Battle: Cowpens
War: American Revolutionary War
Date of the Battle of Cowpens: 17th January 1781
Place of the Battle of Cowpens: South Carolina on the border with North Carolina, in the United States of America
Combatants at the Battle of Cowpens: Americans against the British and loyalist Americans
Commanders at the Battle of Cowpens: The American commander was Brigadier Daniel Morgan and the British commander Lieutenant Colonel Banastre Tarleton
Size of the armies at the Battle of Cowpens: The American force comprised around 1,000 men and the British force around 1,100 men.
Lieutenant-Colonel Banastre Tarleton, British commander at the Battle of Cowpens on 17th January 1781 in the American Revolutionary War: picture by Joshua Reynolds: click here to buy this picture
Lieutenant-Colonel Banastre Tarleton, British commander at the Battle of Cowpens on 17th January 1781 in the American Revolutionary War: picture by Joshua Reynolds
Uniforms, arms and equipment at the Battle of Cowpens: The British infantry wore red coats, with bearskin caps for grenadiers, tricorne hats for battalion companies and caps for the light infantry. The Highland Scots troops wore the kilt and feather bonnet.
The two regiments of British light dragoons serving in America, the 16th and 17th, arrived in America wearing red coats and crested leather helmets. As the war progressed, the light dragoons abandoned their red coats for green.
Tarleton’s legion wore a uniform of green and the cavalry wore light dragoon helmets.
The American troops dressed as best they could. Increasingly, as the war progressed, infantry regiments of the Continental Army mostly took to wearing blue or brown uniform coats. The American militia continued in rough clothing.
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