit of Morgan may be explained by the fact that, up until Cowpens, every battle that he and his British Legion had fought in the South had been a relatively easy victory. He appears to have been so concerned with pursuing Morgan that he quite forgot that it was necessary for his men to be in a fit condition to fight once they caught him, though Cornwallis himself did press Tarleton to take aggressive action.[74]
Coming in the wake of the American debacle at Camden, Cowpens was a surprising victory and a turning point that affected the psychology of the entire war—"spiriting up the people", not only those of the backcountry Carolinas, but those in all the Southern states. As it was, the Americans were encouraged to fight further, and the Loyalists and British were demoralized. Furthermore, its strategic result—the destruction of an important part of the British army in the South—was crucial toward ending the war. Along with the British defeat at the Battle of Kings Mountain, Cowpens was a serious blow to Cornwallis, who might have defeated much of the remaining resistance in South Carolina had Tarleton won at Cowpens. Instead, the battle set in motion a series of events leading to the end of the war. Cornwallis abandoned his pacification efforts in South Carolina, stripped his army of its excess baggage, and pursued Greene's force into North Carolina. Skirmishes occurred at the Catawba River (February 1, 1781) and other fords. Yet, after a long chase Cornwallis met Greene at the Battle of Guilford Court House, winning a pyrrhic victory that so weakened his army that he withdrew to Yorktown, Virginia, to rest and refit. Washington and his French ally, Rochambeau, seized this opportunity to trap and defeat him in the Battle of Yorktown, which caused the British to give up their efforts to defeat the Americans.[75][76]
In the opinion of John Marshall, "Seldom has a battle, in which greater numbers were not engaged, been so important in its consequences as that of Cowpens."[77] It gave General Nathanael Greene his chance to conduct a campaign of "dazzling shiftiness" that led Cornwallis by "an unbroken chain of consequences to the catastrophe at Yorktown which finally separated America from the British crown".[78]
Memorials
- The battle site is preserved at Cowpens National Battlefield.
- The Daniel Morgan Monument is in downtown Spartanburg.
- Two ships of the U.S. Navy have been named USS Cowpens in honor of the battle.
- Three current Army National Guard units (116th Inf,There are only thirty Army National Guard and active Regular Army units with lineages that go back to the colonial era.
The battle in film
- The final battle at the end of the 2000 film Lord Cornwallis, came from the Guilford Courthouse battle.[82]
- The movie Sweet Liberty, directed by Alan Alda, parodies how a film company takes great liberty with the depiction of the Battle of Cowpens.[82]
See also
- American Revolutionary War § War in the South. Places ' Battle of Cowpens ' in overall sequence and strategic context.
Notes
- ^ "Patriot Minorities at the Battle of Cowpens". National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, www.nps.gov/cowp/learn/historyculture/patriot-minorities-at-the-battle-of-cowpens.htm
- ^ "Patriot Minorities at the Battle of Cowpens". National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, www.nps.gov/cowp/learn/historyculture/patriot-minorities-at-the-battle-of-cowpens.htm
- ^ Buchanan, 319; Papers of Nathanael Greene, Vol. 7, p. 155
- ^ Babits
- ^ Edgar, Walter B., The South Carolina Encyclopedia, p. 235
- ISBN 0-8078-2434-8, p. 142
- ^ ISBN 0-471-16402-X, p. 326
- ^ Buchanan, 275
- ISBN 978-1-4325-7926-5.
- ^ Buchanan, 276
- ^ Buchanan, 280
- ^ Buchanan, pp. 280–284
- ^ Buchanan, 285
- ^ Buchanan 287–288
- ^ Buchanan, 292
- ^ Buchanan, 293
- ^ Buchanan, 296
- ^ Buchanan 298–299
- ^ Buchanan, 301–302
- ^ Buchanan, 306–307
- ^ Stevenson, 51
- ^ A History of the Campaigns of 1780 and 1781, Banastre Tarleton, Dublin, 1787 (reprint 1781), p. 32.
- ^ Buchanan, 309
- ^ Buchanan, 311
- ^ Buchanan, 312
- ^ "Battle of Cowpens", South Carolina Encyclopedia
- ^ Buchanan, 314–315
- ^ Buchanan, 319
- ^ Babits, 27–29.
- ^ a b Babits, 28.
- ^ Babits, 77.
- ^ Babits, 73.
- ^ Babits, 33.
- ^ Babits, 104.
- ^ Babits, 34.
- ^ Babits, 35–36.
- ^ Babits, 36.
- ^ Babits, 40.
- ^ Babits, 187, Note 14.
- ^ Babits, 40–41.
- ^ Babits, 175, Note 101.
- ^ Babits, 41–42 and 175, Note 101.
- ^ Babits, 41–42.
- ^ Babits, 46, "British Legion Infantry strength at Cowpens was between 200 and 271 enlisted men". However, this statement is referenced to a note on 175–176, which says, "The British Legion infantry at Cowpens is usually considered to have had about 200–250 men, but returns for the 25 December 1780 muster show only 175. Totals obtained by Cornwallis, dated 15 January, show that the whole legion had 451 men, but approximately 250 were dragoons".
- ISBN 1-57072-045-2. Reprinted 1996 by The Overmountain Press. Found at "Battle of Cowpens (Chapter 1)". Archived from the originalon August 9, 2007. Retrieved August 13, 2007.
- ^ All unit strengths from Babits.
- ^ "British Plans Tarleton Sent After Morgan". 70th Congress, 1st Session House Document No. 328: Historical Statements Concerning the Battle of King's Mountain and the Battle of the Cowpens. Washington: United States Government Printing Office. 1928. p. 53.
- ^ a b Babits, 46.
- ^ Fowler, V.G. (2005). "Brigadier General Daniel Morgan". U.S. Department of the Interior: National Park Service: Cowpens National Battlefield South Carolina. Archived from the original on August 8, 2006. Retrieved December 10, 2007.
- ^ Buchanan, 328
- ^ Ferling, 287
- ^ Johnson, 375-377
- ^ a b c Buchanan, 317
- ISBN 1-58097-002-8.
- ^ Babits, 72
- ^ O'Kelley, 42
- ^ Buchanan, 316
- ^ Babits, 156.
- ^ Buchanan, 320
- ^ a b Johnson, 379
- ^ Buchanan, 320–322
- ^ Buchanan, 324
- ^ Babits discusses this phenomenon fully on pp. 155–159
- ^ The Army Chaplaincy, Winter 1998 Archived June 24, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Buchanan, 325
- ^ Babits, p. 125
- ^ Babits, p. 154-5
- ^ Historical record of the 17th Light dragoons
- ^ Hays, Joel Stanford, "Adam Goudylock (ca. 1726–1796), Planter, of Albemarle County, Virginia, and Union County, South Carolina," The American Genealogist 88, no. 1 & 2 (2016): 49–56, 107–117, at 53–54. (only available by print subscription)
- ^ [Wellington in the Peninsula, Jac Weller, Kaye & Ward, 1961, p. 27, n. 4]
- ^ Buchanan, 327
- ^ Buchanan, 332
- ^ Babits, 150–152.
- ^ Stevenson, 52
- ^ Babits and Howard, 188-189
- ^ Ferling, 310-312
- ^ Marshall, Volume I, 404.
- ^ Trevelyan, Volume II, 141.
- ^ Department of the Army, Lineage and Honors, 116th Infantry. Reproduced in Sawicki 1981, pp. 227–229.
- ^ Department of the Army, Lineage and Honors, 175th Infantry. Reproduced in Sawicki 1982, pp. 343–345.
- ^ Department of the Army, Lineage and Honors, 198th Signal Battalion.
- ^ ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved January 14, 2019.
References
- Alden, John R. (1989). A History of the American Revolution.
- ISBN 978-0-8078-4926-2.
- ISBN 978-0-8078-3266-0.
- ISBN 1-57072-045-2.
- Boatner, Mark Mayo (1966). Cassell's Biographical Dictionary of the American War of Independence, 1763–1783. London: Cassell. ISBN 0-304-29296-6.
- Buchanan, John (1997). The Road to Guilford Courthouse: The American Revolution in the Carolinas. New York: John Wiley and Sons. ISBN 0-471-16402-X.
- Davis, Burke (2002). The Cowpens-Guilford Courthouse Campaign. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. ISBN 0-8122-1832-9.
- ISBN 978-1-62040-172-9.}
- ISBN 0-912627-33-6.
- Johnson, William (1822). Sketches of the Life and Correspondence of Nathanael Greene, Vol. 1. Charleston, SC: A. E. Miller.
- Marshall, John (1832). The Life of George Washington: Commander in Chief of the American Forces, During the War Which Established the Independence of his Country, and First President of the United States. Second Edition, Revised and Corrected by the Author. Philadelphia: James Crissy.
- Montross, Lynn. "America's Most Imitated Battle." American Heritage, Vol. 7, No. 3 (April 1956), pp. 35–37, 100–101.
- O'Kelley, Patrick (2005). Nothing but Blood and Slaughter: The Revolutionary War in the Carolinas Volume Three 1781. United States: Booklocker.com, Inc. ISBN 978-1-59113-700-9.
- Reynolds, William R. Jr. (2012). Andrew Pickens: South Carolina Patriot in the Revolutionary War. Jefferson NC: McFarland & Company, Inc. ISBN 978-0-7864-6694-8.
- Roberts, Kenneth (1958). The Battle of Cowpens: The Great Morale-Builder. Garden City: Doubleday and Company.
- Sawicki, James A. (1981). Infantry Regiments of the US Army. ISBN 978-0-9602404-3-2.
- Swager, Christine R. (2002). Come to the Cow Pens!: The Story of the Battle of Cowpens January 17, 1781. Hub City Writers Project. ISBN 1-891885-31-6.
- Trevelyan, Sir George Otto (1914). George the Third and Charles Fox: The Concluding Part of The American Revolution. New York and elsewhere: Longmans, Green and Co.
- Ward, Christopher. War of the Revolution 2 Volumes, MacMillan, New York, 1952
- Stevenson, William F. (1928). "The Battle of the Cowpens South Carolina January 27, 1781 – The Battle of the Cowpens Part I". US Army Center of Military History. Archived from the original on June 21, 2013. Retrieved June 7, 2013.
External links
- Hourihan, William J. (Winter 1998). "Historical Perspective: The Cowpens Staff Ride: A Study in Leadership". The Army Chaplaincy. Archived from the original on June 24, 2007. Retrieved December 10, 2007.
- Moncure, Lieutenant Colonel John (1996). "The Cowpens Staff Ride and Battlefield Tour". Command and General Staff College: Combined Arms Research Library. Archived from the original on January 1, 2007. Retrieved December 10, 2007.
- Montross, Lynn (April 1956). "America's Most Imitated Battle." American Heritage, Vol. 7, No. 3 (April 1956), pp. 35–37, 100–101.
- Parker, John W. "Historical Record of the Seventeenth Regiment of Light Dragoons, Lancers: Containing an Account of the Formation of the Regiment in 1759 and of Its Subsequent Services to 1841". Replications Company. Archived from the original on December 13, 2007. Retrieved December 10, 2007.
- Withrow, Scott (2005). "The Battle of Cowpens". U.S. Department of the Interior: National Park Service: Cowpens National Battlefield South Carolina.
- Cagney, James (2010). "Animated History of the Battle of Cowpens". HistoryAnimated.com. Archived from the original on October 9, 2012. Retrieved July 1, 2012.