the loyalists at Cambden, at Ninety Six, and at Augusta. They even insisted that the persons whose lives they had taken, had forfeited them by their crimes according to the laws of the country. Thus was added to the inevitable rigors of war, all the ferocity of civil dissentions.

The mountaineers, after this victory, returned to their homes. The check of Kings Mountain was a heavy blow to the British interests in the Carolinas. The position of Cornwallis became critical. The loyalists no longer manifested the same zeal to join him; and he found himself with a feeble ariny in the midst of a hostile and steril country. He clearly foresaw that a movement forward would but increase the embarrassments under which he already labored. Compelled, therefore, to relinquish for the present the invasion of North Carolina, where the public mind was decidedly in favor of the republicans, he resolved, at least, to maintain himself in South Carolina. until he should have received reenforcements. He accordingly abandoned Charlottetown, repassed the Catawba, and took post at Winnsborough. From that point, he was at hand to correspond with Cambden and Ninety Six; and the fertility of the adjacent country secured him better quarters. At the same time he sent orders to general Leslie, who was still in Virginia, to embark his troops forthwith, and after having touched at Wilmington, to repair with all expedition to Charleston.

The retreat of the English from Charlottetown to Winnsborough, and their defeat at Kings Mountain, animated the republicans with uncommon alacrity. They hastened in multitude to place themselves under the standards of their most daring chiefs, among whom the more prominent were the colonels Sumpter and Marion. The latter scoured the lower, the former the upper parts of the province. Sometimes Cambden, sometimes Ninety Six were menaced. The royal troops could scarcely quit their camp for provision, wood or forage, without running the greatest hazard of being surprised. To put an end to these continual alarms, Tarleton made a movement which menaced colonel Marion; but the American, who intended only to harass his enemy, and not to engage him in the open field, retired precipitately. The Englishman pursued him; but he received, at the same instant, orders from lord Cornwallis, enjoining him to turn upon colonel Sumpter. That partisan was on the march towards Ninety Six; he had already surprised major Wemis upon Broad river, and captured many prisoners, both horse and foot. Tarleton, exerting a scarcely credible diligence, appeared unexpectedly in the presence of Sumpter, who was encamped upon the right bank of the river Tiger, at a place called Blackstocks. The position of the Americans was formidably strong; it was covered in front by the river, log houses and palisades; and upon the two flanks by inaccessible mountains, or narrow and difficult defiles. Tarleton,

hurried on by his ardor, and fearing lest Sumpter should pass the Tiger and escape him, left his light infantry, and even a part of his legion, behind, and pushed forward upon the enemy with a body of grenadiers and the rest of his cavalry. The action was engaged with reciprocal desperation. A British regiment was so roughly treated that it was compelled to fall back in the greatest disorder. Tarleton, to restore the battle, headed an impetuous charge upon the centre of the Americans; they received it without giving way. The Englishman then found himself constrained to retreat, leaving upon the field of battle a great number of dead and wounded, among whom were found several officers of note. But night being come, colonel Sumpter, who was dangerously wounded in the shoulder, did not judge it prudent to await the British troops that Tarleton had left behind him, and he accordingly repassed the river. His wound not permitting him to retain the command, he was carried by faithful soldiers into the secure regions of the mountains. The greater part of his corps then disbanded. Tarleton, after having scoured, for a few days, the country on the left bank of the Tiger, returned by easy marches to resume his position upon Broad river, in South Carolina. This petty war, these frequent rencounters, more and more invigorated the warlike spirit of the troops of the two parties.

Meanwhile, general Gates had succeeded in assembling some few troops, the greater part cavalry, and in order to support the partisans of Congress, as well as to afford them a rallying point, he recrossed the river Yadkin, and took post at Charlottetown, with intent to winter there. He thought that hostilities could not be continued during the bad season, which was then about to set in. While he applied himself with zeal to these preparatory dispositions, and fortune seemed inclined to smile upon him anew, general Greene arrived at camp. His military reputation and his tried devotion to the cause of the republic, had decided the Congress and Washington to intrust him with the command in the southern provinces, in the room of Gates. The latter evinced, in this conjuncture, that country was dearer to him than power and glory. He supported so unpleasant an incident with such constancy, that he did not betray a single mark of discontent. When he passed through Richmond, in returning to his own province, the assembly of Virginia sent a deputation to compliment him. It gave him assurance that the remembrance of his glorious achievements could not be effaced by any misfortune, praying him to be persuaded that the Virginians in particular would never neglect any occasion to manifest the gratitude they bore him, as members of the American Union. General Greene brought with him no reenforcement from the northern army; he expected to find sufficient forces in the southern quarter. He was accompanied only by colonel Morgan with some riflemen, who had acquired the highest reputation. His army was consequently extremely feeble; but the woods, the

swamps, the rivers, with which the country was every where broken, were means of defence sufficient to reassure him. As his intention was merely to infest the enemy, by avoiding general actions he hoped to be able to harass, and little by little to reduce him. It was about the same time that general Leslie arrived from Virginia at Charleston, with a reenforcement of more than two thousand regular troops. He found fresh orders in that city, in pursuance of which, he put himself immediately on the march with fifteen hundred men, to rejoin lord Cornwallis at Winnsborough.

1781. This addition of force renewed with the British general the desire to reduce North Carolina, and to proceed thence into Virginia. But the better to secure the success of this enterprise, a council of war decided that it should not be confided to the army of Cornwallis alone; and that it was proper that it should be supported by another expedition simultaneously directed on the part of Virginia itself; not that the troops which could be employed in that part were in a situation to achieve the conquest of the province without the assistance of lord Cornwallis, but they might at least be able to discourage the Virginians from passing reenforcements to general Greene. Agreeably to this plan, Arnold had been detached to the Chesapeake bay, where he was to disembark his troops at whatever point he might judge the most favorable to a mischievous impression. The English also flattered themselves, that his name and example would influence a great number of the Americans to desert from the colors of the republic to those of the king. Arnold received this commission with ecstacy; he departed to execute it with fifty transports and sixteen hundred men. The moment he had landed, he commenced the most shocking ravages. Richmond and Smithfield experienced all his fury. But the country was alarmed on all parts, the inhabitants flew to arms; he was obliged to fall back upon Portsmouth, where he labored to intrench himself. He would not abandou that coast, because he was sensible how much his presence disquieted the Americans. On the other hand, however, he could not with forces so insufficient keep the field in the midst of a province whose numerous population was animated by the most violent hatred against England.

This piratical expedition, therefore, produced but very imperfectly the effect which the British generals had hoped from it. It delayed, it is true, those succours which the Virginians destined for the Carolinas; but not one of them joined Arnold. Devastations, plunder, conflagrations, had no such fascination as could gain him partisans. The campaign had already opened in South Carolina. The two hostile generals manoeuvred each according to the plan he had framed. Lord Cornwallis had set out from Winnsborough, and was marching between the Broad and Catawba river, on the upper route, towards North Carolina. He had already arrived at Turkey Creek.

To arrest his progress, general Greene resolved to demonstrate an intention to attack Ninety Six, while colonel Morgan, with five hundred Virginian regulars, some companies of militia, and the light horse of colonel Washington, was detached to guard the passages of the river Pacolet. As to Greene himself, he went to encamp at the ⚫ confluence of Hicks Creek with the Pedee, opposite to Cheraw Hill. He was blamed by many military critics, for having thus divided his forces. In effect, if the English had pushed rapidly forward, they might have thrown themselves between the corps of Greene and Morgan, and crushed them both without difficulty. But perhaps the American general had calculated that the royalists were embarrassed by too many obstacles to act with such celerity; perhaps, also, he had not yet heard of the junction of Leslie and Cornwallis. The latter general immediately detached Tarleton with his legion of cavalry and a body of infantry to cover Ninety Six. On arriving in that part, Tarleton found every thing quiet; the enemy had retired after some light skirmishes. He then determined to march against Morgan, confident of being able either to rout him by surprise, or at least to drive him beyond the Broad river, which would have left the ways clear to the royal army. He consulted lord Cornwallis by letter, who not only approved his design, but resolved also to concur to its execution, by ascending the left bank of the Broad, in order to menace the rear of Morgan. Every thing went well for them at first. Tarleton, after having passed with equal celerity and good fortune the rivers Ennoree and Tiger, presented himself upon the banks of the Pacolet. Morgan retreated thence forthwith, and Tarleton set himself to pursue him. He pressed him hard. Morgan felt how full of danger was become the passage of Broad river, in the presence of so enterprising an enemy as now hung upon his rear. He therefore thought it better to make a stand. He formed his troops in two divisions; the first composed of militia, under the conduct of colonel Pickens, occupied the front of a wood, in view of the enemy; the second, commanded by colonel Howard, was concealed in the wood itself, and consisted of his marksmen and old continental troops. Colonel Washington, with his cavalry, was posted behind the second division, as a reserve. Tarleton soon came up, and formed in two lines; his infantry in the centre of each, and his horse on the flanks. Every thing seemed to promise him victory. He was superior in cavalry, and his troops, both officers and soldiers, manifested an extreme ardor. The English attacked the first American line; after a single discharge, with little harm to the enemy, it fled in confusion. They then fell upon the second; but here they found a more obstinate resistance. The action was engaged and supported with equal advantage. Tarleton, to decide it in his favor, pushed forward a battalion of his second line, and at the same time directed a charge of cavalry upon the right flank of the Americans. He was afraid to

attack their left, supported by colonel Washington, who had already vigorously repulsed an assault of the British light horse. The manœuvre of Tarleton had the expected effect; the American regulars gave way, and were thrown into disorder. The English rushed on, per

suaded that the day was now their own. Already Tarleton, with his cavalry, was in full pursuit of the routed, when colonel Washington, whose troop was still entire, fell upon the enemy with such impetuosity, that in a few moments he had restored the battle. During this interval, colonel Howard had rallied his continental troops, and led them back upon the English. Colonel Pickens had also, by prodigious efforts, reassembled the militia, and again brought them to the fire. Morgan was visible every where; his presence and words reanimated the spirits of his soldiers. He profited of that moment of enthusiasm to precipitate them in one general charge upon the enemy. The shock was so tremendous, that the English at first paused, then recoiled, and soon fled in confusion. The Americans pursued them with inexpressible eagerness. It was in vain that the British officers employed exhortations, prayers and threats, to stay the fugitives; the discomfiture was total. Tarleton lost, in dead, wounded and prisoners, more than eight hundred men, two pieces of cannon, the colors of the seventh regiment, all his carriages and baggage. He regretted especially the horses killed or taken in this engagement. The nature of the country, which is flat and open, renders cavalry of the utmost importance to a campaign in that quarter.

Such was the issue of the battle of Cowpens, the effects of which were heavily felt by the English during the whole course of the war of the Carolinas and Virginia; it was, in a word, decisive of the fate of those provinces. The destruction of the British cavalry, the total defeat of Tarleton, who had been, until that epoch, the terror of the inhabitants, animated them with fresh spirits. Dejection and despondency were exchanged for confidence and enthusiasm. The Congress voted public thanks to colonel Morgan, and presented him with a medal of gold. Colonels Washington and Howard received medals of silver, and colonel Pickens a sword.

The news of the sanguinary check of Cowpens, was extremely afflictive to lord Cornwallis. He had lost in it the best part of his light troops, and they were to have been the principal instrument of his ulterior operations. But far from allowing himself to be discouraged by this blow, he resolved to prosecute his designs with the corps he had left. He hoped to obtain from it the same service as from light troops, by destroying his heavy baggage, and all the carriages that were not of absolute necessity. Two entire days were employed in the destruction of superfluous incumbrances. A few wagons only were kept, for the accommodation of the sick and wounded, and the transportation of salt and ammunition. The soldier witnessed the annihilation of his most valuable effects; the casks con41

VOL. II.