A devil of a whipping

The battle of Cowpens was a crucial turning point in the Revolutionary War in the South and stands as perhaps the finest American tactical demonstration of the entire war. On 17 January 1781, Daniel Morgan's force of Continental troops and militia routed British regulars and Loyalists under the command of Banastre Tarleton. The victory at Cowpens helped put the British army on the road to the Yorktown surrender and, ultimately, cleared the way for American independence. In the first-ever book-length examination of this pivotal engagement, Lawrence Babits provides a brand-new interpretation of the battle of Cowpens. Whereas previous accounts relied on often inaccurate histories and a small sampling of participant narratives, Babits uses veterans sworn pension statements, long-forgotten published accounts, and a thorough knowledge of weaponry, tactics, and the art of moving men across the landscape. For the first time, events at Cowpens are put into a sequence that makes sense given the physical constraints of the landscape, the drill manual, the time frame, and participants' accounts.