Morgan prepared to Fight.

His Address to his Troops.

The Attack.

Tarleton's Charge.

given when the British should be within one hundred and fifty yards. In the rear of the second line, under Howard, and behind an eminence of sufficient height to conceal them,' the American reserve was posted. These consisted of Washington's cavalry, and M.Call's Inounted militia of Georgia, armed with sabers.

Tarleton was rather disconcerted when he found that Morgan was prepared to fight him, for he expected to overtake him on a retreat. He rode cautiously forward to reconnoiter, but the shots of the advanced corps of riflemen obliged him to retire precipitately to his lines. Yet, feeling sure of an easy victory, Tarleton quickly arranged his line in battle order upon the Spartanburg road, within three hundred yards of Morgan's first line. At this moment, Morgan, with solemn voice and sententious sentences, addressed his troops. He exhorted the militia of the first line to be steady, and fire with sure aim; and expressed his conviction that, if they would pour in two volleys at a killing distance, victory would be theirs. He addressed the second line in a similar manner, informed them that he had ordered the militia to fall back after delivering two volleys, and exhorted them not to be disconcerted by that movement. Then taking post with his line, near Lieutenant-colonel Howard, he awaited in silence the approach of the British van, already in motion. It consisted of the light troops and the legion infantry, with the 7th regiment, under Major Newmarsh. In the center of this line were the two pieces of artillery. Upon each flank was a troop of cavalry; and in the rear, as a reserve, was Major M'Arthur, with the battalion of the 71st regiment and the remainder of the cavalry. Tarleton placed himself in the first line.

It was now about nine o'clock in the morning. The sun was shining warm and bright over the summits of Thicketty Mountain, and gave brilliancy to the martial array in the forests below. At a signal from Tarleton, his advance gave a loud shout, and rushed furiously to the contest, under cover of their artillery and an incessant discharge of musketry The riflemen, under Cunningham and M Dowell, delivered their fire with terrible effect, and then fell back to the flanks of the first line under Pickens. The British still shouting, rushed forward, and poured in a close fire upon the militia. These stood firm, until assailed with bayonets, when they fell back to the second line. McCall's militia fled to their horses, while the remainder, under Pickens, took post upon Howard's right. Upon the main body Tarleton now made a vigorous charge, and was met with equal valor and determination. The contest was close and severe, and the British line began to bend, when M'Arthur, with the reserve, was ordered to advance. This movement reanimated the quailing Britons, and they plied ball and bayonet with incessant force. While the contest was raging, M'Arthur and at the solicitation of his friends, he accepted of the commission of major in one of the Continental battalions of Maryland. In the spring of 1777, he joined the army under Washington, in New Jersey, with which he remained until the close of June, when he returned home, on account of the death of his father. A few days after the battle on the Brandywine, he rejoined the army, and was distinguished for his cool courage in the battle at Germantown, of which he wrote an interesting account. In that engagement, he was major of the 4th regiment, commanded by Colonel Hall, of Maryland. Major Howard was present at the battle of Monmouth, in 1778. On the first of June, 1779, he received a commission as lieutenant colonel of the 5th Maryland regiment, to take rank from the eleventh day of March, 1778." In 1780, he went with the Maryland and Delaware troops to the South, and served under Gates until the arrival of Greene. Soon after this, we find him with Morgan, winning bright laurels at the Cowpens; and for his bravery there, Congress awarded him the honor of a silver medal. Howard again distinguished himself at the battle of Guilford, where he was wounded. At the conclusion of the war, Colonel Howard married Margaret, the daughter of Chief-justice Chew, around whose house at Germantown he had valiantly battled. In November, 1788, he was chosen governor of Maryland, which office he held for three years. He was commis. sioned major general of militia in 1794, but declined the honor. Washington invited him to a seat in his cabinet, at the head of the War Department, in 1795. That honor he also declined. He was then a member of the Maryland Senate. In 1796, he was elected to the Senate of the United States, where he served antil 1803, when he retired from public life. When, in 1814, Baltimore was threatened with destruction by the enemy, the veteran soldier prepared to take the field. The battle at North Point, however, rendered such a step unnecessary. He lost his wife in 1827; and on the twelfth of October, 1827, he, too, left the scenes of earth, at the age of seventy-five years. Honor, wealth, and the ardent love of friends, were his lot in life, and few men ever went down to the grave more truly lamented than John Eager Howard. 1 Between this eminence and the one on which Howard was stationed, the Mill-gap road passes.

Colonel Washington.

Charge of Tarleton.

Bold Maneuver of Howard.

Americans Victorious.

attempted to gain the American flank under Colonel Howard. That officer perceived the movement and its intent, and instantly ordered his first company to charge the British 71st. His order was mistaken, and the company fell back. The whole line also gave way at

W. Washing ton

the same moment, and Morgan ordered it to retreat to the eminence behind which the cavalry were posted. Tarleton, believing this maneuver to be a precursor of flight, ordered another charge, and, with shouts, his infantry rushed forward impetuously, in disorder. When close to Howard, that officer ordered his line to face about and give his pursuers a volley. Instantly a close and murderous fire laid many of the British line dead upon the earth, and the living, terrified by the unexpected movement, recoiled in confusion. Howard perceived the advantage of the moment, and followed it up with the bayonet. This decided the victory in favor of the Americans. At the same time, a portion of Tarleton's cavalry having gained the rear of the Americans, fell upon M Call's mounted militia. Now was the moment for Lieutenant-colonel Washington' to act. With his cavalry, he struck the British horsemen a decisive blow, and drove them in confusion before him. The reserve, under M'Ar

I WILLIAM WASHINGTON, "the modern Marcellus," "the sword of his country," was the eldest son of Baily Washington, of Stafford county, Virginia, where he was born on the 28th of February, 1752. He was educated for the Church, but the peculiar position of public affairs led him into the political field. He early espoused the patriot cause, and entered the army under Colonel Hugh (afterward General) Mercer as captain. He was in the battle near Brooklyn, Long Island, distinguished himself at Trenton, and was with his beloved general when he fell at Princeton. He was afterward a major in Colonel Baylor's corps of cavalry, and was with that officer when attacked by General Grey, at Tappan, in 1778. The following year, he joined the army under Lincoln in South Carolina, and was very active in command of a light corps in the neighborhood of Charleston. He became attached, with his corps, to the division of General Morgan, and with that officer fought bravely at the Cowpens. For his valor on that occasion, Congress presented him with a silver medal. He was an active officer in Greene's celebrated retreat, and again fought bravely at

The following are the device and inscriptions: An officer mounted at the head of a body of cavalry, charging flying troops: Victory is flying over the heads of the Americans, holding a laurel crown in her right hand and a palm branch in her left. Legend: GULIELMO WASHINGTON LEGIONIS EQUITUM PREFECTO COMITIA AMERICANA-"The American Congress to William Washington, commander of a regiment of cavalry." Reverse: QUOD PARVA MILITUM MANU STRENUE PROSECUTUS HOSTES VIRTUTIS INGENITE PRÆCLARUM SPECIMEN DEDIT IN PUGNA AD COWPENS, 17TH JANUARY, 1781-"Because, having vigorously pursued the foe with a small band of soldiers, he gave a brilliant specimen of innate valor in the battle at the Cowpens, 17th January, 1781." This inscription is within a laurel wreath.

Retreat of the British.

Encounter between Washington and Tarleton.

Result of the Battle

thur, were too much mixed up with the main forces of Tarleton, to present a rallying point, and the whole body retreated along the Mill-gap road to the place near Scruggs's, delineated on page 430, then covered with an open wood like the ground where the conflict commenced. There the battle ended, and the pursuit was relinquished. It was near the northern border of that present open field that Washington and Tarleton had a personal conflict. In the eagerness of his pursuit of that officer, Washington had got far in advance of his squadron, when Tarleton and two of his aids, at the head of the troop of the 17th regiment of dragoons, turned upon him. An officer on Tarleton's right was about to strike the impetuous Washington with his saber, when his sergeant came up and disabled the assailant's swordarm. An officer on Tarleton's left was about to strike at the same moment, when Washington's little bugler, too small to wield a sword, wounded the assailant with a pistol-ball. Tarleton, who was in the center, then made a thrust at him, which Washington parried, and gave his enemy a wound in the hand.' Tarleton wheeled, and, as he retreated, discharged a pistol, by which Washington was wounded in the knee. During that night and the following morning, the remnant of Tarleton's force reached Hamilton's Ford, on Broad River, and also the encampment of Cornwallis, at Turkey Creek, about twenty-five miles from the Cowpens. For this defeat, Tarleton's cotemporaries censured him severely."

The loss of the Americans in this decisive battle was about seventy men, of whom, strange to say, only twelve were killed. The British, according to Cornwallis's letter to Sir Henry Clinton, written a few days afterward, lost ten officers and ninety privates killed, and twenty-three officers and five hundred privates taken prisoners. Almost the whole of the British infantry, except the baggage guard, were killed or taken. The two pieces of artillery," eight hundred muskets, two standards, thirty-five baggage wagons, and one hundred dragoon horses, fell into the possession of the Americans. To the honor of the victors, it is declared that, notwithstanding the cruel warfare which Tarleton had waged had exasperated the Americans to the last degree, not one of the British was killed or wounded, or even insulted, after they had surrendered.

The defeat of the British at the Cowpens has not been inaptly compared to that of the Germans of Burgoyne's army near Bennington. The disaster, in both cases, dealt a severe blow against the success of the main army. The battle near Bennington paralyzed the energies of Burgoyne's army; the battle at the Cowpens equally affected the power of Cornwallis. He was advancing triumphantly toward the heart of North Carolina, having placed Guilford Court House. He behaved gallantly at Hobkirk's Hill, near Camden, and at the battle at Eutaw Springs he exhibited signal valor; but his horse being shot under him, he was there made a prisoner. He remained a captive until the close of the war. Having become attached to a South Carolina lady during his captivity, he married her, and settled in Charleston. He represented that district in the State Legislature. His talents as a statesman were so conspicuous, that he was solicited to become a candidate for governor. He declined the honor, chiefly because he could not make a speech. When President Adams appointed General Washington commander-in-chief of the American army, he chose Colonel Washington to be one of his staff, with the rank of brigadier. Colonel Washington died on the sixth of March, 1810. He was tall in person, possessed of great strength and activity, and in society was taciturn and modest.

It is related that this wound was twice the subject for the sallies of wit of two American ladies, who were sisters, daughters of Colonel Montfort, of Halifax county, North Carolina. When Cornwallis and his army were at Halifax, on their way to Virginia, Tarleton was at the house of an American. In the presence of Mrs. Wilie Jones (one of these sisters), Tarleton spoke of Colonel Washington as an illiterate fellow, hardly able to write his name. "Ah! colonel," said Mrs. Jones, "you ought to know better, for you bear on your person proof that he knows very well how to make his mark!" At another time, Tarleton was speaking sarcastically of Washington, in the presence of her sister, Mrs. Ashe. "I would be happy to see Colonel Washington," he said, with a sneer. Mrs. Ashe instantly replied, "If you had looked behind you, Colonel Tarleton, at the battle of the Cowpens, you would have enjoyed that pleasure." Stung. with this keen wit, Tarleton placed his hand on his sword. General Leslie, who was present, remarked, "Say what you please, Mrs. Ashe, Colonel Tarleton knows better than to insult a lady in my presence."Mr. Ellet's Women of the Revolution. * See Stedman, ii., 324.

3 These two pieces of artillery were first taken from Burgoyne at Saratoga; then retaken by the British at Camden; now were recovered by the Americans, and afterward fell into the hands of Cornwallis at Guilford. They were of the kind of small field-pieces called "grasshoppers."

4

Ramsay, Gordon, Marshall, Lee, Johnson, Tarleton, Moultrie.

The Heroes of the Cowpens.

Departure from that Place.

Cherokee Ford.

Indians in the Carolinas.

South Carolina, as he thought, in submission at his feet. The defeat of Ferguson at King's Mountain, and now of Tarleton, his favorite partisan, withered his hopes of Tory organization and co-operation. His last hope was the destruction of Greene's army by his own superior force, and for that purpose he now commenced the pursuit which we have considered in a preceding chapter, the capture of Morgan and his prisoners being his first object. The victory of the Cowpens gave great joy to the Americans throughout the confederacy. Congress received information of it on the eighth of February, a and on the ninth of March that body voted an award of a gold medal to Morgan; a silver medal to Howard and Washington; a sword to Colonel Pickens; and a vote of thanks to the other offi cers and men engaged in the battle.'

a 1781

It was almost sunset when I left the Cowpens to return to a house of entertainment upon the road to the Cherokee Ford, seven miles distant; for the resident there could not find a corner for me in his dwelling, nor for Charley in his stable, that cold night, “for love nor money," but generously proposed that I should send him a copy of my work when completed, because he lived upon the battle-ground! To a planter on horseback, from Spartanburg, who overtook me upon the road, I am indebted for kindness in pointing out the various localities of interest at the Cowpens; to the other for the knowledge that a small building near his house was the depository of a field-piece used by an artillery company in the vicinity, when celebrating the anniversary of the battle.

After dark, I reached the house of Mrs. Camp, where I was comfortably lodged for the night; and early the following morning, accompanied by one of her sons on horseback, I proceeded to the Cherokee Ford, on the Broad River, ten miles distant. The road was very

rough most of the way, and quite hilly. At the ford, on the west side of the river, is a large iron manufactory. The ore is brought from the neighboring mountains, smelted there, and wrought into hollow-ware, nails, spikes, tacks, &c. Around the establishment quite a little village has grown up, and there, as at Matson's Ford (Conshohocken), on the Schuylkill, where hostile parties were seen during the Revolution, and all around was a wilderness, the hum of busy industry is heard, and the smiles of cultivation are seen. Here, as we have observed (page 427), the Americans, who gained the victory at King's Mountain, crossed this stream on the morning of the battle.

Before crossing the Broad River, the Eswawpuddenah of the Cherokee Indians, let us take a historical survey of the most important occurrences westward of this stream, in the beautiful country watered by the Tyger, the Ennoree, and the Saluda, and further on to the noble Savannah. Standing here upon the western selvage of civilization when the war broke out, and where the aborigines were sole masters but a few years before, let us glance, first, at the record of events which mark their conflicts with the over-reaching white race, who beat them back beyond the mountains."

We have already noticed, on page 356, the efforts of the Corees, Tuscaroras, and other Indians of the Neuse and Cape Fear region to expel the Europeans. This conflict was soon succeeded by another, more serious in its character. For a while, the very existence of the Southern colony was menaced. The powerful nation of the Yamassees, who

1 Journals of Congress, vil., 47.

b 1712.

2 South Carolina was occupied by twenty-eight Indian nations when the Europeans first made a permanent settlement upon the Ashley River. The domain of these tribes extended from the ocean to the mount> ains. The Westos, Stonos, Coosaws, and Sewees occupied the country between Charleston and the Edisto Rivers. They were conquered by the Savannahs, and expelled from the country. The Yamassees and Tluspahs held the territory in the neighborhood of Port Royal. The Savannahs, Serannahs, Cussobos, and Euchees occupied the middle country, along the Isundigia, or Savannah River. The Apalachians inhabited the head waters of the Savannah and Alatamaha, and gave their name to the mountains of Apalachy, and the bay of Apalachicola. The Muscoghees or Creeks occupied a part of the country between the Savannah and Broad Rivers, being divided by the latter from the country of the Cherokees. The Congarees, Santees, Waterees, Saludas, Catawbas, Peedees, and Winyaws lived along the rivers which bear their respective names. The Muscoghees and Catawbas were the most warlike; the Cherokees were more numerous than either, but more peaceful. These various nations, when Charleston was founded, could muster probably, fifty thousand warriors.-See Simms's History of South Carolina, page 67.

War with the Indians.

Peril of the White People.

Defeat and Conquest of the Indians.

Seminoles

possessed the territory around Port Royal, where the French Huguenots first attempted settlement, had long evinced their friendship for the Carolinians, whose first settlement was in the neighborhood of the present city of Charleston, by engaging with them as allies in their wars against the Spaniards and some Indian tribes. The Spaniards at St. Augustine, who were the mortal enemies of the Carolinians, finally succeeded in uniting the Cherokees― "the mountaineers of aboriginal America". -the Muscoghees, Apalachians, and other Indian nations, in a league for the destruction of the colony. They also won the confidence of the Yamassees, and suddenly that powerful tribe appeared in arms against the Carolinians. Already the Apalachian tribes, occupying a large portion of the present State of Georgia, instigated by the Spaniards, had desolated some of the frontier settlements.a Governor Moore, at the head of a body of Carolinians and friendly Indians, penetrated into the very heart of the Apalachian settlements, between the Savannah and the Alatamahaw Rivers. He laid their villages in ashes, devastated their plantations, slew about eight hundred people, and, with a large number of captives, marched back in triumph to Charleston. This invasion broke the spirit of the tribe, and made the power of the Carolinians thoroughly respected among their neighbors.

a 1703.

b 1715.

When the confederacy of the tribes of the upper country was effected, and the Yamassees lifted the hatchet against the white people,b Governor Craven, who had promptly sent aid to the people of the northen provinces, as promptly met the danger at his own door. So secretly had the confederation been formed, and their plans matured, that the first blow was struck, and almost a hundred people were slain,' before the Carolinians were aware of danger. The Yamassees, the Muscoghees or Creeks, and Apalachians, advanced along the southern frontier, spreading desolation in their track. The Cherokees, the Catawbas, and the Congarees joined them, and the Corees, and some of the Tuscaroras, also went out upon the war-path. Almost a thousand warriors issued from the Neuse region, while those of the southern division amounted to more than six thousand. Within forty days, the Indian tribes from the Cape Fear to the St. Mary's, and westward to the Alabama, were banded together for the destruction of the colony at Ashley River.

Governor Craven, whose character was the reverse of his name, acted with the utmost energy when the confederation and its purposes were made known. He immediately proclaimed martial law; laid an embargo on all ships to prevent men or provisions from leav ing the colony, and seizing arms wherever they could be found, placed them in the hands of faithful negroes, to co-operate with the white people. With twelve hundred men, white and black, he marched to confront the Indians, now approaching with the knife, hatchet, and torch, in dreadful activity. In the first encounters of his advanced parties with the enemy the Indians were victors, but Craven finally compelled them to fall back to their chief camp upon the Salk-hatchie, whither the governor pursued them. Desperate were the conflicts which ensued, and for a while the victory was doubtful. The fate of the whole colony was suspended upon the result, and the Carolinians contended with all the energy of men fighting for life, home, and family. The Indians were repulsed, and, hotly pursued by the white people and their black aids, they were driven across the Savannah and sought shelter under the guns of the Spanish fortress at St. Augustine. No longer useful to them, the Spaniards drove their savage allies into the wilderness, and fearing to return to their hunting-grounds north of the Savannah, the Indians set up their wigwams among the everglades of Florida, and became, it is believed, the ancestors of the powerful Seminoles of our day.

€ 1729.

When the division of the Carolinas occurred,c and the southern portion became a

1 Bancroft, iii., 246.

2 This massacre was at Pocotaligo, an old village in the parish of Prince William, in Beaufort District. It then contained about three hundred inhabitants. There stood Fort Balfour, which was captured, during the Revolution, by a few Americans under Colonel Harden.

3 This is the name of the south fork of the Combahee River, which empties into St. Helena Sound. The place of the encampment was near Barnwell, the capital of Barnwell District.