BATTLE OF COWPENS

At the Battle of Cowpens in South Carolina on January 17, 1781, during the Revolutionary War (1775-83), American troops under Brigadier General Daniel Morgan routed British forces under Lieutenant Colonel Banastre Tarleton on a multiple front assault upon the British leading to the American victory.

FACTS

• The colonists only had 1,025 to the British’s 1,100 and still won
• British lost 2 guns
• Nathanael Greene had the idea to split up to cut the supply lines off
• Consider to be one of the biggest turning points in the American Revolution

FACTS (CONTINUED)

• General Charles Cornwallis thought splitting up was a good idea because that way it was easier to feed the troops
• Two military ships from the U.S. were named after, in honor of the Battle of Cowpens

FACTS (CONTINUED)

• On October 14, 1780, George Washington chose Nathanael Greene to be commander of the Southern Department of the Continental forces.
• Greene decided that his weak army was unable to meet the British in a standup fight.

FACTS (Continued)

• Morgan was exchanged in January 1777 and placed by George Washington in command of a picked force of 500 trained riflemen, known as Morgan's Riflemen. Morgan and his men played a key role in the victory at Saratoga, which proved to be a turning point of the entire war.

FACTS (Continued)

• Meanwhile, Lord Cornwallis was planning to return to North Carolina and conduct the invasion that he had postponed after the defeat at Kings Mountain.

WHERE AND WHEN?

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• The battle took place on January 17, 1781
• Took place at Cowpens, South Carolina

WHO WON?

The colonists won the battle because Major General Nathanael Greene along with General Charles Cornwallis, split up Patriot troops to take the battle to the British on multiple fronts from multiple sides.

EFFECT

Importance: Boosted the Colonists’ confidence and Lord Cornwallis even retreated his troops from South Carolina. He moved them to Yorktown where they lost another battle eventually losing the war to the colonists.

RELATING

Displeasure in Government: During the Ferguson crisis, there was a complete mess of turmoil running rampant through the city. In South Carolina, an 18 year old African American boy named Michael Brown, was shot and killed by a Caucasian cop by the name of Darren Wilson. Michael was unarmed yet still killed. There are many controversies concerning that fatal day of August 9th. The shooting sparked weeks of riots that have truly never died down. The riots showed their great displeasure in the events that occurred. Some peaceful and some destructive riots happened with arrests happening left and right.

SOURCES

SOURCES

• Wikipedia
• History.com
• thefinertimes.com

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