Daniel Morgan, John Howard and William Washington Battle of the Cow Pens (South Carolina) January 17, 1781 In 1780 the British shifted their war focus from the northern to the southern colonies. The war in the north had become a stalemate. The British thought that the southern people would give them more support, and that George Washington’s army would be hard pressed to mount an effective defense so far away from their previous bases of operation. At first the southern war went well for the British. They easily took Charleston Harbor and in August they delivered a humiliating defeat upon Horatio Gates and his forces at Camden, South Carolina. In a single day Gates’ military reputation went from the hero of Saratoga to the failed general of Camden. At the beginning of 1781 the colonials sorely needed a victory, and General Daniel Morgan delivered one for them. On January 17, 1781 a British force under Colonel Banastre Tarleton attacked the Americans at the Cowpens in northwestern South Carolina. The Americans feared and hated Tarleton, who was a particularly vicious and cruel British officer. Tarleton viewed the Americans as criminals, not soldiers, and had executed 200 unarmed prisoners at Waxhaw, South Carolina. Morgan feared that his men might buckle under a British assault. He made his stand with a river at his back, where there would be few places to run. Morgan instructed his forward most forces to fire two rounds into the British lines and retreat. They followed their orders exactly and drew the British into a deadly trap. As the British drew nearer the American forces executed a powerful flank attack led by William Washington’s cavalry and John Howard’s infantry. When a group of militia misunderstood an order and appeared to be withdrawing, Tarleton thought that he could still win the day with a second charge. This time William Washington’s cavalry hit his forces ever harder, inflicting far worse casualties. The result was one of the most decisive American victories of the war. A depiction of the Battle of the Cowpens was featured toward the end of the film, The Patriot, which stared Mel Gibson. At the end of the battle, William Washington squared off on horseback against Tarleton and a couple British officers. Washington’s African-American aide, Asher Crockett, who was in his teens, shot one of the officers with a pistol to even the odds. The duel between Washington and Tarleton ended in a draw. Tarleton returned to England, became a member of Parliament, made a lot of money in the stock market and died in bed instead of the battlefield. Unfortunately, not every story can have a “Hollywood ending.” On March 9, 1781 Congress awarded a gold medal to Daniel Morgan and silver medals to John Howard and William Washington who was a distant relative of George Washington. The Paris Mint retained the Howard and Washington medals and produced many examples of them in copper during the 19th century. Those two medals are perhaps the easiest pieces for collectors to locate that were struck from the original dies. The John Howord Medal, Paris Mint Strike, prior to 1832, Plain Edge The William Washington Medal, Paris Mint Strike, prior to 1832 (Plain Edge). The Daniel Morgan gold medal has a more interesting history. The original die pair, which were made by Augustin Dupré, were used to strike the gold medal and a few examples in silver and copper. Those dies were not sent to America. In the mid 1830s, Morgan’s decedents asked the Federal Government to obtain a replacement for the original gold medal. The original piece, that had been awarded to Morgan, had been stolen from a Pittsburg, Pennsylvania bank. Congress passed a law that authorized a replacement medal for the Morgan family. Upon the contacting the French, it was learned that the original dies were not available. The government borrowed the silver medal from the Massachusetts Historical Society set and sent it to France. It was used as a model for a new set of dies. A French master die maker, J.J. Barré, made a set of dies that were virtually identical to the original work. Those dies were used to make a replacement gold medal and several pieces in copper. The French sent the new dies to the Philadelphia Mint where additional examples of the medal were struck during the 19th century. Daniel Morgan Medal, Paris Mint Strike from remade dies, late 1830s. The light tan color is typical for the early Paris Mint strikes from the new dies. Daniel Morgan Medal, Philadelphia Mint strike, circa 1860s.
What wonderful history! I have been invited to join a group that is metal detecting a 100 acre property in Camden South Carolina that bore revolutionary battles in January 2020. I love the history of the state I live in..... And The Patriot is absolutely a favorite movie of mine. Wonderful post!
