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America the Divided:
Militia and Riflemen
By: Skip Gochenour
Daily, the American media
reminds us that the country is divided into “red” and “blue” states. More
correctly, the country is philosophically divided into “red” and “blue”
counties. The implication is that this is a recent phenomenon. Actually, it is
a condition that has existed since Colonial times. The philosophical divide has
constantly operated along the same demographic breakdown. We are also told by
the same purveyors of lament that the tenor of this divide has never been more
intense and bitter. That evaluation, of course, assumes you discount the two
occasions in American history where the members of those respective sides of the
divide picked up guns and killed one another. The first occasion was in the 4th
quarter of the 18th century and the second was the 3rd
quarter of the 19th century.
What we refer to as the
American Revolution was as much a civil war as it was a break with England. As
the Revolution matured, Loyalists joined the ranks of the British forces. Those
Loyalists who joined the regular military forces of the British came,
predominately, from the demographic background of what today would be referred
to as “blue” counties.
In this discussion, we
will look at two battles that ultimately were turning point incidents in the
Revolution. Those battles were King’s Mountain and Cowpens. Both battles were
in western South Carolina.
PERSPECTIVE
Most Americans with a high
school graduation date prior to 1965 were presented with a view of the
importance of militia and riflemen in the Revolution. Among the roles of
history is to teach a given culture lessons about commonly held values.
Apocryphal or not, the reason American history emphasized the value of the
individual to turn out to defend his home territory was to underscore the value
of individual men willingness to fight for their homes and commonly held
values. American history, as taught in the last quarter of the 20th
century, discounts and denigrates the value of militia and riflemen in the
Revolution. Arguably, this change in view is more reflective of belief systems
of the teachers than of the actual value of those individual Americans who
picked up their guns and confronted the British, the Loyalist and German troops
who sought to keep America and Americans as “subjects”.
Before examining King’s
Mountain and Cowpens, we will examine the battle casualties of the major battles
during the war. We will also take a quick look at the evolution of the thinking
of those Americans who took up arms to be free of the identifier, “subject”.
1775
The Revolution actually
began as an action taken by individuals. Congress tried to play catch-up. They
sanctioned actions that had already happened and tried to organize fighters who
were already engaged and on the march. Fighting was ongoing for more than a
year before Congress concluded that there was no reason to negotiate a
settlement with the British that would continue Americans British subjects.
Individual Americans decided to stand-up to the British army, without the input
or guidance of government.
Lexington and Concord
American losses: 95
British Losses:
273 (25% +)
Breed’s Hill (Bunker
Hill)
American losses: 411
British losses:
1,054 (42%)
(As of this point, no
organized military forces were in operation for the American forces.)
Great Bridge, Va.
American losses: 1
British losses:
62
1776
Moore’s Creek, NC
American losses: 2
Loyalist losses:
880
(This engagement was
American militia against organized Loyalist troops fighting under British
command.)
Ft. Sullivan, SC
American losses: 37
British losses:
200
Long Island, NY
American losses:
1500
British losses:
400
Harlem Heights, NY
American losses: 130
British losses:
199
White Plains, NY
American losses: 150
British losses:
313
Ft. Washington, NY
American losses:
2800
German losses: 458
Ft. Lee, NY
American losses: 150
(These NY engagements were
American forces operating as an organized military operating under contemporary
European rules of warfare.)
Trenton, NJ
American losses: 4
German losses:
2000
1777
Princeton, NJ
American losses: 40
British losses:
275
Hampshire Grants, VT
American losses: 250
British losses:
185
Bennington, VT
American losses: 70
British losses:
900
(This engagement was local
residents turning out to fight the British army.)
Newark, DE
American losses: 40
British losses:
23
Chadd’s Ford, PA
(Brandywine)
American losses: 900
British losses:
550
Germantown, PA
American losses: 700
British losses:
534
Saratoga, NY (Freeman’s
Farm) and Bemis Heights
American losses: 410
British losses:
1,156 (Gen. Burgoyne surrendered his remaining 5000 troops.)
(American forces in this
engagement were predominately local residents who converged on British forces on
the march. Gen. Daniel Morgan, understood the value of militia and riflemen and
would refine his technique of using them at Cowpens.)
Ft. Constitution and Ft.
Montgomery NY
American losses: 250
British losses:
150
Ft. Mercer, NJ
American losses: 37
German losses: 371
Ft. Mifflin, PA
American losses: 300
British losses:
12
(The British seized
Philadelphia, then the American capital. Traditional European warfare
recognized that the taking of an opponent’s capital city meant the end of the
war. Someone forgot to tell the Americans that rule, Congress moved to York,
Pa.)
1778
Wyoming, PA
American losses: 23
British losses:
11
(This engagement was on
the American frontier. British and Indian forces burned 1000 homes in the
area. Civilians were murdered. This tactic would rally the populace of SC when
the same tactic was promised should locals resist British forces.)
Monmouth Courthouse, NJ
American losses: 312
British losses:
1,021
(Mary Ludwig Hayes, aka
Molly Pitcher, showed what American women are made of!)
Newport, RI
American losses: 211
British losses:
260
1779
Briar Creek, GA
American losses: 220
British losses:
16
Stony Point, NY
American losses: 95
British losses:
678
Savannah, GA
America/French losses:
1100
British losses:
45
1780
Monck’s Corner, SC
American losses: 87
British losses:
3
Charles Town, SC
American losses:
5800 (5400 surrender)
British losses:
265
Waxhaw, SC
American losses: 316
British losses:
19
(Tarelton refuses to take
prisoners. Americans who surrendered were killed.)
Camden, SC
American losses: 950
British losses:
315
(Tarelton is given license
to subdue the SC country side. Major Patrick Ferguson is given 1000 Loyalist
troops, predominately from NJ and NY. He is to support Tarelton. Gen.
Cornwallis invades the south.)
King’s Mountain, SC
American losses: 90
Loyalist losses:
910 (Entire force was killed, wounded or captured.)
(The American forces were
completely locals who were not even an organized militia. They were a group of
riflemen/hunters.)
Blackstock Farm, SC
American losses: 8
British/Loyalist:
50
1781
Cowpens, SC
American losses: 72
British losses:
932
(Daniel Morgan refines the
incorporation of riflemen, militia and regulars. Tarelton narrowly escapes with
140 of his force.)
Guilford Courthouse, NC
American losses:
1308
British losses:
532
Camden, SC
American losses: 522
British losses:
693
(A young American local
was captured and put into the servitude of a British officer. The young
American refused to black the officer’s boots and was struck on the head with a
saber. He wore the scar into the Whitehouse as President Andrew Jackson.)
Ninety-Six, SC.
American losses: 185
Loyalist losses:
85
Yorketown, VA
American/French losses:
341
British/German Losses:
532 (7247 surrender)
KING’S MOUNTAIN October
7, 1780
King’s Mountain was one of
the most dramatic American victories of the Revolution. In one hour, the
British lost 1/3 of their entire force in the south. During the battle, there
was only one Brit on the entire field. Major Patrick Ferguson was a well
regarded officer in the British army. He was considered one of the best rifle
shots in the army and certainly one of the best on the American continent at the
time of the Revolution. At King’s Mountain he commanded a Loyalist force of
about 1000.
King’s Mountain is, even
today, a very out of the way place. Ferguson arrayed his men on the top of the
mountain. The ground on which he fought was about ¼ of a mile long with a flat
plateau that ranges from about 10 yards to 30 yards in width. The sides of the
mountain are steep and boulder strewn.
Given the conventional
fighting paradigm of the time, it is not clear why he chose this location.
European warfare involved volleyed fore from muskets and bayonet charges. The
fighting ground of King’s Mountain was not conducive to this form of fighting.
Ferguson’s force was
largely local militia with several companies of Loyalist Regulars from New York
City and New Jersey.
The American forces were
largely local riflemen. There were some Virginians at the battle. The
Americans arrived at the fight after traveling 30 miles on horseback, non-stop
in a rain storm. They had little food and did not stop to refresh themselves
before entering the fight. They arrayed themselves around the mountain and
fought from tree to tree.
The Americans fired on the
Loyalists from distances of 200 yards and beyond. British forces used weapons
that were accurate to 100 yards or less. Orders to the Americans were that
“every man be his own officer”. Some fighting was hand to hand, but largely,
the Americans, when confronted with a bayonet charge, simply withdrew to a
location where they could effectively use their rifles outside the range of the
Loyalist muskets.
The ferocity of the
Americans was an admixture of their natural disposition and reaction to Col.
Tarelton’s conduct at Waxhaws as well as personal business with some of the
local Loyalists who had engaged in atrocities on local non-combatants.
The terrain of King’s
Mountain was ideally suited for a fighting style that suited riflemen operating
as individuals and small groups.
The battle ended with
Ferguson’s entire command killed, wounded or captured. It also left Gen.
Cornwallis’ entire left flank exposed causing him to withdraw northward and
eventually to Yorketowne, VA. Along with the prisoners, Americans captured 1500
weapons, 17 wagons of supplies, powder and lead.
While rifles and riflemen
played prominent roles in other American victories during the Revolution, in no
other battle did they play such a singular role.
COWPENS, SC January 17,
1781
Like King’s Mountain,
Hannah’s Cowpens is very much out of the way, even today. King’s Mountain was
well known to the locals because it was a deer hunting camp. Cowpens was well
known because it was used as a natural pasture for the keeping of cattle. An
open area, surrounded by dense growth trees and brush, cattle tended to stay in
place to graze. A road, well traveled at the time ran through the center of the
clearing.
Col. Banastre Tarelton
commanded the British Regulars in this engagement. He was a fierce fighter who
commanded a contingent of Dragoons. His command was about 1000 men. He was
reputed to “take no prisoners”. In his command were some of the fiercest
fighters in the British army. He intended to destroy any American forces and
patriot sympathizers in South Carolina.
Daniel Morgan was the
architect of the American victory at Cowpens. He was an experienced fighter on
a personal and military level. He had commanded rifle units from early in the
war. He used riflemen to turn victories in Boston, Monmouth Courthouse and
Saratoga. He was regularly a determining factor in major American victories.
His experience had taught him how to best integrate the various qualities of
riflemen, militia and regulars. He understood how the British fought and how to
use their techniques against them. He did just that at Cowpens.
Tarelton arrayed his
forces at one end of the pasture. They began their march towards the other end
of the pasture where the American regulars waited, just after dawn.
Morgan placed his men in
four groups. At the very front were riflemen. These fighters were told to
reduce the British forces, particularly the officers by 1/3. They did that and
then withdrew to the right rear of the American line.
Next, militia were placed
and told to fire two volleys into the advancing British ranks, and then they too
were to withdraw to the rear of the regulars. They did so further reducing the
British force.
The regulars were to stand
and fight the remainder of the British force. American Dragoons were kept out
of sight to the right side of the American lines to engage Tarelton’s Dragoons
when they tried to sweep the American militia as they retreated to form again to
the flank of the American Regulars line for harassment of the British while they
engaged the American Regulars.
As the British line closed
on the American Regulars, several American units turned away from the battle
line and marched, in perfect military order, away, “trailing arms”.
The British army had no
system for loading weapons on the move. They regarded the firing of the weapon
as an intimidation action. The bayonet charge was the chief tactic. The
British did not even use aimed fire in attack. Americans, on the other hand,
used aimed fire regularly.
Seeing the American
Regulars turning away from their line of advance, the British charged. With
their lines seriously depleted, especially of officers, the formation was
scattered. Trailing arms was a technique Americans used to reload their weapons
while on the move. When the British were about 25 yards away from the American
lines, the order was given to turn about and fire. The volley from the American
guns was devastating on the remaining British forces. The order was then given
to the American force to “give them the bayonet”. The fight was over, with one
small exception.
Tarelton was at the
front. When he saw his troops falter and then surrender he knew he was in
serious danger of capture. Col. William Washington, American Dragoons was in
similar peril. He had managed to get about 30 yards in front of his dragoons.
Washington was set upon by Tarelton and two other British officers.
Washington’s sergeant came up just in time to thwart a saber blow to
Washington. Another British officer turned his saber on Washington and was shot
by Washington’s servant boy. All the while, Tarelton and Washington clashed
sabers. Tarelton seeing his predicament shot Washington’s horse and galloped
away.
So ended the battle of
Cowpens.
SUMMARY
The current conventional
view of the riflemen and the militia that fought in the Revolution, as largely
without military significance seems to be predicated on views as diverse as
accepting a face value the comments of general officers of the time and the
social political dispositions of present day historians.
Historians point to
comments made by Washington about the First Continental Regiment, a rifle unit,
and the militia. Certainly, Washington can be relied upon for his accurate
reporting. He can also be relied upon to have accepted the dogma of European
tactics. Once the decision was made to allow the British to determine the
format of battles, the ability to fit the militia and riflemen into that mold
was beyond problematic. When that format was rejected, as with Concord, King’s
Mountain, or Saratoga, the British paid the price. When the skills of the
riflemen and militia were integrated into a total system of battle dictated by
the British form of warfare, as with Cowpens, the British still paid a price.
When riflemen fought under
conditions that devalued the bayonet, the riflemen exacted terrible tolls.
Militia showed up when their homes were in danger. They were there to protect
their families. They were there to stop the enemy, not play on his terms using
some artificial set of rules set by the enemy to favor his specific tools. To
conclude militia was “unreliable” because they went home when they realized they
were expected to engage on terms set by the enemy, that put the militia men at a
decided disadvantage, is to ignore the obvious implications of their voluntary
presence. They came to fight. If in the course of fighting for their homes and
families, they were killed, such was fortune. They did not come to be used as
fodder.
The other obvious that is
ignored is that no one sent them away.
While Washington bristled
at the behavior of the First Continental Regiment, he used them throughout the
war. They were always in harms way. They were between the Regulars and the
enemy at all times. Washington used them to scout and skirmish to his front and
to cover his retreats. He used them to protect his army. That hardly sounds
like he found them of little value.
CASULATY FIGURES
Lexington and
Concord
American losses:
95
British Losses: 273
(25% +)
Breed’s Hill (Bunker
Hill)
American losses: 411
British losses:
1,054 (42%)
Great Bridge, Va.
American losses: 1
British losses: 62
Moore’s Creek, NC
American losses: 2
Loyalist losses: 880
Ft. Sullivan, SC
American losses: 37
British losses: 200
Long Island, NY
American losses: 1500
British losses: 400
Harlem Heights, NY
American losses: 130
British losses: 199
White Plains, NY
American losses: 150
British losses: 313
Ft. Washington, NY
American losses: 2800
German losses: 458
Trenton, NJ
American losses: 4
German losses: 2000
Princeton, NJ
American losses: 40
British losses: 275
Hampshire Grants, VT
American losses: 250
British losses: 185
Bennington, VT
American losses: 70
British losses: 900
Newark, DE
American losses: 40
British losses: 23
Chadd’s Ford, PA
(Brandywine)
American losses: 900
British losses: 550
Germantown, PA
American losses: 700
British losses: 534
Saratoga, NY (Freeman’s
Farm) and Bemis Heights
American losses: 410
British losses:
1,156 (Gen. Burgoyne surrendered his remaining
5000 troops.
Ft. Constitution and Ft.
Montgomery NY
American losses: 250
British losses: 150
Ft. Mercer, NJ
American losses: 37
German losses: 371
Ft. Mifflin, PA
American losses: 300
British losses: 12
Wyoming, PA
American losses: 23
British losses: 11
Monmouth Courthouse, NJ
American losses: 312
British losses:
1,021
Newport, RI
American losses: 211
British losses: 260
Briar Creek, GA
American losses: 220
British losses: 16
Stony Point, NY
American losses: 95
British losses: 678
Savannah, GA
America/French losses:
1100
British
losses: 45
Monck’s Corner, SC
American losses: 87
British losses: 3
Charles Town, SC
American losses: 5800
(5400 surrender)
British losses: 265
Waxhaw, SC
American losses: 316
British losses: 19
Camden, SC
American losses: 950
British losses: 315
King’s Mountain, SC
American losses: 90
Loyalist losses: 910
(Entire force was killed, wounded or captured.)
Blackstock Farm, SC
American losses: 8
British/Loyalist: 50
Cowpens, SC
American losses: 72
British losses: 932
Guilford Courthouse, NC
American losses: 1308
British losses: 532
Camden, SC
American losses: 522
British losses: 693
Ninety-Six, SC.
American losses: 185
Loyalist losses: 85
Yorketown, VA
American/French losses:
341
British/German Losses:
532 (7247 surrender)
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