The Battle at Cowpens

Cowpens was a battle fought between Brigadier General Daniel Morgan and Bannister Tarlton. Tarlton was very arrogant and thought that this would be a easy victory over the Patriots. He was soon to be proven wrong. At 6:45 A.M, Tarleton met Morgan at Cowpens. Morgans plan was simple: he had 4 lines. The Skirmishers, The Militia, The Continentals, and the the Cavalry. When Tarleton saw the Skirmishers, he ordered his Dragoons to attack them. The militia fired a volley and dropped 15 Dragoons. They then retreated to the Second line with Pickens militia. The British infantry attacked again, this time reaching the militia. The Militia poured 2 volleys into the British and 40% of the British casualties were officers. Pickens' militia then filed around the American left to the rear as planned after getting off their second volley. The 71st Highlanders were ordered to flank the American right. John Eager Howard spotted the flanking movement and ordered the Virginia militiamen manning the American right to turn and face the Scots. However, in the noise of battle Howard's order was misunderstood and the militiamen began to withdraw. It was now 7:45 am and the British had been fighting for nearly an hour. They were tired and disorganized, but they saw the militia withdrawing and believed the Americans were on the run. They charged, breaking formation and advancing in a chaotic mass. Morgan ordered a volley. Howard's militia stopped their withdrawal and made an about-face. The Virginians fired into the British at a range of no more than thirty yards, with deadly effect, causing the confused British to lurch to a halt. John Eager Howard then shouted "Charge bayonets!" Some of Tarleton's men surrendered. Others turned and ran. Tarleton managed to escape and reported the defeat to Lord Cornwallis. The battle was won by the Americans.

I thought it was really interesting. Here is a map of the layout of the battle (Click on the image to enlarge it):

The Battle of Ninety-Six

The Battle of Ninety-Six was an extraordinary event. The reason it was called Ninety-Six was because the citizens thought it was 96 miles to the Cherokee town of Kiowee.

There was a Fort located on Ninety-Six called the Star Fort. It was lined with sandbags to protect the soldiers from being shot. It was built by English Col. John Cruger. Major General Nathaniel Greene and about 1,000 men arrived outside Ninety Six on May 22. They immediately began siege operations, targeting the Star Fort, under their chief engineer, the Pole Col. Thaddeus Kosciuszko. As General Greene was preparing for an attack, he learned that Cruger was receiving 2,000 more reinforcements from Charleston, SC. Greene had three options:

1. To stay and attack the reinforcements
2. To retreat from the Star Fort
3. To make an attack on the Star Fort before the reinforcements arrived

General Greene chose the third. General Greene sent some men to try and bring down some of the sandbags so that the rest of the army could enter and attack the fort. They called this "The Suicide Mission". The men ran through a dug out trench and charged the star for using hooks to bring down the sandbags. Col. Cruger sent out a party of men through the same trench to attack the men on the side. General Greene's men were slaughtered with only a few being able to get away. The results were that Greene lost 150 men while Cruger lost less than 100. Greene then retreated to Charlotte, NC. It was really interesting. Here are some pictures:

Mr. Potter giving a lecture on Ninety-Six

A picture of the bloody attack on the Star Fort


This is where the Star Fort was located

Claire Bear taking a break

Men and Battles of the American War of Independence

Three days ago, we went on a tour will Bill Potter on the Southern Campaign of the American War of Independence. This tour has inspired me to write a series of articles on the Men and Battles of the War. I hope that you will find these articles edifying as you seek to further serve our king.

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader Trailer is Here!

Watch the Voyage of the Dawn Treader trailer!

Come to the Baby Conference!

The Baby Conference from Douglas Phillips on Vimeo.

iPhone 4

The new iPhone 4 is out! Here are some of the features:

Record and edit in HD
Run multiple apps at the same time
Facetime calling
Retina display
Two cameras! One in the front, and one in the back

There are many more features which you can read about here:
www.apple.com/iphone.