Battle of Cowpens

Overview

The Battle of Cowpens was a military engagement of the American Revolutionary War fought on January 17, 1781, near the town of Cowpens, South Carolina. An American army of 2,000 regulars and militia under Brigadier general Daniel Morgan defeated a force of 1,000 British and Loyalist troops commanded by Lieutenant-colonel Banastre Tarleton. It was the worst defeat suffered by the British in North America during the conflict following the 1777 Saratoga campaign.

Overview adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Significance

The Battle of Cowpens, fought on January 17, 1781, near Cowpens, South Carolina, resulted in a decisive American victory when Brigadier General Daniel Morgan's force of roughly 2,000 regulars and militia defeated Lieutenant Colonel Banastre Tarleton's approximately 1,000 British and Loyalist troops. The engagement produced the worst British defeat in North America since the 1777 Saratoga campaign, a measure of its strategic weight in the Southern theater. The loss stripped British forces of a significant mobile strike element and disrupted the operational tempo of their Southern campaign at a critical juncture, compounding pressure on Lord Cornwallis's army as it pursued operations across the Carolinas.

Forces & casualties

Commanders (2)