Below the Belt
The following is a fictional journal entry written by a frontiersman who was present at the Battles of King’s Mountain and Cowpens.
October 7, 1780
Our victory against the South Carolina’s Tories (Loyalists) on King’s Mountain located on the border of North and South Carolina was a great victory and encouraged the frontiersmen to
continue the fight against the British. Major Patrick Ferguson and his men with
bayonets in hand, positioned themselves on the flat top of the mountain and
waited for our attack. The frontiersmen, excellent sharpshooters, ascended the
mountains and spread out some even hiding in the trees. We all took aim. The
battle raged until Ferguson was hit, fell from his horse and died.
We captured 700 prisoners and put an end to Ferguson’s unit. After the victory, we returned to our homes until word surfaced that Nathanael Greene would replace General Horatio Gates who had been ridiculed after the runaway battle at Camden, South Carolina.
Greene, determined to defeat General Cornwallis prompted a skillful plan of action with a little over 1,500 men. He split his army into two sections. One section he sent west under the leadership of Daniel Morgan, an excellent rifleman in charge of the Continentals. The remaining half he took to South Carolina. Greene did this for two reasons. The first reason was to acquire more food for his troops and the second to confuse Cornwallis. Depending on which unit Cornwallis would attack, Morgan or Greene would either hit Charleston or Augusta.
Cornwallis ordered Lieutenant Colonel Banastre Tarleton, a ruthless British Calvary officer, to seek Morgan and his company.
Morgan, not far for Tarleton to chase, selected Cowpens, South Carolina, a
plain used to round up range cattle, as the battle ground. After contemplating
his plan of action on the evening 
of January 16, 1781, Morgan’s strategy was
to scatter his best sharpshooters up front with militiamen behind followed by
Continental Army soldiers on higher ground. Reserves of Calvary men were
stationed in the rear behind a low hill. As one group of sharpshooters tired,
they were replaced by militiamen who were replaced by the Continentals. All were
to fire and make every shot count.
As Tarleton approached the awaiting troops, he was aware of their presence and sent horsemen to attack. They went down one by one. Another round of firing took place and as the militia started to retreat, Tarleton thought it was all over. As the British broke through the American formation, the Continentals took their stand and when the British were only 150 feet away, rifle after rifle was fired until the British were stopped in their tracks.
A bayonet charge took place and when it was all over, Tarleton had ecaped and the victory was ours.
At the end of the Southern battles, Nathanael Greene, brilliant strategist, had won the grandest of reputations and was second to General Washington.