Battle of Cowpens, the only use of double envelopment in the American Revolution.
The southern theater of the American Revolution doesn’t get nearly the amount of attention as the more northerly theater namely in New York, New Jersey and New England. However, the war would be crucially decided in the last years of the war in the southern theater, namely in the Carolinas and later in Virginia with the Yorktown Campaign.
The southern theater was considered by the British more likely to be amiable to the Loyalist cause particularly in parts of the Carolinas, the Loyalist and Patriot populations were fairly split in terms of popularity, namely in South Carolina. The shift to a southern strategy by the British was in part due to their defeat in the Saratoga Campaign in upstate New York during autumn of 1777 which only further rallied numbers to the Patriot cause and left the British unsure of how to end the war decisively in their favor.
Throughout the first half of the war, there was revolutionary activity in the south with Patriot militias and the Continental Army working to suppress their Loyalist counterparts, property confiscation took place and this lead to further resentment between both sides. The British implemented the southern strategy with a drive into the major port town of Savannah, Georgia which they captured in 1778. Loyalists were to serve an important role in this theater, eager to support the royal cause, regain their lands confiscated by the Patriots and to gain new lands at the expense of their Patriot neighbors once their lands were taken for treason after British victory was assured.
Over the next couple years the focus shifted to the Carolinas with Charleston, South Carolina being a major source of focus for the British and Americans. Lord Charles Cornwallis was placed in charge of the southern theater and in 1780 at the Battle of Camden he defeated an American army rather handily which caused a setback for the Patriot cause, though the Continental Army and militia remained intact, much of South Carolina was “pacified”. The plan by Cornwallis was now to invade North Carolina and suppress the rebellion there. Going into autumn 1780, things looked dire for the Patriot cause. Meanwhile, Horatio Gates who lost the Battle of Camden was replaced at George Washington’s behest by Nathanael Greene.
Cornwallis hoped to rally Loyalist support to his cause as part of the North Carolina Campaign. On October 7, 1780 the Loyalist militias would clash with Patriot militias in the Battle of Kings Mountain. The Patriot militias were largely made of the Scots-Irish or Ulster-Scots community that made up large portions of the Western Carolinas populace. This community derived its name and identity when in the 16th century it was sent as Scottish and English Protestant settlers to the North of Ireland to suppress the mostly Catholic native Irish population, forming the core of the Plantation of Ulster as they called it. Over the ensuing two centuries this mix of Scots, English and Irish Protestants with smaller numbers of Flemish, French and German Protestant refugees fused into a distinct community which became known to this day as Ulster-Scots in Britain and Ireland due to the predominance of Scottish settlers in the community. Though in time they often identified as just Irish as many grew up exclusively in Ireland maintaining a Protestant dominance which survives to this day in Northern Ireland as part of the United Kingdom. In the late 17th century many of these Ulster Scots who were Presbyterian in their religion were loyal to William III Protestant King of England, Scotland and Ireland and served in his army during the Williamite War of 1688-1691.Â
Things changed in the early 18th century however with the passing of laws that made the established church in Britain and Ireland, the Anglican Church of England and Ireland as the sole state sponsored religion, this caused a separation among the Protestant classes, as laws against Presbyterians and Catholics somewhat united them in common cause. In time, a number of droughts which affected farming in Ireland, along with religious and political persecution lead to Ulster-Scots, now identifying as Irish emigrating to America. They settled largely in the Appalachia region from Pennsylvania on down to the Carolinas and Georgia where they could practice their religion and farm as they saw fit. They also served as pioneers and Indian fighters against Native American tribes since they were known for their fighting prowess. By the time of the American Revolution, the community almost overwhelmingly supported the Patriot cause, due to their ability to cement their distinct culture in America. It wasn’t until later with the mass arrival in waves of Catholic Irish, that Scots-Irish became a more widely used term to distinguish them from other Irish emigration. The Scots-Irish were so numerous in the the Patriot numbers particularly in the South that it was commented by a British general to the House of Commons “Half the Continental Army is from Ireland.” While a Hessian officer was recorded as saying “Call this war by whatever name you may, only call it not an American rebellion; it is nothing more or less than a Scotch-Irish Presbyterian rebellion."
Kings Mountain was a solid Patriot victory that largely dismantled the Loyalist militia in the Carolinas and solidified the image of the Scots-Irish “Overmountain Men”, a frontiersmen armed with guns and in search of land and freedom and willing to fight anyone for it, epitomizing the early ideal of the rugged individual in America fighting for their place in the world. Symbolism aside, the practical effect was a boost of morale to the American cause, a weakening of the British Loyalist forces and the realization that the war in the South wouldn’t be so easily won.
By January 1781, the British who had delayed their invasion of North Carolina in the wake of King’s Mountain sought to renew the offensive. Called to assist in this matter was one of Cornwallis’s subordinates, Lt. Col Banastre Tarleton, an English soldier born in Liverpool to a family who made their fortune in trade, particularly the slave trade in the West Indies. Tarleton came into military service as a way to give him focus after a life of gambling and womanizing that had drained his fortune. He first purchased a commission in the army as was common practice among the British aristocracy and wealthy at the time despite being officially banned. He however did prove to be an effective horseman and soldier, gradually rising through the ranks on his own merit there after. He partook in many battles in the northern theater of the American Revolution, but it was in the south where his image in the Americas would be solidified. He came to lead the so called British Legion, a provincial regiment of dragoons (mounted infantry) that wore distinct Green Jackets which along with their commander gave them the nicknames, the Green Dragoons or Tarleton’s Raiders. In May of 1780 at the Battle of Waxhaws, the British Legion under Tarleton and supported by other Loyalist militia massacred many surrendering Patriot forces. The exact chain of events that lead to the massacre and Tarleton’s personal role in it is a matter of debate and controversy, but it forever after earned him the reputation in America of a bloodthirsty killer who “violated” the rules of war by offering no quarter to surrendering enemy soldiers. He was nicknamed by the Patriot press as Bloody Ban or the Butcher. These events incensed the Patriot militia whose anger would play out months later at Kings Mountain when Loyalist militia and dead British officers were stripped of their clothes by angry Patriot militias who are said to have urinated on their corpses before burying them.
In opposition to Tarleton on the American side was Brigadier General Daniel Morgan. Morgan was born in New Jersey and lived in Pennsylvania and Virginia. He was the grandson of Welsh emigrants on both sides of his family to Pennsylvania where a large Welsh community in the Colonial era had established roots. Morgan during the French and Indian War had worked as a teamster of draft animals for the British Army, during a dispute he attacked a British officer and received 500 lashes of the whip as punishment which often killed the recipient, he survived with a lingering resentment of the British for their treatment of the provincials in America. When the Revolution broke out Morgan offered his services to the Patriot cause. Over the years he had served as a rifleman and earned a reputation for marksmanship. His use of the rifle during the American Revolution would help change the rules of small arms fire in warfare. The norm in 18th century combat using European rules of warfare was for infantry to fire smooth bore muskets which fired at relatively close range and had to be fired at in massed volleys to be especially effective. Various developments overtime lead to establishment of the rifle, like the musket it was a long gun, with a longer barrel in fact, but unlike the smooth barrel of a musket the rifle had “rifled” grooves etched into its interior which when a bullet was expended would spiral giving it better accuracy and longer range than a musket. While rifle units existed prior to the American Revolution and were used by both sides of the war, Morgan’s Riflemen as they became to be known were especially influential in demonstrating the effectiveness of a rifle over a musket. Morgan was given command of an elite unit of expert riflemen who could hit a 7 inch circular object at 250 feet. Morgan’s Riflemen partook in a number of battles namely Quebec and Saratoga where the riflemen in Morgan’s unit engaged in early examples of sniper tactics, shooting British officers mounted on horses while hidden from view, the killing of these officers without being seen sowed discord, uncertainty and confusion in the British ranks, giving an element of psychological warfare to the British.
Morgan was called to the southern theater in 1780, arriving in the Carolinas in December. Banastre Tarleton and British Legion, supported by British regulars and other Loyalists sought to push westward in South Carolina to open the door to North Carolina as ordered by Cornwallis. Morgan’s forces which no longer included his Riflemen unit which disbanded over a year prior was made of a mix of Continental “regulars” and various militias from across the south. On January 17, 1781 Tarleton and Morgan’s forces would meet in battle near the Broad River close to the North/South Carolina border in a place called Cowpens due to a number the cow pen pastures close by in the low lying countryside. The British had almost 1,200 troops and two grasshopper cannons while the Americans had roughly 2,000 troops made of mostly militia from the Carolinas and Virginia with elements from Georgia, Maryland and Delaware mostly infantry with some cavalry dragoons of their own but no artillery support. Morgan would prove to be a formidable tactician and he knew his troops made of militia which had poor reputation of running at the first sign of trouble would be unreliable in the upcoming fight if things didn’t go their way. He also knew the British expected this and would be able to rout the American forces quite easily if pressed. Morgan decided on a strategy that would confound expectations. First he placed his force between the Broad and Pacolet rivers. With their backs to the rivers, retreat for his troops wouldn’t be a viable option, the rivers would slow his retreat down and provide the British an opportunity to cut them down as they retreated. Secondly, he placed his more reliable Continental regulars on a low lying hill in the center with no flanking support other than the terrain due to a ravine and creek which would force the British to charge straight ahead into their lines. Next, he organized his overall force into three lines. A first line made up of Carolinian sharpshooters, a second of various miltia and the third his Continental regulars forming a solid final core against the British charge. The idea was to fire volleys at the oncoming British who could only charge ahead due to the creek and ravine breaking any flanking potential and knowing they would break the militia, they would lull the British to only charge further and further into a trap. The Americans would feign a retreat after a few volleys and reform behind the next line of troops, this would cause British casualties to mount and sap their physical strength as the British would tire out pursuing the Americans uphill. It also psychologically tired them out when they realized another line of American troops awaited them with repeating results. It would drain the enemy giving them a false sense of early victory by chasing the “trapped” Americans to the river and essentially lead them into a death trap of their own.
As is often the case, victory sometimes comes not only from one commander’s decisions but that of the enemy. Tarleton had marched his troops relentlessly for 48 hours to meet Morgan’s men. They ran out of food by the day of battle and had less than 4 hours of solid sleep in those preceding two days, meaning they went into battle eager but already tired. This would contribute to the disaster that followed along with Tarleton’s overconfidence and impatience. Tarleton fell right into Morgan’s hands as planned. The British emerged from the woods shortly after sunrise and engaged the American first line of sharpshooters who fired their volleys and gave way to the British advance. Tarleton ordered a full infantry charge which ran into the second line of militia. As Morgan had ordered they fired two volleys instead of one. This surprised the British and as was typical of Morgan he had his troops aim for officers to weaken the British morale and cause confusion to their troops without anyone giving orders. The British encountered Morgan’s third line from Delaware, Virginia and Maryland. Meanwhile some American troops, dragoons and other reformed lines of militia men on the rear near the river banks actually did a flanking maneuver behind British lines which were overdrawn and soon to be cutoff. As the British tried a small flank of their own against the main body of Continentals, they appeared to force a retreat of the Virginians but the Americans did an about face and fired a volley into the surprised British and Morgan had a mass bayonet charge against the now physically exhausted and weakened British lines. The British routed, some surrendering on the spot while others were killed in the retreat. The American miltia who made it to the river then rejoined the fight by employing flanking maneuvers on both the British left and right near the original British skirmish line including their grasshopper cannons. The surprise bayonet charge from the American center, combined with a envelopment of their rear and flanks totally upended the British plan, already drained by a forced march on little sleep and food, mounting casualties and asolid hour of fighting. Tarleton gathered a few cavalry men that clashed with American dragoons on horseback in an attempt to recapture their cannons, it failed. Tarleton narrowly escaped with his life. The end result was 25 Americans dead and 124 wounded while the British suffered 110 killed, 229 wounded and 629 taken prisoner out of a force shy of 1,200 men.Â
The Battle of Cowpens was small in scale but it contributed to the overall drainage of British forces in the Carolinas Campaign. It also solidified Daniel Morgan’s reputation as a tactical commander. He in effect employed the only use of a double envelopment in the whole war, a classic battle tactic since ancient times and perfected by Hannibal and the Carthaginians against the Romans at the Battle of Cannae in 216 BC. The American Revolution and 18th century in general was not largely an era known for overall tactical development since many European style battles more or less followed a repeated pattern of “chess piece” formulas or marching forces like pawns to dislodge the enemy through massed fire followed by bayonet charges until one side relented. Cowpens was entirely different, in confounded expectations by lulling the British into a trap and completely physically and mentally breaking them down. While the British would achieve further tactical victories namely at Guildford Courthouse later that spring, it did so at great cost of life while the Continentals and militia continued to escape and withdraw into the countryside further sapping the strength of the British. All this bought time for the arrival of French regular troops to join with General George Washington in the autumn of 1781 in the North who would march down to Virginia and ultimately trap Cornwallis at Yorktown that October as part of his own attempt to cutoff American supply lines, effectively this ended the war in American victory. Cowpens was a sort of microcosm into the American strategy that developed out of necessity for the whole war, the British might win major pitched battles but their failures over and over to capture the main American armies as a whole and suffering attrition through small scale losses and overextending their forces wore them down in the end.
