 | Summaries and Customer Reviews are supplied by Amazon.com | It's easy to forget that the British won most of the battles during the American Revolution. The Americans certainly carried the day at Saratoga and Yorktown, but they were beaten again and again by their enemy elsewhere--and often badly. So it's especially odd that the Battle of Cowpens, fought in South Carolina on January 17, 1781, isn't better remembered in American imagination. As author Lawrence E. Babits shows, Cowpens was the Continental troops' greatest tactical moment--and it marked a crucial turning point in the war. The fight itself was fairly brief, and the outcome lopsided--it was "a devil of a whipping," as American leader Daniel Morgan said at the time. Babits provides a richly detailed account of the battle, including an especially good overview of the weapons and tactics used by troops of the time. An archaeologist by training, Babits approaches Cowpens with the familiar meticulousness of his profession; this is an important piece of scholarship on the military history of the American Revolution. --John J. Miller |
Average Customer Rating:   Ground breaking research . . . "A Devil of a Whipping: The Battle of Cowpens." is placed by the author in the larger strategic situation in which it was fought, and properly sets the stage for the battle itself which includes troop movements a few days before the battle. How Morgan's troops became a separate "wing" or Gen. Green's troops is explained in detail.
The author clearly explains why Morgan chose Cowpens for the place of battle, and why he placed his troops where he did by analysing the strengths and weaknesses of the militia and the Continental troops.
The author clearly explains what the plan of battle was and what actually happened with accompanying topographic maps . . . a lot of them especially . . . noting that Morgan had an extremely accurate understanding of how his opponent, Tarleton, would fight.
The author also explains all that is needed for the reader to know about the British troops and their leader. Also, explained was why Cornwallis sent Tarleton after Morgan in the first place.
The implements of combat . . . the muskets, etc, are also explained and described including how their strengths and limitations effected the battle, and how the weapons affected where Morgan placed his troupes.
The author explains the almost uncanny understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of his troupes, an why this understanding led Morgan to place his troops in the unusual tactical disposition he did.
The author explains how Morgan went to great lengths to explain to his men how they would be deployed, and what to expect, especially that the militia in the forward line would move behind the second line after a few volleys so the men wouldn't assume a retreat was in the making.
I thought that the most interesting part of the battle was when American troops misunderstood a command and began moving to the rear as they were threatened with being outflanked. This misunderstanding of orders which could have been disastrous was salvaged and turned to advantage as the British charged the retreating troops. At the right time the troops turned about on command, after reloading while marching in order to the rear and fired a volley into the British then made a bayonet charge into them. This was done in full coordination with the mounted dragoons who charged the British at the same time. Thus potential disaster was turned into a devastating attack which preceded the surrounding of most of the British and a virtual end to the battle.
This manoeuvre demonstrates the high degree of professionalism attained by the men by that time in the war.
The great amount of detail in this book is extremely noticeable. I too found it somewhat distracting, but figured that that amount of detail is necessary when writing a book that makes significant corrections about the details of a battle . . . details that had been accepted as fact for many years. I suppose that such details could have been included in an appendix . . . I don't know. The research seemed very, very complete. Very good Well-written book about how the "Americans" were able to defeat the British. Plenty of reviews have already been written, so I will just say that I enjoyed reading this book and that if you enjoy books concerning the American Revolution, you will probably enjoy reading it also. The book most definitely will leave you with an understanding of what happened and why it happened at The Bottle of Cowpens. Five stars as a history book- a bit less as a narrative I was a history major undergrad- not claiming a lot of expertise but it does mean I've read a fair number of books where the emphasis was more on footnotes,shall we say, than on keeping the reader's interest. Cowpens suffers a little from the academic's touch, but not badly, and the story itself is so compelling that I doubt even David McCullogh would make it much more exciting.
The Southern Campaign was pretty much the forgotten part of Revolutionary War, but there were some notable battles, and probably none more notable than Cowpens. The tiny Colonial army in the south gets split in two- completely against conventional wisdom of its day (or any other, for that matter), and one half is given to General Daniel Morgan to more or less head toward North Carolina. His adversary was Colonel Tarleton- a young British officer with a reputation for giving little or no quarter. In fact he had given unambiguous direction for no quarter at Cowpens.
The battle unfolds, and Morgan's brilliant strategy combined with the fatigue of the British troops led to an unheard of rout and eventual surrender of the 71st- the heroic Scottish Highlanders. The victory was pivotal, to say the least, and not only "stopped the bleeding" of the southern Colonials, it probably turned the tide in the whole war in the South.
Babits does a painstaking recreation of the facts of the battle, using accounts, other histories, geographic analysis, and even pension records to document a battle sorely lacking in background, about as well as you ever come across. Short of a time machine you're probably not going to get a more plausible account of the battle- Babits even going to the level of detail to measure the steps and distances of the soldiers in battle order to clarify between differing accounts.
The story almost tells itself to a point, and Babits gets blood from a turnip in his attempt to research a battle where there is a lot missing from the historical record. Possibly it might have been edited better as it has several tacked on chapters after the story is finished that probably would've worked better had they been woven into the body of the story. Still all in all a fascinating read and an excellent piece of research.
A short and violent battle with many "lessons learned" This book is indeed the best that one can find on the battle of Cowpens. It lefts no stone unturned, covering the tactical aspects, the armaments of the combatants, the grand strategy that led Tarleton and Morgan to clash at Cowpens, the numerous companies, battalions and regiments involved, the characters of the commanders and of many individual soldiers and a fine alaysis of the battle's timeframe and landscape. There are also some very nice descriptions of the battle itself, like that of pages 103-104: "Dyring loading and firing, soldiers noticed little increments of their task. The dry taste of black powder and waxed paper cartridges was one step. Then, a rattle of ramrods in the barrels as new charges of buck and ball forced home against the breech plug with a distinctive ping. Platoon and division volleys crashed with bright yellow flashes from pan and barrel, highlighting the firing sequence. The blast of noise and light was so dramatic a soldier could not tell if his own musket fired. During priming, only a wisp of smoke coming out of a barrel's touch hole would show that the gun went off. The acrid smell of burnt powder, greasy black smears on hand and face from ramrods grown slick with sweat and powder residue, and cut thumbs from mishandling the musket's cock added to individual perceptions of the fight. There was a disconcerting whiz of balls going overhead, thwacking against trees, thudding into the ground, or the awful thunk of lead striking flesh and bone. A growing undertone of groans was punctuated by shrill screams of the wounded. Cutting across these distractions came the commands as officers called out: "Prime and load! Shoulder! Make Ready! Take Aim! Fire!" and then repeated the cycle". A Devil of a Whipping: The Battle of the Cowpens An excellent study of Morgan's understanding of his troops and the Battle ground. This is not the standard publication. It is a through analysis of the physical aspects of the geography, the troops involved, and their traing and performance. |  |
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