American History In Video: Episode 9: A Hornet's Nest
Episode 9: A Hornet's Nest from The History Channel (A&E Television Networks, 2006) 45:00.
 see more details
|
 Transcript
|
 View Thumbnails
|
 Embed/Link
|
 Print
|
- Transcript
- Clips
Previously on The Revolution. The British shifted focus to the southern colonies, with the month long siege of Charleston .
Libby Haight O'Connell Charleston is the richest port in America at that time.
Eliga Gould By moving south, they were moving to an area where they hoped they could restore British authority.
Gary B. Nash Even though their backs where to the wall, when the British Army move south, they could not dare the risk of putting weapons in the arms of black man.
To arm those people you have formally held in captivity might be a suicidal thing to do.
If the seizure of southern states doesn't work, exactly what will work?
Libby Haight O'Connell I don't think anyone is more surprised than the British that they haven't won yet.
Christopher Brown The question they are asking is, "Why isn't this thing over yet?"
THE REVOLUTION
Edward Herrmann May 1780 . The War of Independence now enters its 4th year, longer than anyone had imagined. Battle after battle has failed to bring either side closer to winning. In the North, where the revolution began, the war has ground to a deadlock. But in the South, the fighting has just began.
[sil.]
Edward Herrmann With their victory in Charleston, South Carolina , the British set grander sites toward establishing authority across all the southern colonies. The colonies here would be a handsome prize for King George . It is a land rich in lucrative crops like tobacco and rice, and by all accounts, full of colonies loyal to the crown. The British expect to find little resistance. Here at last, they would find colonies loyal to the King and eager to embrace the British Empire, especially for its protection and trade.
Eliga Gould University of New Hampshire
Eliga Gould By moving South, they were moving to an area where they hoped that they could finally restore British authority and put the loyalist in charge. The goal was always to try to isolate the rebellion. The assumption was that most colonies, given the chance, would be Loyalist.
Edward Herrmann For four years, the British have tried to find those colonies loyal to the crown. For four years, they have encountered an America deeply divided. But now, down South, they believe they have their strongest foothold. The South needs England , and England needs the South. They will drive their strategy toward the back country. Into this frontier, the British sent one of their most effective and ambitious officer, Colonel Bannister Tarleton . He is destined to become a household name in the South, only it will not be for bravery but for brutality.
Libby Haight O'Connell, Ph.D. Chief Historian, History Channel
Libby Haight O'Connell Tarleton is known for his daring -- for moving his cavalry quickly and the troops quick hits. He's also known for just -- for no restraint. He is a little bit of a dandy, which was appropriate for that era, but he fights like a Tasmanian devil.
Edward Herrmann The British will not only raise and train a loyalist militia to keep peace in the South, they will hunt down rebels and destroy them. No one is better suited to that task than Tarleton . One hundred miles from the coast, he closes in on the remains of the Continental Army in retreat from their defeat at Charleston .
[sil.]
Edward Herrmann With great speed and agility, Tarleton's British cavalry catches up to a regiment of 350 continentals, under the command of Colonel Abraham Buford . He pursues them to a town called Waxhaws.
[sil.]
Edward Herrmann Tarleton sends Buford a deadly threat.
BANASTRE TARLETON You are now encompassed by a corps of 700 light troops on horseback. Half of that number, light infantry with canon, the rest, cavalry. Bannister Tarleton , British Officer.
Edward Herrmann It's a bluff. Tarleton has no more than 200 men. But they are his best soldiers, well-trained in the bayonet and saber. Buford , sure that he has the greater numbers, doesn't back down.
ABRAHAM BUFORD Sir, I reject your proposals. I shall defend myself until the last extremity. Colonel Abraham Buford .
[sil.]
Edward Herrmann Buford's words will prove prophetic.
[sil.]
Edward Herrmann The Americans are able to fire just a few volleys before they are overrun. But Tarleton doesn't stop there. As the rebels raise the white flag of surrender, he continues a ferocious attack, cutting down enemy soldiers even as they lay down their arms.
[sil.]
Edward Herrmann It will soon be remembered as The Waxhaws Massacre.
CONTINENTAL SOLDIER Our Captain attempted to defend his head with his left arm until the arm was hacked off. His head was then laid open to the eyes. Continental Soldier.
Edward Herrmann Waxhaws is a painful loss for the Americans. But they will turn their defeat into another kind of victory, on the propaganda front.
Major John Hall Military Historian, West Point
Major John Hall The Battle of the Waxhaws is used by Patriot propagandas to depict the British as monsters who will massacre their soldiers in a dishonorable fashion and ride rough shot over the countryside. Any occupying force trying to subdue a rebellion on the home soil of an insurgency is going to operate at a disadvantage when it comes to the propaganda war.
Slaughter at the Waxhaws Massacre
Edward Herrmann Waxhaws will be remembered and used as a battle cry against the British. It sets the tunnel for the divisive war coming in the back country. Bannister Tarleton receives a reprimand from his superiors. But they do little else to reign him in. The man now known as "Bloody Ban" continues deeper into the back country, where the British are about the dig themselves an even bigger hole.
[sil.]
Edward Herrmann In an effort to shore up loyalty and frightened would-be rebels, the British issue an ultimatum to southerners.
All persons who shall neglect to return their allegiance to His Majesty's Government will be considered as enemies and rebels, and treated accordingly.
Gary B. Nash Professor of History, UCLA
Gary B. Nash In most parts of the country in most years of the revolution, people had been able to stay out of the way at least partially. But now, it was do or die.
Edward Herrmann The severe proclamation is the work of Sir Henry Clinton , the Overall Commander of the British forces in America . Clinton should have known better.
[sil.]
Edward Herrmann Back in 1776 , the British issued nearly the same document in New Jersey , backing on strong Loyalist sentiment. It backfired then and it will backfire now.
Major John Hall The verity here, if there is one, is if you're going to push someone off of the fence, you are to be pretty certain which side of the fence they're going to fall on.
Edward Herrmann Now everyone must choose, for or against, loyalist or patriot. Old rivalries and fresh wounds inform their choices. The British have created a tempest in a teapot.
[sil.]
Edward Herrmann The loyalists who do come out to join the fight for the King do so for their own agendas. And they will soon be met by an equal force, equal in number and violence, of Patriots. A hornet's nest is stirred in the South, unleashing a fight that looks less like a revolution and more like a civil war.
THE REVOLUTION June 1780 Charleston, South Carolina
Edward Herrmann The British Army now move deeper into the Carolina back country. Having declare in a misguided proclamation, "Anyone not a friend, an enemy," They intend to backup their words with force. But resistance is deeper than they think.
[sil.]
Edward Herrmann Late June 1780 , British Commander, Sir Henry Clinton has lived in Charleston for a month now, and can sense trouble brewing in the wilderness. His response, leave for New York and turn the Southern Command over to another officer. London, England . The man who will replace Clinton is no stranger to the American War. General Charles Cornwallis will soon return to the colonies, but a changed man. He has been in England to bury his beloved wife. Now with her passing, Cornwallis can think only of escaping his memories. Going back to the one place he hopes will be atoning for his grief.
Libby Haight O'Connell, Ph.D. Chief Historian, History Channel
Libby Haight O'Connell He is devastated. And like many men, draws himself back into his work. In Cornwallis' case, it was the work of fighting the war.
Edward Herrmann Whether he wins or looses in the colonies, is no longer the point.
CHARLES CORNWALLIS I am now returning to America , not with views of conquest and ambition. Nothing brilliant can be expected in that quarter. But I find England quite unsupportable to me. It has now no chance for me. I'm a shift foreseen.
Edward Herrmann But Cornwallis will find the war in America changed too from how it had been fought up North. The British forces on the ground are moving further and further into unknown territory, a wild country made up of remote farms, simmering with rivalries. This is not the south of wealthy ports and rich rice farms. This is the south of fetid swamps untamed frontiers. Here, loyalties are not so clear.
[sil.]
Edward Herrmann Those who might be a loyalist, like everyone in this back country frontier, harbor grudges, the British don't understand. Decades of land disputes and old animosities carried to the new world by each successive wave of immigrants, have poisoned the territory. All it takes is the presence of war to seriously stir things up. The South soon crawls with men like David Fanning . A struggling farmer, he had been robbed of everything he had, two years back, by a group claiming to be Patriots. Now with the powerful British mandate to ride them, he devotes himself to vengeance.
[sil.]
Edward Herrmann Fanning also gathers more like him. Loyalist militia swarm over the back country with their campaign of terror. They are less interested in the outcome of the revolution than in the chance to pillage and grab land from their Patriot neighbors.
I heard the horses coming in such a furious manner, but I have no time for thought. They were up to the house, entered with drawn swords and pistols in their hands, crying out "Where are these rebel women?" Then they began to plunder the house of everything they thought worth taking. And lots of weapons.
[sil.]
Edward Herrmann Patriots soon joined the fray. Man like Thomas Sumpter , a former Continental Soldier, take up their arms to battle the loyalists. Stirred out of what he hoped would be retirement, Sumpter gets back into the fight for personal reasons too. His house had been targeted by loyalists. For him, as with men on both sides, the cause of independence takes a backseat to payback and plundering.
Ray Raphael Author and Revolutionary War Historian
Ray Raphael In the south, it's American against American. Their entire battles fought, in fact there are 103 different battles in South Carolina alone, where there's no Brit in sight. This is Tory militia against -- against Patriot militia.
Edward Herrmann Each side attempts to outdo the other in terror and brutality. Quipping, tar and feathering, and particularly gruesome device called the spigot becomes as common place as revenge.
CHARLES GIBSON A loyalist was placed with one foot upon a sharp pin and turned around, as cruel as this punishment might seem to those who never witness the unrelenting cruelties of the loyalists, I viewed the punishment with no little satisfaction. Charles Gibson , Southern Patriot.
Gary B. Nash When the blood started to flow, it was revenge and counter revenge. One killing provoked a counter killing. It really tapped into these pre-revolutionary resentments and conflicts. It's like a fire feeding itself.
Edward Herrmann It is in short, a Civil War.
[sil.]
Edward Herrmann The entire strategy was failing for Cornwallis and the British, producing not peace and order, but chaos and retribution.
Willard Sterne Randall Biographer, Champlain College
Willard Sterne Randall What happened to Cornwallis in the South is a long and bloody guerilla war that had, by that time, made it extremely dangerous for anyone to reveal he was a loyalist.
Ray Raphael This was not the way warfare was supposed to be conducted, what people called the Dogs of Civil War. This was way wars were fought in the southern back country.
Edward Herrmann Cornwallis must rethink the very premises of his campaign. Forget the Loyalist, said their private wars, attack the rebels where it counts most, the Army.
Major John Hall Military Historian, West Point
Major John Hall The Cornwallis is a man elderly devoid of self-doubt. He really becomes convinced that he can lick the remainder of the Southern Department of the Continental Army, so engages once essentially a head long rush to complete the annihilation of his force.
Edward Herrmann From his headquarters in New Jersey , General George Washington realizes he must respond. He prepares to fortify the army in the South with new troops, and more importantly, with a new commander. But the man he wants to lead the Continental Army in the South is snubbed by Congress. Instead, the Continental Congress will send their man. They turn to General Horatio Gates , the hero of Saratoga , to head up the Southern Campaign. George Washington is furious. They have chosen one of his greatest rivals and a general he considers inferior. But for now, Washington can do nothing to stop an unfolding disaster.
THE REVOLUTION
Edward Herrmann In the Carolinas, civil order crumbles as patriots and loyalists battle each other.
July 1780 South Carolina
Edward Herrmann In July, Congress scrambles to form and equip a Southern Army. At its head against the advice of George Washington , Congress sends General Horatio Gates . Gates was the hero of Saratoga three years earlier, when he defeated General John Burgoyne in the largest British surrender of the war. Yet there are whispers. Some say he stole credit for Saratoga from Benedict Arnold and Daniel Morgan . But he is not the great general he claims to be. Gates , ever proud, ignores the doubters and focuses on his grand ambitions.
Willard Sterne Randall Biographer, Champlain College
Willard Sterne Horatio Gates wanted to be Commander-in-Chief of the American Army. And it's -- it goes much beyond that. Whoever was the victorious leader of the revolutionaries would emerge as the leader of a new nation. There had to be a new ruler. Some new kind of ruler no one had decided what yet. I think he might have been that ambitious and that foolish.
Edward Herrmann But the challenges of the south still await him. Gates will soon take charge of an army in a dire state. He will inherit 1400 soldiers still reeling from the defeats at Charleston and Waxhaws. I have, says Gates , an army without strength and a military chest without money. In the bare and swamp lands of South Carolina , Gates' Army of professional soldiers slowly starves. They are at short on provisions as they are on the will to fight. Gates does little to alleviate their conditions. His soldiers, many of whom have been in the army since the outset, turn even more bitter.
COLONEL WILLIAMS Being again disappointed, fatigued, and almost famished, their patience begin to forsake them. Their looks begin to be vindictive, mutiny was ready to manifest itself. Colonel Williams .
Edward Herrmann But Gates will soon get relief. The Patriot Militia who had been fighting their own wars in the back country now turn out to fight alongside the army. But they lack in experience, they make up for in spirit. The Militia are itching to take on the British, and General Gates thinks they can. The Continental Soldiers, now in the minority are less sure. They foresee trouble.
COLONEL WILLIAMS We soldiers cannot imagine how an army consisting of more than two-thirds militia nor did never once been exercised in arms together could perform in the face of an enemy. Colonel Williams .
Edward Hermann Gates will mount his campaign against Cornwallis ready or not. Faith in his militia and in himself is in an old time high.
Major John Hall Military Historian, West Point
Major John Hall Gates has still been stung by assertions that he doesn't really deserve the credit for the victory at Saratoga. He sees an opportunity to silence his critics and show them once and for all that he in fact is the best and most experienced American battlefield commander, and that he can beat the British whether on the defensive or on the offensive.
August 16th 1780 Camden, South Carolina
Edward Hermann Gates' chance comes sooner than he imagines. On August 16th, the two armies stumble upon each other at Camden, South Carolina . Each side hastily sets up for a battle. Five thousand British move in to position where they will meet Gates' 3,000 men.
[sil.]
Edward Hermann General Gates sends his militia out front where they get their first taste of the best trained army in the world. But his audacity has caused him to make a serious tactical error, one with dire consequences. Gates places the Militia on the left of his line, a position for which they are ill-prepared.
Major John Hall The British Army will always put its best units at the right of its line which is the place of honor. From the British perspective, the British have their best regimens facing off against the weakest and most ill-prepared American regiments.
Edward Hermann The best of the British is led by none other than Bloody Ban Tarleton , The Butcher of Waxhaws. He now leads a fierce bayonet charge into the militia.
John Buchanan Can't you imagine just standing there and watching this line of red coming at them, you know, hezine(ph) and presenting 18 inches of cold steal coming at them.
Edward Hermann Fear fuels confusion on the battlefield. They are fighting a loosing battle. Almost immediately, the militia panic, break and run.
[sil.]
COLONEL WILLIAMS He who has never seen the effect of panic upon a multitude can have but an imperfect idea of such a thing. The best disciplined troops had been made cowards by it. Colonel Williams .
Edward Hermann But they do not flee alone. Fast overtaking them is General Horatio Gates himself. The general who came South to gain glory now takes off on his horse as fast as possible, as far as it will carry him.
Major John Hall What began is a rather courageous venture now turns into a flight for his life and he rides as 200 miles all the way back to Hillsborough without stopping and becomes the butt of every mean spirited joke in the Continental Army for the next two years.
John Buchanan Author, The Road to Guilford Courthouse
John Buchanan I think he went into a complete panic, and the situation was just too much for him. Alexander Hamilton had praised him on his ride to safety. It's quite remarkable for a man of his age, to have ridden so far and so fast.
[sil.]
Edward Hermann The Battle of Camden scars Gates reputation forever. It similarly tarnishes the army, and in particular, the militia. Few now believe the Patriots can hold the south, even though the future of the revolution depends on it.
THE REVOLUTION
Edward Hermann The defeats at Camden and Waxhaws have decimated the Continental Southern Divisions. Of the 3,000 troops who marched at Camden , over half have been killed, captured, or wounded. The majority of the Patriot militia simply disappeared back into the wilds. The South has all but fall into the British.
Fort Lee, New Jersey
Edward Hermann In New Jersey , George Washington soon receives news of the defeat at Camden. Washington feared the worse when Congress appointed Horatio Gates , and the worse has happened. Gates will face Court Marshall. But there is a more urgent concern, who will now lead Washington's Southern Army.
John Buchanan Author, The Road to Guilford Courthouse
John Buchanan It's after Gates' debacle with Camden that Washington is finally allowed to send the men he wants. And of course, he goes to Major General Nathanael Greene .
GEORGE WASHINGTON I convince you to introduce this gentleman to you as a man of abilities, bravery and coolness. George Washington .
Edward Hermann Nathanael Greene is Washington's most trusted subordinate, a New England patriot and fallen Quaker, Greene has proven time and time again to be one of the most brilliant commanders in the Continental Army.
Libby Haight O'Connell, Ph.D. Chief Historian, History Channel
Libby Haight O'Connell Truly one of America's great generals and nobody knows who he is. Washington says, "If I'm shot in battle, if I can no longer take command, the general I want to lead is Nathanael Greene ."
Major John Hall Military Historian, West Point
Major John Hall Among the many qualities that recommended Nathanael Greene to George Washington was his can-do attitude. All military commanders want subordinates that will never admit defeat and always say they can find some way to accomplish the mission.
Edward Hermann Greene will travel far from his native New England to take on this formidable command, only to find an army ravaged and dispirited.
NATHANAEL GREENE I am removed from almost all my friends and connections, and have to prosecute a war with almost insurmountable difficulties. I cannot contemplate my own situation without the greatest degree of anxiety. Nathanael Greene , Continental General.
Edward Hermann Only 800 are deemed fit for duty. The rest, Greene reports are literally naked, starving with cold and hunger.
[sil.]
Edward Hermann In letter after letter, Greene beseeches the thirteen colonies for supplies and troops, to no effect. He begins to fear mutiny.
NATHANAEL GREENE It is impracticable to preserve discipline when troops are in want of everything. Be assured that you raise men in vain, unless you cloth, arm and equip them properly for the field. Nathanael Greene .
Edward Hermann Greene and the Southern Army have all but been abandoned. He will attempt to supply his troops through local sources, but there is a threat more urgent than starvation. Cornwallis is on the march. Greene needs a strategy and a miracle to keep his army from total destruction.
[sil.]
Edward Hermann The fortune Greene need soon arrives in the form of Colonel Daniel Morgan , one of the most courageous and unusual officers the Americans have. Morgan's past is cloaked in mystery and he never speaks of it. By age 17, he appears as part of the British Army during the French and Indian War. By then, he is already a rough and scrappy boy, hardened from a backwoods frontier life. By nature, he is a fighter and carries scars from every brawl and knockdown, including 500 lashes for punching his superior officer in his early days. From then on, Morgan becomes the stuff of patriot legend.
Major John Hall He really is a roughneck frontiersman, vulgar, hard-drinking, hard-fighting man. He really is the sort of stuff of fiction.
Edward Hermann But his rise through the ranks of the Continental Army is fact, a result of his enormous talent.
Libby Haight O'Connell Daniel Morgan would never have been made a general in the British Army. Morgan moves ahead because of ability. And -- and he is a great example of the coming meritocracy. You don't have to born into the gentry to be an officer. If you have the ability, if you have the -- the stick-to-it-ness.
Edward Hermann By the time Morgan reaches the south, his hard earned reputation and his role at major battles like Saratoga gains him the respect of patriots and the resentment of the enemy. No one is better suited to fighting in the rough southern land than Morgan . With Morgan now at his side, Greene will enact one of the boldest and most irregular moves of the war. Greene will split his army.
Major John Hall Nathanael Greene adopts what it might be considered an unconventional approach of this war. He is going to break his force. He's gonna divide it into something in flying columns, very mobile columns.
Christopher Brown Department of History, Rutgers University
Christopher Brown He knows the British Army doesn't know the territory. And he knows that since they wanna draw him into a decisive battle, he can lead them through the backwoods, through the marshes, into what are ultimately indecisive conflicts that's gonna spread the British Army then.
Edward Hermann Greene and Morgan take off on separate paths. Greene to the southeast, Morgan to the southwest. As if on queue, Cornwallis too splits his army, sending the infamous Tarleton after Morgan while he himself pursues Greene . The four flying armies, the prey and the predators moved through some of the roughest terrain on the Eastern seaboard, each following their own will to win. Cornwallis , Greene , Tarleton and Morgan , four ambitious and gifted leaders now engaged in a headlong chase.
[sil.]
Edward Hermann On the fringes of their armies, they skirmish, confirming over and over again the proximity of each others troops. Yet Greene and Morgan , with their lighter armies moved faster, avoiding a major battle. Instead, they draw the British deeper into the backcountry, further from supply lines and reinforcements. General Cornwallis , the British commander grows more frustrated with each mile of rough terrain. The farther Greene goes, the more intent Cornwallis becomes on catching him.
Major John Hall He is going to chase Nathanael Greene all around the Carolinas trying to gain that decisive battle. Greene , knowing better than to engage Cornwallis and Cornwallis's terms is not going to let Cornwallis catch up to him. As close as Cornwallis gets, Greene is always able stay one small step ahead of him.
NATHANAEL GREENE Be a little careful and tread softly for depend on it. You have a modern Hannibal to deal with in the person of Cornwallis .
Edward Hermann Daniel Morgan has his own nemesis to contend with. Bannister Tarleton and his ferocious regiment. Morgan knows he can't outrun them for long.
THE REVOLUTION
Edward Hermann Up North, far from the swamps of the South, the war for independence looks very stained. No armies engage nor are battles fought. Here, the British and Continentals are at an impasse.
New York City September 1780
Edward Hermann In New York City , Sir Henry Clinton , the Overall Commander of the British in America , whiles away his time in luxury.
Willard Sterne Randall Biographer, Champlain College
Willard Sterne Randall There was a lot of going to dinner, and he put on a lot of weight. There was a lot of inspecting the troops. All the things that a parade ground general as they were called, would do short of fighting.
Edward Hermann The war down South is far off. Plegan receives fewer and fewer dispatches from Cornwallis , but that doesn't concern him, at least not enough to leave New York City .
September 20th 1780 Hartford, Connecticut
Edward Hermann Fifty miles away, in Hartford, Connecticut , another man with eyes on New York takes a meeting that he hopes will change the war. General George Washington hasn't seen a battle in a long while, nearly three years. But now, his prospects may be changing. The French are in town, and Washington and his counterparts, the Marquis De LaFayette and Comte de Rochambeau raise their glasses to a united front against the British. They toast with French wine, but it is France's Navy that is on everyone's mind. Seven French warships sit in the Rhode Island Harbor. Washington believes they are enough to launch an attack on New York , and wrestle it back from the British. Rochambeau is more circumspect. A veteran of European wars, Rochambeau shows patience while Washington displays zeal. The French General prefers to wait for more reinforcements, much to the frustration of the Americans.
[sil.]
Edward Hermann Though these French ships sit idly in Newport, Rhode Island , the French have already tipped the ballots of power in the war, but in less obvious ways.
Major John Hall Military Historian, West Point
Major John Hall From an American perspective, the French Navy has not been that significant to this point in the war. The American perspective is a little bit biased and not very complete.
Edward Hermann In colonies and oceans all over the world, the French are taking on the British, forcing them to fight a world war, in the Caribbean, to Cairo , to Calcutta .
Major John Hall The French Navy has helped extend the British Army and British Navy over a far wider expanse. Indeed around the globe when in the absence of the French Navy, the British were free to concentrate on North America. But the Americans don't quite see it this way.
Edward Hermann Washington sees only that he must delay his goal of taking New York . The battles for now remain in the south.
January 16th 1781 Deep in South Carolina
Edward Hermann January 16th South Carolina . Daniel Morgan can no longer avoid confronting Tarleton's forces. Now, he must prepare to fight.
[sil.]
Edward Hermann On the eve of their battle, Morgan visits with his troops. Out of 600 men, more than half are Militia, the same untrained forces that were last seen fleeing the field at Camden . Morgan's challenge, make them engage. As he faces the most grueling battle of his life, Morgan rallies these citizen soldiers.
DANIEL MORGAN Just hold up your head boys. When you return to your homes, how the old folks will bless you for your gallant conduct. Daniel Morgan .
Libby Haight O'Connell, Ph.D. Chief Historian, History Channel
Libby Haight O'Connell Morgan has great rapport with his troops. He loves to joke with them, to talk with them. I think they really just find him one of the great officers they've ever served under. He tells them things like, "You'll have your home soon boys, to kiss your girlfriends."
January 17th 1781 Cowpens, South Carolina
Edward Hermann January 17th. On a mild winter morning, the battle takes shape on a field known as Cowpens . Here, Morgan puts into play his own new strategy, one of the most inventive of the war, and most timely.
John Buchanan Author, The Road to Guilford Courthouse
John Buchanan Up to that point in the war, nobody had figured out how to use militia in a formal battle. They weren't trained to meet British regulars in a formal engagement. Morgan , he figures that out.
[sil.]
Edward Hermann Like others before him, Morgan puts his militia out front, the first line to meet Tarleton's charging British soldiers. Only this time, he tells them to fire just two shots, a quick volley, and then fall back. Against the onslaught of the British charge, they do just that.
Major John Hall When the British see this, they think that they have earned a replay of Camden. That they have essentially caused a route of the militia forces who are breaking from the field. They will pursue a headlong rush and find themselves facing the very well-directed volley fires of Morgan's regulars. The result is predictable for Tarleton's legion.
Edward Hermann Bannister Tarleton , the aggressive and ambitious young officer, drives right into Morgan's trap. The Continentals reply with alarming force.
[sil.]
Edward Hermann British Infantry scatter and retreat. Tarleton will try to push them on again, but within an hour, the battle is lost. Tarleton has chased Morgan all across the south to end here defeated by the rough and tumbled American at Cowpens.
Libby Haight O'Connell Talk about a conflict of styles. You have this very arrogant, dashing, cruel British officer, young guy and Daniel Morgan , and they're both playing for keeps, you know. How can you not love that victory when Daniel Morgan just beats the tar out of Tarleton .
Edward Hermann Most of the entire British detachment at Cowpens is killed, captured or wounded. This time, it is Bloody Bannister Tarleton , who was seen fleeing the field. He will escape, soon to rejoin Cornwallis's army, thirsting for revenge.
Edward Hermann It was Morgan's win. Morgan had outplanned, out-strategized and outled his counterpart. He had transformed his militia army at their moment of greatest need. But it will be the back country brawler's last battle. Morgan all along suffered quietly from painful back ailments and rheumatism.
Libby Haight O'Connell You could say why is he retiring now, he's just won this big monumental victory. And the real question is, how was he able to fight at all during the Battle of Cowpens, it's very painful for him and his commanding officer, Nathanael Greene says, "You've earned the right to go home."
Edward Hermann Morgan who had spent a lifetime of fighting will now watch the war from a small farm in Virginia , from the sidelines.
South Carolina
Edward Hermann For Nathanael Greene , the chase is still on. Cornwallis is closing in, and with Tarleton again by his side, they will come at Greene with everything they've got. The war in the south will go on, as bloody and vicious as ever but the stakes are rising. From the South to the North, to across the Atlantic ocean, everyone is asking the same question, how will this war end, and when? For everyone, time is running out on the American Revolution.
Executive Producers PETER SCHNALL HILARY SIO Produced and Written by DAVID SHADRACK SMITH Directed by PETER SCHNALL GREGORY HENRY DAVID SHADRACK SMITH Series Producer STEPHEN STEPT Cinematography PETER SCHNALL DAVID SHADRACK SMITH Edited by ISOLD UGGADOTTIR Original Music GARY POZNER Production Designer ANNE STUHLER Narrator EDWARD HERRMANN Coordinating Producers WHITNEY JOHNSON TINA VER Production Manager GLENN C. REIVER Associate Producers JENNIFER L. BARR KRISTINA CAFARELLA JEAN MURPHY ENNEN MICA McCARTHY CATHERINE SHIN JUSTINE SIMONSON Office Coordiantor JESSICA APPLEBAUM 1ST Assistant Diretor ETHAN SHRIER Line Producer MELANIE J. ELIN Re-Enactment Propduction Wardrobe and Props HISTORICAL ENTERTAINMENT, LLC Gaffer DAVE LEVIN Archival Research CARRIE McBRIDE Additional Producers ANNIE WONG LISE ZUMWALT Post Production Supervisor ROBERT WARMFLASH Digital Animations MECHANISM DIGITAL On-line Editor/Colorist BLERT MURATAJ Sound Design Mix BILL MARKLE Photo Animation DAVE COHEN Assistant Editors OLGA OROS SCOTT GREENHAM CRAIG RINKERMAN Production Coordinator JESSICA LYNE DE VER Production Accountant BRIAN MINAHAN Intern MOLLIE ZIPKIN Legal Services KENNETH WEINRIB MATTHEW LEFFERTS FRANKLIN , WEINRIB , RUDELL AND VASSALO P.C. Archival Sources AMERICAN MUSEUM BATH AVOLET BIOTTIEDLE DES LITS DECCLATIFS, PARIS, FRANCE BRIDGEMAN LIT LIBRARY CORBS IMAGES THE FLANGER COLLECTION GIRLIHALL ART GALLERY, CITY OF LONDON INDEPENDENCE NATIONAL HISTORIC PARK LIBRARY OF CONGRESS MARYLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY MILITARY AND HISTORICAL IMAGE BANK NATIONAL GALLERY, LONDON, U.K. NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY NORTH WIND PICTURE ARCHIVES BRADLEY SCHIEIL SUPERSTICK INC. WEISER WILLIS ROBERT M. WILSON FINE ART PRODUCTIONS Stick Footage A TELEVISION NETWORKS ARTBEAT DIGITAL FILM LIBRARY Special Thanks COWPENS NATIONAL BATTLEFIELD DRAYTON HALL, CHARLESTON, SC EASTFIELD VILLAGE - DON CARPENTIER HEROVER HOME STATE HISTORIC SITE HISTORIC CAMDEN REVOLUTIONARY WAR SITE MAGNOLIA PLANTATION AND GARDENS SQUARE SAIL, CORNWALL, U.K . VAN CORTLAND RIUSE For THE HISTORY CHANNEL Programming Coordicator MICHELLE WILCOX Executive Producer BETH DIETRICH SEGARRA Produced by PARTISAN PICTURES for THE HISTORY CHANNEL © 2006 A TELEVISION NETWORKS ALL RIGHTS RESERVED History Cahnnel.com
Nathanael Greene 02:20