• The foreground shows the battlefield in winter. Thicketty Mountain, a landmark used by both armies, is in the distance. The Green River Road, used by both armies to reach the cow pens, is on the right.

    Cowpens

    National Battlefield South Carolina

The Old Oak Tree

The oak tree in May 2003

Many visitors wonder if the big oak tree on the battlefield was here at the time of the battle. Although we believe that it was not, it was very old.

On June 27, 2008, the big oak tree fell. It had been struck by lightning several years ago and was stressed by the recent drought. Following are the before and after pictures of the tree that some people called "Grandpa."

 

Did You Know?

Gunsmoke makes it difficult to tell which army is firing.

In the American Revolution, both the American and British armies wore bright colored uniforms so that they could help distinguish who they were shooting at through the gunsmoke.