The Battle of Cowpens

 

Two critical battles were considered turning points in the American Revolutionary War: the Battle of Saratoga in New York and the Battle of Cowpens in South Carolina. The Battle of Cowpens was a catalyst to a series of events that led eventually to the surrender of the British at Yorktown. Small BoAR Volume I, The Battle of Cowpens, puts players directly into the milieu of this decisive contest.

The goal of the Small BoAR design concept is to include small yet critical battles that otherwise do not fit the scale of the historically simulating and highly successful Battles of the American Revolution (BoAR) system designed by Mark Miklos. This new system, aptly termed Small Battles of the American Revolution (Small BoAR), was designed by Bruno Sinigaglio working closely with Mark Miklos to preserve the continuity and popularity of the original Battles of the American Revolution game system.

Although extremely important to the history of the Revolutionary War, the Battle of Cowpens involved slightly over 1000 participants per side. In the Battles of the American Revolution system, which represents 100 men per strength point, this would equate to only ten or so combat factors per side. The scale for the battle of Cowpens, on the other hand, is 12 men per strength point, or one-eighth that of the BoAR system. The map scale is also correspondingly reduced to 25 yards per hex from the BoAR scale of 200 yards per hex. The time scale is approximately four minutes per turn as compared with one hour per turn in BoAR.


Although Army Morale, the game-within-the-game in BoAR, is faithfully preserved in Small BoAR, and the Small BoAR sequence of play resembles that of BoAR and will look familiar to anyone who has played games in the original series, certain novel elements appropriate to the new scaling have been added. These include:

• The ability to designate cavalry units in reserve
• Artillery Fire conducted both offensively and defensively
• Simultaneous ranged musket Fire as a complement to ranged rifle fire
• A Cavalry Reserve Phase where units designated in Reserve may charge after the normal Close Combat Phase
• And Opportunity Card Management

Let’s look at some of these new design elements in more detail.

Artillery: Veteran BoAR players will note that artillery fires both offensively and defensively in Small BoAR. The firing ranges in BoAR are nominally 1 to 3 hexes (200 to 600 yards), while in Small BoAR the firing ranges are 1 to 24 hexes, with increased devastation due to cannister fire at 1 or 2 hexes (25-50 yards).

Muskets/Rifles: Due to the scale of the game, both rifles and muskets fire in Small BoAR, thus there is the potential for more casualties by fire combat. By contrast, in standard BoAR, musket fire is abstracted into Close Combat. In Small BoAR, rifle equipped units are still outclassed by muskets equipped with Bayonets during Close Combat, unless those rifles are protected by friendly musket equipped units involved in the same combat.

Cavalry (Dragoons): Small BoAR adds a dimension to the BoAR system with the inclusion of cavalry tactics reflective of the actual Battle of Cowpens. Both sides employed cavalry leaders and tactics that were instrumental in the conduct and outcome of the battle. The most feared and hated British officer in the Americas, Banastre Tarleton, commanded Tarleton’s Legion and the British Army at Cowpens. He was opposed by the American Cavalry Commander, William Washington, a second cousin of the Father of the Country. In Small BoAR, cavalry placed in reserve at the beginning of a turn may move after the close combat phase and charge targets of opportunity.

Leadership: The tactical finesse of Daniel Morgan at the Battle of Cowpens is recognized as the most significant display of that quality during the entire Revolutionary War and is faithfully captured in the game design. Morgan understood the value, experience, and in some cases the limitations of his troops: militia, Continentals, and cavalry. To maximize their effectiveness and limit their liabilities, he employed an unusual defense in depth. In addition, he chose a relatively open battlefield that appeared to be the worst possible choice for his army when confronted by the dangerous cavalry of Tarleton’s Legion. Morgan’s flanks, however, were anchored on impassable, canebrake (bamboo) lined creeks and boggy swamps, which narrowed the battlefield and prevented wide flanking movements by the British cavalry. Mark Miklos, Bruno Sinigaglio, and Small BoAR Series Developer Dave Stiffler walked the preserved Cowpens battlefield numerous times in Mid-January in order to fully develop an accurate map representative of the January battlefield. They waded up and down every creek, and Dave unsuccessfully attempted to infiltrate a stand of canebrake.

The Battle: Morgan placed ten companies of militia skirmishers from South Carolina, North Carolina, and Georgia in the front line. All crack shots, they fought in open order and were tasked with forcing Tarleton to deploy his army while they masked the primary Militia line 150 yards to their rear. After firing at the deploying British, they were to reposition to the flanks of the Militia line.

The Militia line, comprised of four battalions with 18 companies of rifle equipped South Carolina Militia, were in turn stationed 150 yards in front of the American main line of Continentals. Morgan knew these troops would run when confronted by British Bayonets, so the night before the battle he encouraged them to fire just three shots before withdrawing to pre-assigned areas behind and to the flanks on the Continental line where they could safely regroup and then re-join the battle.

After the British Infantry broke the Militia line, they assumed they had won the battle and their morale soared, but only seconds later they were surprised to see five companies of Continentals and nine companies of Virginia and North Carolina Militia to their front. To add to the British surprise, these Continentals from Maryland and Delaware were the best the Americans had to field.

The British were not about to quit. They regrouped, reformed, and charged the American Continental line. Disaster almost befell the Continentals when a misunderstood order led to an inopportune retrograde maneuver, and the British appeared to drive-in the right flank of the American line. Heroic efforts to stave off defeat of the right flank by McDowell’s Skirmishers together with an unexpected about face and point blank fire by the Continentals and a well-timed charge by Washington’s Dragoons resulted in the immediate surrender of the dazed 71st Highland Regiment. Seconds later, the regrouped South Carolina Militia returned to the battle, precipitating a historical rarity—a successful double envelopment.

A stunning American victory ensued, lauded today as one of the most brilliant and complete victories in the storied history of American arms and still studied at West Point and elsewhere. The entire British Infantry contingent was killed or captured, to include eight companies of elite Scots Highlanders, four companies of elite Light Infantry, six companies of Tarleton’s Legion Infantry, and four companies of the 7th Foot (Royal Fusiliers). William Washington pursued Tarleton’s fleeing cavalry and confronted Tarleton in a duel of cavalry commanders. The only casualty was Washington’s horse, shot by Tarleton as he aimed for Washington.

Upon learning of the defeat, Cornwallis leaned heavily on his sword, and it broke in two.

Components:

• One Cowpens/Small BoAR Series Rulebook
• One 22" x 34" Mounted Map
• One and a half Countersheets
• Two 8.5" x 11" Player Aid Cards
• 16 Standard BoAR Tactics Cards
• 52 Standard Poker-size Cards
• One 2" Box with Insert
• Two 10-sided Dice

Time scale: 4 minutes per turn
Map scale: 25 yards per hex
Unit scale: 12 men per strength point
Play time: 2.5-3 hours
Players: 2

Game Designer: Bruno Sinigaglio
Game Developer: Dave Stiffler
Battles of the American Revolution System Designer: Mark Miklos