72. Stewart, Highlanders of Scotland, 1:73. Emphasis added.
73. William Johnson, Sketches of Nathanael Greene, 1:381–82.
74. Ibid., 381.
75. Anderson, “Journal,” 209; William Johnson, Sketches of Nathanael Greene, 1:381–82; Henry Lee, Memoirs of the War, 257; M’Call, History of Georgia, 507–8; John R. Shaw, Narrative, 54–55; Stewart, Highlanders of Scotland, 2:71; John Thomas, pension, 9 Aug. 1832, M804, Roll 2370; Tarleton, Campaigns of 1780–81, 217.
76. John Eager Howard to John Marshall, 1804, Bayard Papers; John Eager Howard, “Account of the Battle of Cowpens,” in Robert E. Lee, American Revolution in the South, 97–98; MacKenzie, Strictures on Lt. Col. Tarletons History, 99.
77. Anderson, “Journal,” 209; M’Call, History of Georgia, 508; Daniel Morgan to Nathanael Greene, 19 Jan. 1781, Greene Papers, 7:152–55; Tarleton, Campaigns of 1780-81, 217.
78. Gordon, Independence of the United States of America, 4:34–35.
79. Stewart, Highlanders of Scotland, 2:71.
80. Anderson, “Journal,” 209.
81. Seymour, Journal of the Southern Expedition, 15.
82. Jacob Taylor, pension, 21 May 1833, supplementary statement, M804, Roll 2347.
83. John Bantham, pension, 2 Apr. 1818, M804, Roll 136.
84. Henry Lee, Memoirs of the War, 228; M’Call, History of Georgia, 508; Stewart, Highlanders of Scotland, 2:72. Most militia fighting on the American right during the counterattack were from the Spartanburg Regiment. Howard noted in his 1804 letter to John Marshall that “a part of them fell into the rear of my right flank where they afterwards renewed the action.”
85. Gordon, Independence of the United States of America, 4:35; William Johnson, Sketches of Nathanael Greene, 1:381; Stewart, Highlanders of Scotland, 2:72.
86. Henry Lee, Memoirs of the War, 257; Daniel Morgan to Nathanael Greene, 19 Jan. 1781, Greene Papers, 7:152–55; John R. Shaw, Narrative, 55; Stedman, American War, 322; Tarleton, Campaigns of 1780–81, 217.
87. Hill, “Killicrankie,” 139.
88. Gordon, Independence of the United States of America, 4:34–35; Stedman, American War, 322–23.
89. John Eager Howard, “Account of the Battle of Cowpens,” in Robert E. Lee, American Revolution in the South, 98. In Howard to Marshall, Howard says the counterattack began when the British were “within 30 yards of us with two field pieces” (John Eager Howard to John Marshall, 1804, Bayard Papers).
90. Scottish sources allude to a lack of support. Stewart, Highlanders of Scotland, 2:72.
91. John Eager Howard, “Account of the Battle of Cowpens,” in Robert E. Lee, American Revolution in the South, 97.
92. Anonymous, “Account of Richard Anderson,” 200.
93. Ibid.
94. John Eager Howard to John Marshall, 1804, Bayard Papers; Howard, “Account of the Battle of Cowpens,” in Robert E. Lee, American Revolution in the South, 98.
95. Gordon, Independence of the United States of America, 4:35; John R. Shaw, Narrative, 55: Stedman, American War, 323; Tarleton, Campaigns of 1780–81, 217.
96. Tarleton, Campaigns of 1780–81, 217.
97. Andrew Rock, pension, 14 Nov. 1850, M804, Roll 2069; Henry Wells, pension, 29 Jan. 1834, M804, Roll 2529.
98. James Braden, pension, 1 July 1839, supplementary statement, M804, Roll 314; Isaac Way, pension, 26 Aug. 1832, M804, Roll 2510.
99. Gordon, Independence of the United States of America, 4:35; John Eager Howard, “Account of the Battle of Cowpens,” in Robert E. Lee, American Revolution in the South, 98; William Johnson, Sketches of Nathanael Greene, 1:382; M’Call, History of Georgia, 508; Stewart, Highlanders of Scotland, 2:72. The Americans gave quarter, but there is a hint of regret about it. See anecdote in The Pennsylvania Packets, 17 Feb. 1781: “the Highlanders of the 71st . . . plucked the feathers from their caps .. . cryed, ‘dear, good Americans, have mercy upon us! . . . We were ordered to take no prisoners, except a few continentals.’ We wish, it was replied, that this had been known a little sooner.”
100. James Jackson to Daniel Morgan, 20 Jan. 1795, Myers, Cowpens Papers, 46. Jackson’s statement about the colors of the 71st is not correct. The Scots did not lose their colors. It is possible a 7th Regiment color ensign withdrew and took refuge with the reforming Highlanders. Given earlier examples of Jackson’s bravery, the attempt to capture the colors rings true, even if they were not from the 71st.
101. Andrew Pickens to Henry Lee, 28 Aug. 1811, Draper Papers. Jackson introduced McArthur to Morgan. See Jackson to Morgan, 20 Jan. 1795, Myers, Cowpens Papers.
102. Collins, Autobiography, 57; Gordon, Independence of the United States of America, 4:35; Seymour, Journal of the Southern Expedition, 14; Samuel Shaw, “Revolutionary War Letters to Captain Winthrop Sargent,” 321. The two light infantry companies were probably from the 16th Regiment and the Prince of Wales American Regiment. The other two companies, from the 71st, seemed to have moved across the field, where they formed a rallying point after their regiment’s reversal.
A lack of references to the 7th Fusiliers suggests they did not wear distinctive headgear and were indistinguishable from other British line infantry. This also suggests British Legion infantry wore red coats. Highlanders were wearing bonnets, but not kilts.
103. Hugh McNary, pension, 5 Sept. 1832, M804, Roll 1698. The officer was probably not a dragoon, as McNary made no reference to his saber which would have been a practical trophy for any mounted American. The incident probably occurred behind the British right, where McNary could have ridden straight forward after remounting. McNary’s victim was either an aide to Tarleton or an officer from the British Legion because he was on horseback.
104. William Johnson, Sketches of Nathanael Greene, 1:381–82; Tarleton, Campaigns of 1780–81, 217–18; Young, “Memoir,” 101.
CHAPTER EIGHT
1. British and American cavalry performed differently at Cowpens. “We made a most furious charge, and cutting through the British cavalry, wheeled and charged them in the rear.” “An order was dispatched to the cavalry to charge. . . . The cavalry did not comply with the order.” The title is taken from Young, but it could apply to the British at certain phases of the battle. Tarleton, Campaigns of 1780–81, 217; Young, “Memoir,” 84–88, 100. The first quote is Young’s, the second Tarleton’s.
2. Economy of force means having the power necessary to accomplish a goal. This is as true for a small-unit action within a larger battle as it is with an army. Mass means having superior power at the critical time and place. Matlof, American Military History, 6–7. The two principles of war were not articulated as such in the eighteenth century.
3. Daniel Morgan to Nathanael Greene, 19 Jan. 1781, Showman, Greene Papers, 7:152–55. The particular quote is on page 153.
4. John Eager Howard to John Marshall, 1804, Bayard Papers; Robert E. Lee, American Revolution in the South, 588; Morgan to Greene, 19 Jan. 1781, Showman, Greene Papers, 7:153.
5. MacKenzie, Strictures on Lt. Col. Tarleton’s History, 98, 113; James Simons to William Washington, 3 Nov. 1803, Balch, Papers, 46; Tarleton, Campaigns of 1780–81, 216.
6. Young, “Memoir,” 100.
7. Jeremiah Dial, pension, 15 Aug. 1832, M804, Roll 808.
8. Tarleton, Campaigns of 1780–81, 216; Brandon, “Account,” in Draper, King’s Mountain, 285–86.
9. Tarleton, Campaigns of 1780–81, 217.
10. Anderson, “Journal,” 209; Jeremiah Dial, pension, 15 Aug. 1832, M804, Roll 808.
11. James Simons to William Washington, 3 Nov. 1803, Balch, Papers, 46.
12. Collins, Autobiography, 57.
13. Young, “Memoir,” 100.
14. John Eager Howard, “Account of the Battle of Cowpens,” in Henry Lee Jr., Campaign of 1781 in the Carolinas, 96.
15. John Eager Howard to John Marshall, 1804, Bayard Papers.
16. James Simons to William Washington, 3 Nov. 1803, Balch, Papers, 46.
17. Tarleton, Campaigns of 1780–81, 217
. Tarleton’s order was to his reserve cavalry. Both flank troops were already engaged. This is the first of two attempts by Tarleton to get his reserve to advance.
18. Stedman, American War, 322.
19. Young, “Memoir,” 100. Tarleton’s dragoons were reportedly mounted on the finest horses in the Carolinas. Young, seeing a riderless horse, changed mounts.
20. MacKenzie, Strictures on Lt. Col. Tarleton’s History, 98.
21. E. Alfred Jones, Journal of Alexander Chesney, 22. Ogilvies troop, which did charge, enlisted at least twelve men soon after Camden. The men were probably American prisoners. Clark, Loyalists in the Southern Campaign, 2:228–29. The legion’s lack of will may explain why they were in reserve.
22. William Johnson, Sketches of Nathanael Greene, 2:381.
23. Stedman, American War, 323; Young, “Memoir,” 100–101. The first quote is Stedman’s, the second, Young’s.
24. Anderson, “Journal,” 209; John Eager Howard to John Marshall, 1804, Bayard Papers. Similar statements are found in E. Alfred Jones, Journal of Alexander Chesney, 22; James Kelly, pension, 28 Apr. 1835, M804, Roll 1466; Long, “Statement of Robert Long,” 6; and Stedman, American War, 323.
25. James Simons to William Washington, 3 Nov. 1803, Balch, Papers, 46. Simons’s statement that the legion infantry was mixed with the 71st implies that the 7th Fusiliers and British Legion infantry were not wearing fusilier caps and green coats, respectively.
26. Ibid.
27. John Eager Howard, “Account of the Battle of Cowpens,” in Robert E. Lee, American Revolution in the South, 98; Stedman, American War, 323.
28. Balch, Papers, 50. Balch quoted Sergeant Lawrence Everheart, a prisoner in the British rear. “Buford’s Play” is akin to “Remember Waxhaws,” referring to a 1780 Tarleton atrocity.
29. William Johnson, Sketches of Nathanael Greene, 1:382.
30. Tarleton, Campaigns of 1780–81, 217.
31. Stedman, American War, 322–23.
32. Hanger, Address to the Army, 109–10; Tarleton, Campaigns of 1780–81, 217–18.
33. Tarleton, Campaigns of 1780–81, 218.
34. William Johnson, Sketches of Nathanael Greene, 1:382.
35. John Eager Howard to John Marshall, 1804, Bayard Papers, marginal note.
36. James Simons to William Washington, 3 Nov. 1803, Balch, Papers, 46.
37. James Busby, pension, 2 Mar. 1835, M804, Roll 431, statement of A. Smith, 2 June 1835.
38. Clark, Loyalists in the Southern Campaign, 2:245; Ward, Delaware Continentals, 536–38.
39. William Johnson, Sketches of Nathanael Greene, 1:382.
40. John Eager Howard to John Marshall, 1804, Bayard Papers; M’Call, History of Georgia, 508.
41. A recent sample of historians who mention the fight between Tarleton and Washington includes Fleming, Cowpens, 76, 78–79; Morrill, Southern Campaigns, 132; and Treacy, Prelude to Yorktown, 108–9.
42. Samuel Shaw, “Revolutionary War Letters to Captain Winthrop Sargent,” 321.
43. John Eager Howard to John Marshall, 1804, Bayard Papers. Similar statements can be found in Balch, Papers, 49, and M’Call, History of Georgia, 508–9.
44. John R. Shaw, Narrative, 55. Pensioners report Tarleton lost fingers. See James Kelly, pension, 28 Apr. 1835, M804, Roll 1466: “Washington made a hack at Tarlton & disabled Tarltons fingers & glanced his head with his sword.” There were fingers on the battlefield. American dragoon Joseph Croes reported, “he lost two of his fingers at the Battle of Cowpens.” Croes, pension, 14 Mar. 1832, M804, Roll 694.
45. Stewart, Highlanders of Scotland, 2:72.
46. John Eager Howard to John Marshall, 1804, Bayard Papers; William Johnson, Sketches of Nathanael Greene, 1:382–83; McCall, History of Georgia, 508.
47. John Eager Howard to John Marshall, 1804, Bayard Papers; William Johnson, Sketches of Nathanael Greene, 1:383; McCall, History of Georgia, 508–9. Lee claimed Washington was wounded by the shot that felled his horse. Henry Lee, Memoirs of the War, 258.
48. Moss, drawing from the pension application by Shope’s widow, reported this incident in Patriots at the Cowpens, 211.
49. William Johnson, Sketches of Nathanael Greene, 1:382.
50. Collins, Autobiography, 56–57.
51. Ibid.
52. Gordon, Independence of the United States of America, 4:35.
53. James Simons to William Washington, 3 Nov. 1803, Balch, Papers, 46. Details vary, but an incident did occur. Everheart’s horse was given to Surgeon Pindell, who was “well mounted on a Horse taken by Sargt Everhart from a British Officer at the Cow Penns, after having been cruelly wounded & taken Prisoner by Picking up & presenting one of their own Muskets at the Officer as he was retreating by the spot Tarleton had left him.” Pindell to Frisby Tilghman et al., 8 Dec. 1816, in Pindell, “Militant Surgeon of the Revolution,” 317–18.
54. E. Alfred Jones, Journal of Alexander Chesney, 22; Young, “Memoirs,” 101.
55. John Eager Howard to John Marshall, 1804, Bayard Papers.
56. William Johnson, Sketches of Nathanael Greene, 2:385.
57. Gordon, Independence of the United States of America, 4:35; Samuel Graham, “English Officer’s Account,” 248; Daniel Morgan to Nathanael Greene, 19 Jan. 1781, Showman, Greene Papers, 7:152–55; James Simons to William Washington, 3 Nov. 1803, Balch, Papers, 46; Stedman, American War, 323.
58. Young, “Memoir,” 101.
59. Ibid. The armorers wagon refers to the traveling forge Morgan captured.
60. Tarleton, Campaigns of 1780–81, 218.
61. John Eager Howard to John Marshall, 1804, Bayard Papers; Lamb, Original and Authentic Journal, 342; Tarleton, Campaigns of 1780–81, 218.
62. Young, “Memoir,” 101–2.
63. Ibid.
64. Tarleton, Campaigns of 1780–81, 218.
65. Andrew Pickens to Henry Lee, 28 Aug. 1811, Draper Papers.
66. William Goodlet, pension, 4 Mar. 1831, M804, Roll 1090; John Rainey, pension, 16 Aug. 1832, M804, Roll 1995.
67. Andrew Pickens to Henry Lee, 28 Aug. 1811, Draper Papers.
68. Anderson, “Journal,” 209; Seymour, Journal of the Southern Expedition, 14–15; Samuel Shaw, “Revolutionary War Letters to Captain Winthrop Sargent,” 321; Young, “Memoir,” 101–2.
69. O’Neall and Chapman, Annals of Newberry, 162.
70. Samuel Hammond, pension, 31 Oct. 1832, M804, Roll 1176.
71. Benjamin Copeland, pension, 2 Sept. 1834, M804, Roll 650; E. Alfred Jones, Journal of Alexander Chesney, 22; O’Neall and Chapman, Annals of Newberry, 39. The quote is from O’Neall and Chapman. Pursuit details also can be found in William Hodge, pension, 20 Apr. 1832, M804, Roll 1295; William Johnson, Sketches of Nathanael Greene, 2:383; and James Kelly, pension, 28 Apr. 1835, M804, Roll 1466. The road network is in Mills, Atlas.
72. O’Neall and Chapman, Annals of Newberry, 39.
73. William Johnson, Sketches of Nathanael Greene 2:383.
74. Josiah Martin, pension, 1 Oct. 1832, M804, Roll 1641.
75. Mills, Atlas; Stedman, American War, 323; Tarleton, Campaigns of 1780–81, 218.
76. Young, “Memoir,” 102.
77. Samuel Otterson, pension, 20 Sept. 1832, M804, Roll 1853; Saye, Memoirs of Major Joseph Mcjunkin, 41.
78. Young, “Memoir,” 102. Deshasure was a volunteer dragoon captured with Ever-heart as Tarleton advanced toward Cowpens. A fellow Union County militiaman, Samuel Clowney, escaped. Henry W. Deshasure, pension, 3 Sept. 1832, M804, Roll 801; James Simons to William Washington, 3 Nov. 1803, Balch, Papers, 46. Captain Grant was probably William Grant Sr.
79. Tarleton, Campaigns of 1780–81, 222.
80. Samuel Graham, “English Officer’s Account,” 241–49, 267–73; Stedman, American War, 323.
81. Young, “Memoir,” 102.
CHAPTER NINE
1. Cary Howard, “John Eager Howard,” 303. The grim exchange between two very brave, battle-hardened officers was not entirely jocular. The third line’s
right-flank withdrawal might have been a disaster. British historian Stedman took a longer view: “Cowpens formed a very principal link in the chain of circumstances which led to the independence of America” (American War, 325).
2. Samuel Shaw, “Revolutionary War Letters to Captain Winthrop Sargent,” 321. Three weeks later, Morgan’s soldiers and Salisbury evacuees wore so much British clothing that Greene’s officers commented on many men in scarlet and green coats. Garden, Anecdotes of the American Revolution, 3:193.
3. Logan, History of the Upper Country, 2:103.
4. James Jackson to Daniel Morgan, 9 Feb. 1795, Myers, Cowpens Papers, 47–48.
5. The flags were sent to Congress. The 7th lost their colors twice during the Revolution—once at Chambly, Canada, and the other time at Cowpens. Daniel Morgan to Nathanael Greene, 11 Apr. 1781, in Showman, Greene Papers, 8:84–85; John R. Shaw, Narrative, 53–55; Tarleton, Campaigns of 1780–81, 218. The light infantry and legion had no colors. The 71st Regiment had no colors at Cowpens; Morgan to Greene, 19 Jan. 1781, Showman, Greene Papers, 7:152–55. Cowpens mythology has the two cannon being captured by the British at Camden in August 1780, recaptured at Guilford Courthouse in March 1781, and surrendered at Yorktown in October. Attempts to identify the guns as prizes taken at Saratoga were unsuccessful. Strack, “Three Pound Verbruggen Gun.” The subsequent recapture at Guilford Courthouse is untrue, as the Americans lost only four six-pounders there. Donald Long, personal communication, 22 Sept. 1996; Nathanael Greene to Samuel Huntington, 16 Mar. 1781, Showman, Greene Papers, 7:433–35.
6. Militiamen remembered the forge but not the cannon. Patrick Norris, pension, 22 Sept. 1833, M804, Roll 1826.
7. Collins, Autobiography, 57–58. Since they were not in the regular service, the militiamen relied on receiving ammunition when they turned out for duty; otherwise, they had to capture their military supplies from the enemy.
8. Cary Howard, “John Eager Howard,” 303.
9. Carroll, “Random Recollections,” 102–3; Moss, Patriots at the Cowpens, 69. In some accounts, Dugan’s trophy was used to kill him.
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