Battle of Cowpens
Daniel Morgan destroyed a British force in South Carolina on 17 January 1781 using a tactic built around the known weaknesses of his own troops. The southern campaign had been going badly for the Americans. Charleston had surrendered with an entire army in 1780 and Gates had been routed at Camden, where the militia ran at the first volley. Morgan had about 1,000 men, roughly half of them militia, and was being pursued by Banastre Tarleton with some 1,100 regulars and loyalists, whose reputation for refusing quarter at the Waxhaws made him useful to American recruiters. Morgan chose open ground with a river behind him — the opposite of doctrine, since it removed the option of running — and deployed in three lines. The skirmishers in front were told to fire two aimed shots at the officers and fall back. The militia in the second line were told to fire two volleys and then withdraw around the left, which is exactly what militia did anyway, and by ordering it he turned a collapse into a manoeuvre. The Continental regulars formed the third line, with cavalry hidden behind a hill. Tarleton's men, seeing the first two lines retire, charged in disorder into disciplined musketry, were hit in the flank by the returning militia and in the rear by the cavalry, and were caught in a double envelopment. Some 800 British were killed or captured against about 25 American dead. The pursuit that followed drew Cornwallis north, exhausted his army, and led him to Yorktown.
- Year: 1781 CE
- Category: Military
