NEWS

Battle of Cowpens focus of freedom event

Ron Barnett
rbarnett@greenvillenews.com

GAFFNEY – If you don't know the story behind it, Cowpens National Battlefield looks pretty much like, well, a cow pasture.

That's what it was back on Jan. 17, 1781, when the patriots routed a larger force of Redcoats here and sent them running into North Carolina. The battle set off a chain of events that led nine months later to the British surrender at Yorktown.

As the July 4 holiday approaches and thoughts turn to America's birthday, Cowpens stands as a perpetual reminder of the spirit of liberty that drove the patriot effort and enabled an ill-equipped infant nation to win its freedom from the most formidable military power on earth.

A daylong Celebration of Freedom event is scheduled for Saturday, including weapons firing demonstrations, talks by historians and park rangers, and activities for children.

It was here along this dirt and gravel road in Cherokee County, a route colonists used to take their cattle to market in Charleston from the Upcountry, that the patriots made their stand on that winter day 233 years ago.

To Brigadier Gen. Daniel Morgan, leader of the Americans, this placid meadow in Upstate South Carolina offered just the right contours to lure the brash Col. Banastre Tarleton into his trap.

Every rise and dip in the landscape played a role in the battle, and visitors can see with their own eyes how the British commander was unable to see Continental troops and light infantry hidden behind a low hill.

"On Daniel Morgan's Hill, you can almost picture him sitting on his horse right up there with his telescope watching the battle," said John Slaughter, superintendent of Cowpens.

The battlefield didn't become a federally protected site until 1929 and homes were built along the old Green River Road. But by fortune rather than planning, the homesites weren't graded and the original landscape remained undisturbed.

"You can read about what happened in the battle, but to see where the two armies were and how the land was used in the battle, it really brought it to life to actually be there and be able to walk the trail," said Heather Yenco, curator of collections and exhibitions at the Upcountry History Museum in Greenville who has visited Cowpens twice on the anniversary of the battle.

Slaughter said his mission is to raise the awareness of the importance of the war in the South.

"Most people, the first thing they associate South Carolina with is the Civil War," he says. "They think most of the Revolutionary War happened in the North."

But 1/3 of all the battles of the Revolution were fought in South Carolina, he says.

Between 200,000 and 250,000 visitors a year come to this 843-acre park, which is just off Interstate 85 and adjacent to Scenic Highway 11.

They can learn about the battle from an 18-minute film at the visitor's center and see a cannon like the ones the British used here as well as other weapons, paintings and exhibits. A fiber-optic map display illustrates the Southern campaign of the war and explains the battle tactics Morgan used at Cowpens.

A 1.2-mile trail leads from the visitor's center through the battlefield along the original road that ran through it and loops back through a wooded area to the visitor's center.

ABOUT THE PARK

Size: 845 acres

Visitors: 216,239 in 2013

Established: 1929

History: On March 4, 1929, President Herbert Hoover signed a bill authorizing Cowpens National Battlefield Site. Legislation in 1972 authorized Congress to buy about 845 acres and changed the designation from national battlefield site to national battlefield.

When visiting: Cowpens National Battlefield is 3 miles east of Chesnee, S.C., at the intersections of state Highways 11 and 110. If you use GPS, the address is 4001 Chesnee Highway, Gaffney, S.C. (Make sure to specify Gaffney rather than Chesnee when entering the address, so you aren't directed to the middle of Lake Blalock.) Visitor information: 864-461-2828. The visitor center and front gate are open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The Loop Road and picnic area close at 4:30 p.m.

Of note: The Battle of Cowpens, fought on Jan. 17, 1781, lasted less than an hour. Military groups still visit to study how American commander Daniel Morgan executed a double envelopment, a classic military maneuver in which both of the enemy's flanks are turned.