John,

May I forward your post to the Stribling-list?

We had several ancestors who participated in the battle at Cowpens.

Elreeta Weathers
in Hamilton, TX

----- Original Message -----
From: John Robertson 
To: 
Sent: Saturday, January 08, 2000 6:42 AM
Subject: Cowpens Battle 219th Anniversary


 15 and 16 January
> Cowpens National Battlefield.
>
> This map
> http://www.nps.gov/cowp/map2cowp.gif
> will show you how to get there.  The park is about 10 mi. NE of
Spartanburg
> SC and about 10 mi. NW of Gaffney on SC Hwy 11.
>
> If you are within reasonable driving distance to the Spartanburg SC area,
> and are a Rev War buff, this is an event you will not want to miss.
>
> There are two days of events and it is hard to take them all in.
>
> The Cowpens Forum (in its 2nd year) will have several major authors of
> studies of the Rev War in the South.  This Patriot victory, fought 17 Jan
> 1781 at daybreak, literally kept the revolution alive when it was near its
> lowest ebb.
>
> The battlefield is visited regularly by those studying military science
> since it is deemed the tactical masterpiece of the war.
>
> The full agenda of events is given at
> http://www.nps.gov/cowp/events.htm
>
> The Mel Gibson movie "The Patriot" is a *fictional* account of the Rev War
> in the Carolinas and will be released this June.  Bring your children and
> grandchildren to Cowpens on 15 and 16 January and learn what *really*
> happened!
>
> You can find all kinds of info about the park (plus some excellent
> historical articles) at
> http://www.nps.gov/cowp/menu.htm
>
> You will find me there.  I'll be conducting guided tours of the
battlefield
> (they let me!).  When I tell the story, you can share the terror of
> standing in that long militia line (as did my ancestor), commanded to
"wait
> until you can see the whites of their eyes", watching that line of British
> bayonets moving relentlessly toward you, and knowing that you would likely
> have only have *one* shot with your long rifle before they were upon you.
> Only Daniel Morgan would have conceived such a tactic and only he could
> have persuaded 1000 Carolina militiamen to have done such an unnatural
> thing.
>
> You will also share the dismay and anguish of the 71st Highlanders,
> arguably among the finest combat troops in the world, as they astoundingly
> experienced defeat and capture that day.
>
> Morgan's opponent at Cowpens was none other than the feared Lt.Col.
> Banastre Tarleton, the Brit's best cavalry commander on the continent.  He
> had more than twice the dragoons (all regulars) and yet, amazingly, Dr.
> Larry Babits concludes that it was the superior use of cavalry by the
> Patriots that tipped the balance in favor of Morgan.  It is even more
> incredible when you learn that 1/3 of Morgan's badly outnumbered dragoons
> were *militia* who had only had *one hour* of training in the use of the
> sabre!
>
> It is a great story and I never tire of it.  Come hear the rest of it.
>
> John Robertson
>
>
> >
>

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