Except for isolated incidents over the next few days, the pursuit ended by midnight. A new phase in the southern campaign was beginning as Cornwallis sought to recover the Cowpens prisoners, and Morgan moved to evade him. The pursuit ended in the “Race to the Dan” as Morgan, and then Greene, kept away from Cornwallis and his army during a series of forced marches across North Carolina and into Virginia.
9: The Aftermath
You have done well, for you are successful.
—Daniel Morgan to John Eager Howard, about 8:45A.M., 17 January 1781
As fighting ended, four new activities began: plundering, treatment of the wounded, pursuit, and prisoner collection. Kirkwood’s infantry, mounted militia, and Washington’s dragoons pursued the British, while militia and Continentals secured prisoners and collected weapons, the trophies of victory. Medical personnel began trying to cope with the numerous wounded of both sides.1
Militiamen looting the rows of British knapsacks and accoutrements found welcome booty. “Our poor fellows, who were almost naked before, have now several changes of clothes . . . as the British officers . . . carried every thing with them.”2 The dead and wounded also attracted men seeking plunder. General Andrew Pickens’s servant, Dick Pickens, “came across a young British officer elegantly dressed, with fine fair top boots on, and badly wounded . . . Dick brought the boots to Pickens.”3 Major James Jackson encountered an American “sergeant. . . dealing the wine out to all in his way. A wounded militia man at some distance requested me for a drop to revive him, which the sergeant refused on my application. I then ordered the men with me to drive him off and take possession of the cask.”4
Traditional military trophies were captured, including the colors of the 7th regiment, two field pieces, 800 muskets, and a portable forge.5 The cannon and forge went north with the first militiamen to leave the battlefield.6 Captured ammunition was distributed to replace militia expenditures during the battle. “After receiving some small share of the plunder, and taking care to get as much powder as we could, we were disbanded.”7
Another trophy was an officer’s badge of office, his sword. Surrendering his sword meant an officer was no longer in command; to be given an enemy’s sword symbolized honor gained because capturing an officer meant great risk. “Howard, holding seven swords of British officers who had personally surrendered to him, was complimented by General Morgan: ‘You have done well, for you are successful; had you failed, I would have shot you.’ Col. Howard replied: ‘Had I failed, there would have been no need of shooting me.’ “8 South Carolina’s Major James Dugan took a British officer’s sword, too. The course of the war had changed, but there was much to be resolved before it finally ended. The next night, Robert and James Dugan, along with two neighbors, were killed. Tories “put them to death by the most savage and deliberate use of their swords . . . literally hewed in pieces.”9
Cowpens was a short battle and American casualties were relatively light; still, more than a hundred American wounded exceeded the capabilities of the few surgeons on the scene, one of whom, John Whelchel, was critically wounded himself. British casualties placed a further strain on the doctors, surgeons, and surgeon’s mates, even though British medical personnel were present, and Tarleton quickly sent “Doctor Stewart and the Surgeon’s Mate of the Seventh Regt.”10
Medical personnel dealing with the carnage varied greatly in their training and knowledge of medical practices. Some with little training probably did seem to be “Quacks and Empiricks . . . whose education and knowledge of the animal oeconomy should render them incapable of low artifice, or ignorance of nature’s admirable effort for her own relieve.”11 One manual indicated a sense of modern-day triage in that certain wounds, such as those to the heart and major arteries, were seen as “inevitable death.”12 Those who could be treated were; the other wounded were made as comfortable as possible.
Manuals and medical ideals bore slight resemblance to the treatment soldiers received after battle. Yet, it was state of the art, even if some practitioners were not particularly adept. The large number of wounded, coupled with the small number of medical personnel, compounded the difficulties. This situation was well known to military doctors who faced the same crises on every battlefield where many wounds, “themselves not mortal, may be rendered so by neglect or erroneous treatment; this frequently happens to soldiers and seamen in the day of battle, when the multiplicity of cases prevents the Surgeons from paying a proper attention to all.”13
Initial treatment was administered on the field. Those who could travel went with the army. William Meade completed the march “to Gilbert Town in North Carolina . . . and remained under the care of the Surgeon . . . until the month of September.”14 A few days after the battle, wounded men unable to leave the field were either dead or stabilized enough to be moved for long-term treatment. Many were “taken to the house of Doctr Robert Nelson . . . within five miles of the battle ground.” Lawrence Everheart was treated by Dr. Richard Pindell, who “dressed my wounds.”15 William Warren of Wallace’s Virginia Continentals was “taken to the house of Kit Hicks by Mrs. Hicks and daughter where he was nursed.”16 Others were “taken to Mr. Sanderer’s,” a local resident, and treated.17 Pindell recalled, “I was left on the field to take care of the Wounded, without any Aid or force Except a Lt Hanson . . . & our two waiters I obtained from the British Surgeons a Rect for 87 prisoners, even after a Guard of at least 24 Soldiers and about an Equal number of Waggoners had arrived with waggons to carry them to Charleston.”18
Those who survived their wounds and the first days of medical treatment had a fair chance of surviving. Some wounded, motivated by patriotism or unwilling to leave their comrades, tried to carry on.19 Others were mutilated for life. Benjamin Trusloe “received a shot over the left eye which caused him to lose the sight.” Joseph Croes “lost two of his fingers.” Some wounds healed but left a victim like James Busby with scars which had an “electric effect. . . when . . . [he] exhibited] the mark of the wound which had nearly severed his head from his body”20
Others were judged unable to continue in military service. Virginian John Brownlee was “wounded in two places, receiving a ball in his cheek, and One in his thigh. Shortly after that, his wounds being uncured and rendering him unfit for Service, he was discharged, in or near Salisbury, NC.” Delaware ensign William Bivins, wounded in his first battle “by a ball in the right hip,. . . continued in the hospital near the Cowpens under the care of the Surgeons . . . till his term of service expired.”21
Some hardy men survived their wounds and the medical care, only to die after a lifetime of suffering from Cowpens injuries that never healed. Jacob Taylor reported “the wound in his leg by the bayonet has ever since that time been running lose and at times very putrified.” William McCoy “received two wounds and one ball is at this time in my thigh.” Nathaniel Dickison was “wounded in his left groin by a musket ball . . . being so badly wounded that to this day he is a cripple.” John Simmons, “wounded by a musket ball passing between the tendon & bone of the left leg, . . . [was] totally disabled from Service . . . [and] finally died of Said wound in Talbot County[, Georgia,] in the year 1837.”22
Cowpens casualties do not fit generalized eighteenth-century wound patterns because the battle lacked large numbers of cavalry and artillery. European cavalry wounds were usually on the right side, typically the wrist and forearm, and this was true of 71 percent of the wounded horsemen. John Gunnell, Third Continental Light Dragoons, was wounded “by a Saber in the Sword Arm & hand &c also in the head.”23
European infantry were more frequently wounded on the left side, but 70 percent of the American infantry wounded at Cowpens were struck on the right.24 At Cowpens, infantry did not close with bayonets except during the counterattack, and many bayonet wounds were on the right side. A number of saber wounds were reported by militia infantrymen, ridden down and hacked by British cavalry.
A comparison of infantry and cavalry wounds indicates that mounted m
en were more likely to be injured by blows to the head or upper torso than the lower limbs. This reflects the nature of mounted combat and a general reluctance of cavalrymen to attack unbroken infantry who were bearing bayonets. The solid wall of men armed with bayonets on muskets kept cavalry back, and neither the dragoon nor his horse wanted to be stabbed with the bayonet. Few infantrymen were likely to be hit in the head by a dragoon’s saber, and then only if they were broken and retreating without order.
At Cowpens, 25 percent of the infantry wounds were to the head and only two proved mortal. Of the 33.7 percent lower-limb wounds, three were mortal. Of the 43.7 percent with torso and upper-limb wounds, two were fatal. Eighteen fatal, otherwise unidentified, wounds can be distributed according to known wound percentages. An adjusted distribution allows an inferential total of seven head, ten torso, and nine lower-limb fatalities.
Many officers were injured. The largest number of officer casualties occurred among the South Carolina militia, where men “led from the front,” by example. This seems all the more true because most South Carolina officer casualties occurred when the militia were routed by the 17th Light Dragoons. Officers stood fast, providing rallying points while fighting off British dragoons.
There was also a low, but steady incidence of smallpox among the soldiers. Smallpox was a virulent, debilitating, and disfiguring disease. A person with smallpox passed on the infection from the first rash until the last scabs drop off, a period of about forty days. Smallpox did not spread rapidly and depended on contact.25 By taking the first signs of smallpox and subtracting a twelve-day incubation period, it is possible to identify men infected while with Morgan. Four men had smallpox immediately before Cowpens. At least five men apparently contracted the disease with the Flying Army, and two others are related cases.
James Neill, Robert Long, and John Verner all came down with smallpox within two weeks of the battle. James Neill returned home to Rowan County, North Carolina, the night of 1 February 1781, “very sick with the small pox.” Robert Long remained with Morgan until the Catawba crossing on 31 January, when he “took the Small Pox.” John Verner “marched back to Abbeville and was taken down with the Small Pox.” Verner and Long were in Hayes’s Little River Regiment.26
Joseph Brown, a private in Lindsey’s Company of the Little River Regiment, was one of Hayes’s men “taken with the small pox and confined about three weeks. . . . As soon as he was able to march again . . . he went and joined Morgan” before the battle. After three weeks’ confinement, he was still contagious.27 Given the way smallpox spreads, it is likely that Hayes’s men were infected by Joseph Brown or one of his immediate associates. The cases of James Neill and James Dawson are harder to isolate. Dawson could have associated with Long and Verner, since Hayes and the 3rd Light Dragoons made the Hammond’s Store raid together. Joseph Mcjunkin contracted smallpox after the fight at Fletcher’s Mill on 2 March 1781. James McCall died of smallpox in May 1781.28 James Dawson, a light dragoon, missed the battle at Guilford Courthouse on 15 March “by having the small pox.” Since scabs are still present up to forty-one days after the first onset of the disease, he almost certainly contracted it while with Morgan’s forces.29
Hayes’s Little River Battalion is an ideal focal point for smallpox. They were refugees and provided a vehicle for spreading it. Removed from their relatively isolated farms in the Ninety Six District, they came together with whatever they had, including smallpox. Whoever the carrier, a steady incidence of smallpox was associated with the South Carolina militia. Unlike Continentals who were immunized, even early in the war, militia were usually unprotected.
While Morgan marched north with the prisoners, local militia looked after the dead and wounded. “Soon after the battle was over Geni. Morgan moved off with the prisoners leaving this applicant with his company to bury the dead of both parties.” For the men at the battlefield, “the sight was truly melancholy. The dead on the side of the British, exceeded the number killed at the battle of King’s Mountain, being if I recollect aright, three hundred, or upwards.”30
Immediately after the battle, the militia had other tasks. Assigned to protect the wounded and local Whigs, they repressed Tories and searched out British stragglers. Some went north and “were then ordered away to disperse some tories who were assembling near Inoree [sic] River.” Militiamen remembered particularly unsettled conditions after Morgan left South Carolina. “Morgan & his army having retreated from our State it was now almost Fire & Faggot Between Whig &Tory, who were contending for the ascendancy it continued so till the 15th or 20th May. I was almost constantly out.”31
Many British soldiers were captured. Prisoners were taken as individuals and in large groups. Manuel McConnell, a militia dragoon, “had the honor & pleasure of delivering five British prisoners to the prisoners guard.” Adam Rainboult, a North Carolinian on Triplett’s left, claimed “the party to whom he belonged took Sixty three prisoners.”32 Organizing prisoners and starting them off in manageable groups was a priority. Prisoners were assembled and divided into “small Squares or Companies” of perhaps “a hundred.”33 Counts were made, both for control purposes and for publicizing the victory.
TABLE 6.British Casualties
Sources: Daniel Morgan to Nathanael Greene, 19 Jan. 1781, Showman, Greene Papers, 7:152-55; Seymour, Journal of the Southern Expedition, 14; North Carolina State Records, 15:419; Edward Stevens to Thomas Jefferson, 24 Jan. 1781, Boyd, Jefferson Papers, 4:440-41.
British prisoner figures are complicated because overlapping categories—officers, privates, Tories, wounded, and prisoner—were used by veterans in reckoning British losses.34 Morgan claimed “the enemy’s loss was 10 commissioned officers and over 100 rank and file killed and 200 wounded, 29 commissioned officers and about 500 privates prisoners.” A more precise account claimed “in the action were killed of the enemy one hundred and ninety men, wounded one hundred and eighty, and taken prisoners one Major, thirteen Captains, fourteen Lieutenants, and nine Ensigns, and five hundred and fifty private men.”35
If the killed, wounded, and prisoners are added together, the 800 captured muskets approximates Morgan’s total British casualties.36 On 23 January, Morgan reported 600 prisoners, reflecting additional men brought in after the army left Cowpens.37 At least 87 wounded British soldiers were left at Cowpens because they could not be moved.38 The total number of wounded was undoubtedly higher because some soldiers, especially dragoons, escaped and were not counted by the Americans.
Morgan took immediate steps to keep the prisoners. As soon as it was practical, British prisoners were marched north, ahead of the main force.39 Prisoners would slow Morgan’s march and deplete supplies. More important, Cornwallis was positioned to cut off Morgan’s retreat and would move to recapture them. The British recognized they lost a sizable force at Kings Mountain, and should have tried to get them back. American prisoners observed that Lord Cornwallis, while “he listened to Tarleton’s narrative, was leaning on his sword; he pressed it so hard in his fury, that it broke, and he swore he would recover the prisoners at all hazards.”40 As it turned out, Cornwallis did move, but not fast enough, in part because Morgan moved so rapidly.
The night of 17 January, Americans and prisoners camped at Island Ford. The Broad River bivouac was tactically sound and necessary. Morgan’s men needed rest and the river would interrupt a sudden British move. The halt gave the wounded a chance to recover before moving again. Some wounded could hardly go much farther. One man, “carried in a Horse Bier three days . . . was taken to Gen Charles McDowells at the Quaker Meadows on the Catawba River and there with one Michael Cane an American and Sixteen wounded British soldiers were placed under a surgeon by the name of Rudolph.”41 Waiting overnight allowed pursuit units to rejoin the Flying Army, as North Carolina private Josiah Martin reported, “We returned from the pursuit. We then followed after Morgan who had gone on with the prisoners. After overtaking them Morgan & regulars left us, &we with Col Washington conducted the prisoners to
Burk town.”42
The next day, Pickens headed toward Gilbert Town. After Gilbert Town, Pickens and Washington marched their men and the prisoners to the Catawba’s Island Ford and Shallow Ford on the Yadkin.43 The prisoners were guarded by Triplett’s Battalion. Morgan sent the Virginians home but used them as guards even though their enlistments had expired.44 North Carolina militia from Surry, Wilkes, and Rowan Counties, having to march north anyway, guarded prisoners, too. As one private reported, the militia “marched as a guard over the Brittish Prisoners untill he reached Wilks County North Carolina.” Rowan County militiamen only guarded the “prisoners till they reached the Cataba where he with others was left under command of Col Davidson.”45 Already near home, Rowan men were reassigned to block the Catawba River fords by Morgan and Davidson.
Once they reached Virginia, the prisoners were turned over to local militia who marched them on to the Winchester prison camps. The British would spend the war here or farther north in Maryland.46 Some Prince of Wales American Regiment light infantry men ultimately mustered as prisoners at Lancaster, Pennsylvania, on 24 June 1782.47
Some British soldiers quickly escaped and rejoined Cornwallis. They went on north to battles at Guilford Courthouse and Yorktown. Other prisoners eventually returned to British colors. Maneuvering before York-town, the First Battalion, 71st Regiment, encountered “a deserter and a little drummer boy [who] came from the enemy . . . this boy belonged to the 71st regiment: he had been taken prisoner at the Cow-pens, enlisted with the enemy, and now, making his escape, was received by the piquet which his father commanded.”48
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