Devil of a Whipping: The Battle of Cowpens (Paperback)

The author can be forgiven if his writing style and references are lacking. The fact that this work has been published at all is a major step towards rectifying a centuries-long bias toward us "backward" Southerners -- who did so much to ensure this Nation's independence, only to have it forever marred by the ensuing conflict between the States eighty years later. One can no longer mention the words "South Carolina" and "War" without the listener immediately jumping to Fort Sumter and Slavery, Rebel Flags and Bigotry. While those are no less important for very different reasons, the role of the Carolinas in the Revolution deserves its due. And this work, while far from perfect, tremendously supports those facts.

For these same reasons, i suggest Edgar's "Partisans and Redcoats," and Buchanan's "Road to Guilford Courthouse," themselves imperfect works that present previously ignored information.

Books on battles and campaigns can sometimes be tedious and dry. Not so with this one! The author's writing style is technical without being tedious and easy to follow without being simplistic.

I particulary enjoyed how Babits vividly described the battle and how the American tactics and use of terrain led to a decisive victory. Especially helpful were the many detailed and helpful maps in the text. Including many maps made the book easier to follow and broadened my understanding of the battle.

Since I live within 1.5 hours of the battlefield, I have been able to visit the battlefield several times. Babits book has really enhanced my visits.

All in all, a highly recommended read!

The forty-minute battle was crucial to our success in the war. It was a devastating defeat for the British, specifically "Bloody Tarleton," whose British Legion had been the scourge of the Carolinas. The defeat was so total because of the Masterful plan and seamless execution by General Morgan and his subordinates. Too few Americans know about Cowpens and its place in steering Cornwallis ultimately to Yorktown.

The author had a mission: to dissect the Battle of Cowpens through pension records of participants and memoirs in order to construct an accurate placement of troops during the battle, the size of American forces present, the total of British casualties and the duration of the affair.

He has done his work well and convincingly. In the process, Babits clarifies and rectifies some commonly held notions of Cowpens. The militia line made an orderly retreat through the Main line through previously established gaps in that line and not around the flank; Morgan's troop totals and casualties in his report were only for Continental troops -- the militia doubled Morgan's probable force to 1800 men engaged; Washington did not encounter Tarleton at the end of the battle but three British cavalry officers; the South Carolina militia did not cross the field during their planned withdrawal; the North Carolina militia stayed in the fight on the American right after their planned withdrawal.

If these details have lost you, it focuses on a major facet of the book. It is for readers who have some appreciation of the Revolution in the South and the Battle of Cowpens. While thoroughly researched and minutely written, my one criticism is that at times the author gets bogged down in details that interrupt the flow of the larger story. Thus the book may seem inaccessible to a first timer looking to find out about the Battle of Cowpens.

Not that the author doesn't tell the battle story in full. He does. This book underscores General Daniel Morgan's tactical brilliance as well as General Greene's strategic insight in detailing Morgan to the interior initially. Morgan's battlefield plan and his sub commander's (particularly William Washington and John Howard's) performances are correctly studies in leadership and execution. Morgan planned a tactical masterpiece that made use of all his troops' strengths and used some of their weaknesses (in the case of the militia) to his advantage. American arms have seldom exceeded this level of performance at the tactical level.

(Delaware partisan warning here) The author also highlights the rock steady performance of Captain Kirkwood and his Delaware Line during the battle and the pursuit of Tarleton. Kirkwood was one of the best Continental battlefield leaders of the war, noticed by George Washington as well as a host of others. Prohibited from rising to General by the virtue of his coming from a small state (the number of state troops raised had much to do with the general offices available), Kirkwood and his Delawares (as the author describes them; today we say Delawareans, although I'm not sure if that was the case 225 years ago) were a mainstay in Morgan's line, absorbing the direct fire of the main British regiment and receiving the most unit casualties of any of Morgan's forces. I was very glad to see Babit give this small band of Blue Hens their due.

This is a very good book in terms of research and analysis. Much more has been learned about the Battle of Cowpens because of Babits painstaking study. He has added to our knowledge of one of the Revolution's pivotal battles.