Battle during American War of Independence that ended the run of victories of Tarletons' British Legion. Nathaneal Greene, commanding the American forces in the Carolinas, was faced by serious supply problems. He thus decided to detachment two forces from his main army. One, under Daniel Morgan, was sent west, in part to forage and in part to threaten the British at Augusta. This American force of around 1000 men was well balanced, with a core of experienced Continental Infantry, Maryland and Virginia Militia, and a Continental Cavalry force under Colonel William Washington.
To Cornwallis, this force was a threat to the left flank of his planned advance into North Carolina and he sent a force commanded by Tarleton to catch it. The British force of 1,100 was composed of Tarleton's own British Legion, supported by regular infantry.
Tarleton's plan, such as it was, was quite simple. His men were to catch Morgan and immediately attack, expecting the militia to break, leaving the Continentals outnumbered. However, Morgan anticipated this, and deployed his men well. On 17 February 1781 he formed up in three lines at Hannah's Cowpens. First was a skirmishing line of about 150 sharpshooters. Next came the Carolina militia, whose orders were to fire two volleys and then withdraw behind the third line, of Continental Infantry and the Virginia Militia, placed on top of a hill. Once the British were engaged against this third line, the South Carolina militia on one flank and the Continental Cavalry on the other were to outflank them.
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