Cowpens

One of the many stops along our American Revolution tour of the south was Cowpens Battlefield. While the battle itself was just a little over 30 minutes long, it proved to be one of the most important and decisive battles in the Southern campaign of the American Revolution. We had the incredible opportunity to meet up with the world’s leading authority on the Battle of Cowpens, Lawrence Babits. He led us along the trail, giving us a highly detailed explanation of battle chronology in this decisive Patriot military victory, making the battlefield come to life.

Lawrence Babits

After reading Babits’ book, A Devil of a Whipping: The Battle of Cowpens, it was incredible to see the landscape and tour the grounds with Babits himself. Upon seeing the geography and the lay of the land make Daniel Morgan’s leadership and battlefield genius apparent. Morgan set his men up in three defensive lines that proved to be an excellent choice strategically. Banastre Tarleton and his men, unaware of what was ahead of them, approached the battlefield with confidence, only to receive “a devil of a whipping” from the Patriot forces.

The British would have marched up this road to find Morgan's troops awaiting them. 

Battlefield from Morgan's hill

 As we circled the battlefield, Babits provided both a clear overview of the different stages of the battle, but he also had many anecdotes about different individual men that fought in the battle. Often it is the leaders, like Daniel Morgan or Nathaniel Greene, who are remembered as war heroes. While it is important to recognize their leadership, it is also important to remember and recognize the ordinary individuals who fought in the militia, the Continental army, or the state armies. It was just as much their bravery, skill and will to fight that won this battle as the impeccable leadership that organized them. It was clear that through his research, Babits’ aim was to tell the story from the ground up.

Babits lecturing on the battlefield

On January 17, 1781, the Battle of Cowpens proved to be turning point in the Southern campaign in the American Revolution. This decisive win for the Patriots proved that the “tide of war had turned” and the British were set on a path to surrender at Yorktown.