National Park handbooks, compact introductions to the natural and historical places administered by the National Park Service, are designed to promote public understanding and enjoyment of the parks. Each handbook is intended to be informative reading and a useful guide to park features. More than 100 titles are in print. They are sold at parks and by mail from the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C. 20402.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Fleming, Thomas J. Cowpens: “downright fighting.” (Handbook: 135) “A Handbook for Cowpens National Battlefield, South Carolina.” Bibliography: p. Includes index. Supt. of Docs. no.: I29.9/5:135 1. Cowpens, Battle of, 1781. I. Title. II. Series: Handbook (United States. National Park Service. Division of Publications); 135. E241.C9F58 1988 973.3’37 87-600142 ISBN 0-912627-33-6 ★GPO: 1988—201-939/60005
[ Prologue] 4 George F. Scheer [Part 1 “Downright Fighting”] 10 The Story of Cowpens
Thomas J. Fleming [Part 2 Cowpens and the War in the South] 86 A Guide to the Battlefield and Related Sites [Cowpens Battleground] 88 [The Road to Yorktown] 91 [Savannah, 1778-79] 91 [Charleston, 1780] 91 [The Waxhaws, 1780] 91 [Camden, 1780] 92 [Kings Mountain, 1780] 92 [Guilford Courthouse, 1781] 92 [Ninety Six, 1781] 93 [Eutaw Springs, 1781] 93 [Yorktown, 1781] 93 [For Further Reading] 94 [Index] 95
Prologue
On the morning of January 15, 1781, Morgan’s army looked down this road at Tarleton’s legion deploying into a line of battle. Locally it was known as the Green River Road. Four or five miles beyond the position held by Morgan, the road crossed the Broad River at Island Ford. For opposite reasons, Morgan and Tarleton each thought this field and its relationship to the Broad River gave him the advantage.
Splendid Antagonists
As battlefields go, this one is fairly plain: a grassy clearing in a scrub-pine forest with no obvious military advantages. There are a thousand meadows like it in upstate South Carolina. This one is important because two centuries ago armies clashed here in one of the dramatic battles of the Revolutionary War.
In January 1781, this clearing was a frontier pasturing ground, known locally as the Cowpens. The name came from the custom of upcountry stock raisers wintering their cattle in the lush vales around Thicketty Mountain. It was probably squatters’ ground, though one tradition says that it belonged to a person named Hannah, while another credits it to one Hiram Saunders, a wealthy loyalist who lived close by.