2 Jul 2022 9:07 am
Battle of CowpensThe Battle of Cowpens1, January 17, 1781, took place in the latter part of the Southern Campaign of the American Revolution and of the Revolution itself. It became known as the turning point of the war in the South, part of a chain of events leading to Patriot victory at Yorktown2 The Cowpens victory was won over a crack British regular army3 and brought together strong armies and leaders who made their mark on history.Beginning with the Battle of Moore's Creek Bridge4, the British had made early and mostly futile efforts in the South, including a failed naval expedition to take Charleston in 1776. Such victories boosted Patriot morale and blunted British efforts, but by 1779-80, with stalemate in the North, British strategists again looked south. They came south for a number of reasons, primarily to assist Southern Loyalists5 and help them regain control of colonial governments, and then push north, to crush the rebellion6. They estimated that many of the population would rally to the Crown.In 1779-80, British redcoats indeed came South en masse, capturing first, Savannah7 and then Charleston8 and Camden 8A in South Carolina, in the process, defeating and capturing much of the Southern Continental Army9. Such victories gave the British confidence they would soon control the entire South and that Loyalists would flock to their cause. Conquering these population centers, however, gave the British such a false sense of victory that they didn't count on so much opposition in the backcountry10. Conflict in the backcountry, to their rear, turned out to be their Achilles' heel. 
