A Devil of a Whipping
Page 21
If the battle began as the British discharged their cannon and started up the slope, it was about thirty-five minutes or less before the British fled. Time can be measured in space covered at a fixed marching rate. It can be reckoned by the number of volleys one side fired. When different measures of time are applied to battle duration, a chronological framework from British infantry deployment to mass flight is well under forty minutes.
I hope that this study will generate interest in the southern campaign, where the Revolutionary War was ultimately won, so the Cowpens veterans will not be forgotten. There are more accounts still to be located. An archaeological investigation of the battlefield will support or deny conclusions reached here but will also certainly raise new questions. Such is the nature of scientific inquiry.
Notes
PREFACE
1. Moss, Patriots at the Cowpens.
2. Scott and Fox, Archaeological Insights; Scott, Fox, Connor, and Harmon, Archaeological Perspectives; Fox, Archaeology, History, and Ouster’s Last Battle.
3. Moss, Patriots at the Cowpens.
4. Henry Lee, Memoirs of the War; Stedman, American War; Tarleton, Campaigns of 1780-81.
5. Bearss, Battle of Cowpens; Fleming, Cowpens; Roberts, Battle of Cowpens.
6. As an example of cumulative error, several modern authors report that when Tarleton initially sent his dragoons forward to contact a reconnaissance by fire, fifteen were shot from their horses. See, for example, Fleming, Cowpens, 63; Higginbotham, Daniel Morgan, 136–37; Rankin, “Cowpens,” esp. 356; Roberts, Battle of Cowpens, 86; and Treacy, Prelude to Yorktown, 100. None of these authors cite a source following that statement.
The earliest statement made about reconnaissance casualties seems to be James Graham’s Life of General Daniel Morgan, 299, with David Schenk’s North Carolina, 213, only slightly later. No citation is given in Schenk, but his source was probably Graham, who also gave no source but probably used Thomas Balch’s Papers, 45–46. Balch cited James Simons’s 3 November 1803 letter to William Washington. Simons actually described action behind the left flank of the main line involving men of the 17th Light Dragoons “leaving in the course of ten minutes eighteen of their brave 17th dragoons dead on the spot.” This is the earliest quote referring to British dragoon casualties with the approximate number others have so repeatedly cited.
7. Lambert, South Carolina Loyalists; Morrill, Southern Campaigns; Pancake, This Destructive War.
8. S. L. A. Marshall, Men Against Fire, and his Soldier’s Load. Marshall’s observations and conclusions have been challenged; see, for example, Smoler, “The Secret of the Soldiers.” Post-battle interviews are still done by the U.S. Army to determine combat lessons to avoid future mistakes.
9. Keegan, Face of Battle.
10. A good discussion of “point of view” and its impact on battle history can be found in Keegan, Face of Battle, 128–33.
11. Anderson, “Journal”; John Eager Howard to John Marshall, 1804, Bayard Papers (Marshall prepared specific questions about Cowpens which Howard answered in his letter); MacKenzie, Strictures on Lt. Col. Tarleton’s History; Daniel Morgan to Nathanael Greene, 19 Jan. 1781, Showman, Greene Papers, 7:152-55; Seymour, Journal of the Southern Expedition; James Simons to William Washington, 3 Nov. 1803, Balch, Papers, 45–47; Tarleton, Campaigns of 1780–81.
12. Hanger, Address to the Army; Henry Lee, Memoirs of the War; Samuel Shaw, “Revolutionary War Letters to Captain Winthrop Sargent”; Stedman, American War.
13. “Account of Christopher Brandon” in Draper, King’s Mountain, 285–86; John R. Shaw, Narrative; Gordon, Independence of the United States of America; John Marshall, Life of George Washington; William Johnson, Sketches of Nathanael Greene; Moultrie, Memoirs of the American Revolution; Ramsay, History of the American Revolution; Ramsay, History of the Revolution in South Carolina; Saye, Memoirs of Major Joseph Mcjunkin; Young, “Memoir,” 84–88. Mcjunkin later became something of a “professional veteran” and gave talks about the battle.
14. A good description of problems inherent in using pension documents may be found in Dann, Revolution Remembered, xix–xxi.
15. Recent work shows “shadows” of military action can be detected by bullets and accoutrements recovered archaeologically. The two most recent are Lees, “When the Shooting Stopped,” and Scott and Hunt, “Civil War Battle of Monroe’s Crossroads.”
INTRODUCTION
1. The long roll is one of the rudiments, or basic drum beatings, of eighteenth-century music. In the military, the long roll was a call to bring men immediately into ranks, preparatory to fighting. Moon, Instructor for the Drum, 22.
2. The issues involved and the British interpretation of American sentiments are covered by Pancake, This Destructive War, 25–30.
3. Campbell, Expedition against the Rebels of Georgia; Lawrence, Storm over Savannah.
4. Moultrie, Memoirs of the American Revolution, 1, 60–115; Pancake, This Destructive War, 60–71; Tarleton, Campaigns of 1780–81, 9–32; Uhlendorf, Siege of Charleston.
5. Pancake, This Destructive War, 67–72, contains a good summation of British efforts and their problems. Lambert’s South Carolina Loyalists, 93–125, provides greater detail and examines Loyalist motivation.
6. Lambert, South Carolina Loyalists, 120–21; Pancake, This Destructive War, 81–82. One example is Tarleton burning Thomas Sumter’s plantation on 28 May 1780. Tarleton later wrote “without any thing material happening on the route.” Tarleton, Campaigns of 1780–81, 27. Another is the burning of Andrew Pickens’s farm in December 1780; Pancake, This Destructive War, 85.
7. Lambert, South Carolina Loyalists, 84–85; Pancake, This Destructive War, 128.
8. Wickwire and Wickwire, Cornwallis; Lamb, Original and Authentic Journal, 362; Pancake, This Destructive War, 57–59; Tarleton, Campaigns of 1780–81, 85.
9. Henry Lee, Memoirs of the War, 208–10; Pancake, This Destructive War, 120–21; Stedman, American War, 217–18; Tarleton, Campaigns of 1780–81,165-69.
10. Lambert, South Carolina Loyalists, 59–60, 143–44; Henry Lee, Memoirs of the War, 209. Rankin, North Carolina Continentals, 266, briefly indicates southern ideas about militia.
11. Henry Lee, Memoirs of the War, 215–16; Pancake, This Destructive War, 123–27; Tarleton, Campaigns of 1780–81, 168–70, 182–83.
12. Nathanael Greene to Thomas Jefferson, 6 Dec. 1780, Greene to Abner Nash, Dec. 1780, Greene to George Washington, 7 Dec. 1780, Greene to Henry Knox, Dec. 1780, Showman, Greene Papers, 6:530-31, 533, 542–45, 547; Henry Lee, Memoirs of the War, 233–34; Seymour, Journal of the Southern Expedition.
13. Greene to John Butler, 13 Dec. 1780, Greene to Joseph Marbury, 4 Dec. 1780, Showman, Greene Papers, 6:516, 566, 521–22.
14. Baron Von Steuben to Greene, 24 Nov. 1780, John Gunby to Greene, 13 Dec. 1780, Showman, Greene Papers, 6:503, 567.
15. Henry Lee, Memoirs of the War, 244–45; Greene to Jefferson, 6 Dec. 1780, Greene to Abner Nash, 6 Dec. 1780, Greene to Nicholas Long, 6 Dec. 1780, Greene to North Carolina Board of War, 7 Dec. 1780, Greene to George Washington, 7 Dec. 1780, Showman, Greene Papers, 6:530-31, 532, 533–34, 541, 542–45.
16. Conrad, “Nathanael Greene and the Southern Campaigns,” 70; Henry Lee, Memoirs of the War, 244–45, 247> Rankin, North Carolina Continentals, 261; Showman, Greene Papers, 6:xvi-xix.
17. Seymour, Journal of ‘the Southern Expedition, 10; William Smallwood to Nathanael Greene, 6 Dec. 1780, Showman, Greene Papers, 6:538-39. Many Virginians mentioned this episode in their pension applications: Samuel Brown, pension, 1 June 1835, M804, Roll 377; James Emmons, pension, 2 Oct. 1832, M804, Roll 927; Lawrence Everheart, pension, 7 Apr. 1834, M804, Roll 944.
18. Greene to Daniel Morgan, 16 Dec. 1780, Showman, Greene Papers, 6:589–90.
19. Greene to Samuel Huntington, 7 Dec. 1780, Greene to George Washington, 7 Dec. 1780, Showman, Greene Papers, 7:7–11.
20. Conrad, “Nathanael Greene and the Southern Campaigns,” 71; Tarleton
, Campaigns of 1780–81, 208. Had Greene known British reinforcements were nearing Charleston, he might not have chosen to divide his forces.
21. Economy of force and mass are modern principles of war used to guide analysts in evaluating combat. Economy of force means having enough resources to complete the mission. Mass means having superior force at the critical place and time. For additional discussion, see Matlof, American Military History, 6–7.
22. Conrad, “Nathanael Greene and the Southern Campaigns,” 76; Nathanael Greene to Alexander Hamilton, 10 Jan. 1781, Showman, Greene Papers, 7:87–91.
23. Greene to Hamilton, 10 Jan. 1781, Showman, Greene Papers, 7:87–91; William Johnson, Sketches of Nathanael Greene, 1:362; Rankin, North Carolina Continentals, 265; O. H. Williams to Elie Williams, 14 Jan. 1781, Merritt, Calendar, 35.
24. Greene to Lafayette, 29 Dec. 1780, Showman, Greene Papers, 7:18–19; William Johnson, Sketches of Nathanael Greene, 1:362; Seymour, Journal of the Southern Expedition, 11–12.
25. James Collins, pension, 8 Apr. 1834, M804, Roll 613; Aaron Guyton, pension, 1 Oct. 1833, M804, Roll 1149; Robert Long, pension, supplementary statement, 7 Oct. 1835, M804, Roll 1581; Henry Lee, Memoirs of the War, 248–51; Tarleton, Campaigns of 1780–81, 183–84. Wider views of backcountry unrest can be found in Crow and Tise, Southern Experience, and Hoffman et al., Uncivil War.
26. Lambert, South Carolina Loyalists, 104–36; Pancake, This Destructive War, 73–90.
27. Henry Lee to Nathanael Greene, 25 Jan. 1781, Showman, Greene Papers, 7:197–98. Other attacks were planned but put off after Greene’s withdrawal to Virginia in February. See Francis Marion to Greene, 27 Jan. 1781, ibid., 7:207.
28. Henry Lee, Memoirs of the War, 223–25; Daniel Morgan to Greene, 31 Dec. 1780, 4 Jan. 1781, Showman, Greene Papers, 7:30–31, 50–51.
29. MacKenzie, Strictures on Lt. Col. Tarletons History, 95–96.
30. Conrad, “Nathanael Greene and the Southern Campaigns,” 69; Tarleton, Campaigns of 1780–81, 169.
31. Tarleton, Campaigns of 1780–81, 182–83.
32. Lord Cornwallis to Banastre Tarleton, 2 Jan. 1781, Tarleton, Campaigns of 1780–81, 244–45.
33. Tarleton, Campaigns of 1780–81, 211–12, 245–46.
34. Lord Cornwallis to Banastre Tarleton, 5 Jan. 1781, Cornwallis to Henry Clinton, 18 Jan. 1781, ibid., 246–47, 249–50.
35. Samuel Shaw, “Revolutionary War Letters to Captain Winthrop Sargent”; Tarleton, Campaigns of 1780–81, 249.
36. James Simons to William Washington, 3 Nov. 1803, Balch, Papers, 45–47: Joseph Johnson, Traditions and Reminiscences, 303; Tarleton, Campaigns of 1780–81, 214.
37. Daniel Morgan to Nathanael Greene, 15 Jan. 1781, Showman, Greene Papers, 7:127–28; Seymour, Journal of the Southern Expedition, 11.
38. Greene to Morgan, 16 Dec. 1780, 6:589–90; E. Alfred Jones, Journal of Alexander Chesney, 126–30.
39. Morgan to William Snickers, 19 Jan. 1781, Horatio Gates Papers.
CHAPTER ONE
1. Cornwallis noted that Tarleton’s “disposition was unexceptionable”; Charles, the Earl Cornwallis, to Banastre Tarleton, 31 Jan. 1781, Tarleton, Campaigns of 1780–81, 252; George Smith, Universal Military Dictionary, 241. A Scotsman noted Morgan’s arrangement was “on this occasion . . . judicious”; Stewart, Sketches of Highlanders, 2:73.
2. Peterson, Continental Soldier, 29, 37, 60; Neumann, History of Weapons, 5–10, 13–15, 32–38.
3. The best explanation of infantry drill for the American Revolution is Ernest W. Peterkin’s Exercise of Arms.
4. References to British muskets include George C. Neumann’s History of Weapons and Anthony C. Darling’s Red Coat and Brown Bess. The South Carolina militia being partially armed with muskets is a detail derived from a letter from John Eager Howard to John Marshall, 1804, Bayard Papers. The use of French muskets by Continental forces is based on artifacts from Guilford Courthouse, N.C. (John R. Beaman, personal communication with author, 3 June 1991); from Cam-den, S.C. (Meryl McGee and Joe Henderson, personal communications with author, 24 Apr. 1990); and from Ninety Six, S.C. (Holschlag and Rodeffer, Ninety Six, 52; and Holschlag, Rodeffer, and Cann, Ninety Six: The Jail, 205–7). Documents reporting French weapons given to British Loyalist militia after Camden include George Turnball to Charles, the Earl Cornwallis, 1 Oct. 1780, Reese, Cornwallis Papers, 26. A return showing large quantities of .69 caliber ammunition in an American supply depot was by Joshua Potts, “An Account of Stores Deposited at Harrisburg 40 Miles E. N. E. of Hillsborough Left There June 1st, 1781,” in Walter Clark, State Records of North Carolina, 485.
5. The precise quotation is, “A soldier’s musket, if not exceedingly ill bored and very crooked, as many are, will strike the figure of a man at 80 yards; it may even at a hundred; but a soldier must be very unfortunate indeed who shall be wounded by a common musket at 150 yards, PROVIDED HIS ANTAGONIST AIMS AT HIM; and, as to firing at a man at 200 yards with a common musket, you may just as well fire at the moon and have the same hopes of hitting your object.” Hanger, Sportsmen, 205.
6. Ibid., 126–28. Hanger is discussing rifles, but the observation about practice is just as true for muskets. Works citing Hanger on muskets without reference to practice include Peterson, Continental Soldier, 27; Morrill, Southern Campaigns, 16; Fleming, Now We Are Enemies, 230–31; and Galvin, Minute Men, 63–65.
7. The author accomplished this on at least two occasions. Both times, conditions were dry and windless, the musket bore was clean, and new flints were used. To increase speed, balls were .63 caliber but the musket was .75 caliber. The extreme windage did not cause any loss of accuracy, but balls could be run to the breech without a ramrod, speeding the loading process dramatically. Starting with a loaded musket, six shots were fired in one minute. A silhouette of a British soldier was placed at a distance of 75 yards and five hits were recorded on one silhouette. More hits would have been obtained using buck and ball. Inspiration for this firing came from Robert Rogers’s Rangers, who also used buckshot. Cuneo, Robert Rogers of the Rangers, 53.
8. George Washington, “General Orders, Perkiomy, 6 October 1777,” Peterson, Arms and Armor, 61, 81. Multiple loads were used at Kings Mountain; Draper, King’s Mountain, 293. Americans reported buckshot wounds in southern battles: Hezakiah Carr, pension, 8 Apr. 1818, M804, Roll 473; Joseph Cox, pension, 14 Aug. 1821, M804, Roll 671; and John Newton, pension, 9 Apr. 1818, M804, Roll 1815. Holschlag and Rodeffer, Ninety-Six, 65, reported a buck-and-ball cartridge found during excavation of the American approach trench at Ninety Six:.
9. Neumann, History of Weapons, 134.
10. Hanger, Sportsmen, 125, 143; Peterson, Continental Soldier, 40, 62.
11. Hanger, Sportsmen, 144.
12. Joseph Marbury to Nathanael Greene, 22 Jan. 1781, Showman, Greene Papers, 7:170.
13. Hanger, Sportsmen, 208–10.
14. Robert E. Lee, American Revolution in the South, 266–67.
15. Draper, King’s Mountain, 279.
16. Ibid., 279.
17. Robert E. Lee, American Revolution in the South, 275.
18. Schenk, North Carolina, 109.
19. Robert E. Lee, American Revolution in the South, 356.
20. Peterson, Continental Soldier, 64; Otho Holland Williams Orderly Book, 35, 43; Young, “Memoir,” 527.
21. Neumann, Swords and Blades, 26–27, 37–38, 41–42, 45–50
22. Christian Peters, pension, 17 Sept. 1832, M804, Roll 1917.
23. Neumann, Swords and Blades, 228, 232–38, 253–75.
24. Edward Harvin was wounded by a British officer’s spontoon at Hobkirk’s Hill, pension, 14 Oct. 1833, M804, Roll 1214. John Eager Howard reported Captain Richard Anderson using a spontoon at Cowpens in a letter to Henry Lee Jr. in Campaign of 1781, 97–98. For descriptions of spontoons, see Neumann, Swords and Blades, 191. “Platoon officers [are to be armed] with swords and espontoons,” according to the Von Steuben manual. See Riling, Regulations, 5, for additional armament. A drill manual
for the spontoon is included in Peterkin, Exercise of Arms, 218–21.
25. Darling, Red Coat and Brown Bess, 10; Peterkin, Exercise of Arms, 10–11; Riling, Regulations, 6–7.
26. Riling, Regulations, 8.
27. Duffy, Military Experience, 211–12.
28. Riling, Regulations, 65. A timespan for volley firing can be calculated accurately because eighteenth-century soldiers were trained to fire in specified sequential order. In Revolutionary War Bicentennial tactical demonstrations, battalion-sized units maneuvered and fired in accordance with the Von Steuben manual. Based on a tape recording of demonstrations in Paris and Versailles in September 1983, a battalion fired eight platoons in sequence in 70 seconds, with one platoon volley every 9 seconds. Four divisional firings took 30.3 seconds with a volley every 7.5 seconds. When the battalion fired full volleys, the interval was 41 seconds from first to second firing. These observations seem correct even for slower-loading riflemen. During competitions for speed and accuracy, riflemen in the Brigade of the American Revolution get off a shot every 15 seconds. Reloading time in the military, however, is based on the slowest loaders, not the fastest.
29. Smith and Elting, “British Light Infantry,” 88. At Cowpens, Tarleton reported that his men used two ranks in the “loose manner of forming which had always been practiced by the King’s troops in America.” Tarleton, Campaigns of 1780–81, 221. In earlier engagements, the British compensated for loose formations by using multiple lines, but this was not done at Cowpens.
30. Campbell, Expedition against the Rebels of Georgia, 16-17; Governor Abner Nash to Delegates in Congress, 23 August 1780, in Walter Clark, North Carolina State Records, 60.