Tarleton Battle: The Battle Of Cowpens

On January 17, 1781, the Battle of Cowpens ensued. This battle was a key battle in the American Revolution, and pitted 1100 well trained soldiers from Britain against 300 Continental Regulars and 700 Militiamen. The odds seemed overwhelming in favor of the Brits, but Brigadier General Daniel Morgan had different ideas on the outcome of this battle. Morgan was able to use certain aspect of his men and of the enemy to put together a plan that ultimately won the day. Morgan first and foremost knew his enemy and the fighting style of this enemy. Morgan understood that Banastre Tarleton, and his 1100 Red Coats were in pursuit of him, and knew the tendencies of Tarleton to pursue relentlessly. This sort of pursuit would favor well for Morgan, as he set about to set up his lines of defenses.
He placed in the first two lines his militia. The reasoning behind this, was he knew that the militia liked to “turn tail” and run from the battle. Morgan believed he could use this to his advantage when Tarleton began to advance. Morgan explained to his militia to fire 2 or 3 shots then retreat, utilizing the shots to shoot only officers of Tarleton’s army. Once the shots were fired, and the militia began to retreat, Tarleton’s men would advance. The advancement was for naught, as Tarleton’s men were soon leaderless, and running headlong into a trap. This brings me to the third avenue utilized by Morgan; the continental army regulars. Morgan set these men up in the third and final row, along with a group of cavalry men behind a knoll that kept them out of view from Tarleton. Once Tarleton’s men gave chase to the retreating militia, the regulars stood ready to fire a volley at the advancing