Last updated: September 30, 2026
Place
Cowpens Audio Tour Stop 3: Spirit Up the People
By the fall of 1780, the battle for Independence in the Southern theater was at the breaking point. The King’s armies had control of Georgia and were poised to gain full control of South Carolina. The green-coated British Legion, under the command of Banastre Tarleton, was riding roughshod over American military forces and handing out the King’s justice to rebel civilians. A civil war amongst the civilian population of Tories and Whigs was spiraling out of control, blanketing the countryside in blood and brutality. Striking back against the Empire where they could, South Carolina militia commanders General Thomas Sumter, Colonel Francis Marion, and others scored small victories, but they could not stop the wave of British dominance.
In October 1780, Major General Nathanael Greene was appointed by Commander-in-Chief George Washington to command the remnants of the Southern Army. Coming out of retirement to help in the South was newly promoted Brigadier General Daniel Morgan. Faced with the daunting task of halting General Charles Lord Cornwallis’ forces and protecting the civilian population, Greene and Morgan set to work. General Greene assigned command of a “flying army” to General Morgan with orders stating,“Sir-you are appointed command of a corps of Light Infantry, a detachment of Militia, and Lt. Col Washington’s Regiment of Light Dragoons…the object of this detachment is to give protection of that part of the country and spirit up the people…”.
General Greene’s decision to send Morgan into the South Carolina backcountry was meant to achieve several objectives. One was to protect the patriot settlements west of the Catawba River and to “spirit up the people” living in the western regions of North and South Carolina. Tarleton and his British Legion were the most feared unit in the British Army, and their actions had intimidated the local people. Another objective was to harass British troop movements and disrupt supply lines, with the hope of drawing Cornwallis’s army out of their fortified supply forts and force him into making a strategic mistake.The Cowpens held no significant strategic value for either the Americans or the British. When Daniel Morgan chose Cowpens to fight Banastre Tarleton’s army, he based the decision on the tactical advantages of the terrain. There were no towns, villages, or settlements near Cowpens, with only small farmsteads scattered around the area. Cowpens was communal pasturing land that had the rustic, but well-traveled, Green River Road cutting through it. It was a well-known landmark in the South Carolina backcountry due to its popularity with farmers and cattle drivers.
In October 1780, Major General Nathanael Greene was appointed by Commander-in-Chief George Washington to command the remnants of the Southern Army. Coming out of retirement to help in the South was newly promoted Brigadier General Daniel Morgan. Faced with the daunting task of halting General Charles Lord Cornwallis’ forces and protecting the civilian population, Greene and Morgan set to work. General Greene assigned command of a “flying army” to General Morgan with orders stating,“Sir-you are appointed command of a corps of Light Infantry, a detachment of Militia, and Lt. Col Washington’s Regiment of Light Dragoons…the object of this detachment is to give protection of that part of the country and spirit up the people…”.
General Greene’s decision to send Morgan into the South Carolina backcountry was meant to achieve several objectives. One was to protect the patriot settlements west of the Catawba River and to “spirit up the people” living in the western regions of North and South Carolina. Tarleton and his British Legion were the most feared unit in the British Army, and their actions had intimidated the local people. Another objective was to harass British troop movements and disrupt supply lines, with the hope of drawing Cornwallis’s army out of their fortified supply forts and force him into making a strategic mistake.The Cowpens held no significant strategic value for either the Americans or the British. When Daniel Morgan chose Cowpens to fight Banastre Tarleton’s army, he based the decision on the tactical advantages of the terrain. There were no towns, villages, or settlements near Cowpens, with only small farmsteads scattered around the area. Cowpens was communal pasturing land that had the rustic, but well-traveled, Green River Road cutting through it. It was a well-known landmark in the South Carolina backcountry due to its popularity with farmers and cattle drivers.