Cowpens National Battlefield is a unit of the
National Park Service
The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propertie ...
just east of
Chesnee, South Carolina
Chesnee is a city in Spartanburg County, South Carolina, Spartanburg and Cherokee County, South Carolina, Cherokee counties, in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The population was 868 as of the 2010 United States census, 2010 census.
History
I ...
, and near the state line with
North Carolina
North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...
.
It preserves a major battlefield of the American Revolutionary War.
Brigadier General
Daniel Morgan
Daniel Morgan (1735–1736July 6, 1802) was an American pioneer, soldier, and politician from Virginia. One of the most respected battlefield tacticians of the American Revolutionary War of 1775–1783, he later commanded troops during the sup ...
won the
Battle of Cowpens
The Battle of Cowpens was an engagement during the American Revolutionary War fought on January 17, 1781 near the town of Cowpens, South Carolina, between U.S. forces under Brigadier General Daniel Morgan and British forces under Lieutenant Colo ...
, a decisive
Revolutionary War victory over British Lieutenant Colonel
Banastre Tarleton
Sir Banastre Tarleton, 1st Baronet, GCB (21 August 175415 January 1833) was a British general and politician. He is best known as the lieutenant colonel leading the British Legion at the end of the American Revolution. He later served in Portug ...
on January 17, 1781. It is considered one of Morgan's most memorable victories and one of Tarleton's most memorable defeats.
Established as Cowpens National Battlefield Site March 4, 1929; transferred from the
War Department War Department may refer to:
* War Department (United Kingdom)
* United States Department of War (1789–1947)
See also
* War Office, a former department of the British Government
* Ministry of defence
* Ministry of War
* Ministry of Defence
* Dep ...
August 10, 1933; redesignated April 11, 1972. Listed on the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
on October 15, 1966.
[ Area: 841.56 acres (3.41 km2), Federal: , Nonfederal: .
The visitor center features a museum with exhibits about the American Revolution and the battle, including a fiber-optic map that illustrates the Southern Campaign of the American Revolution and the battle, a walking tour of the battlefield itself, and the reconstructed ]log cabin
A log cabin is a small log house, especially a less finished or less architecturally sophisticated structure. Log cabins have an ancient history in Europe, and in America are often associated with first generation home building by settlers.
Eur ...
of one Robert Scruggs, who had farmed the land before the establishment of the park.
References
* ''The National Parks: Index 2001-2003''. Washington: U.S. Department of the Interior
The United States Department of the Interior (DOI) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government headquartered at the Main Interior Building, located at 1849 C Street NW in Washington, D.C. It is responsible for the mana ...
.
External links
*
National Park Service: Cowpens National Battlefield
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Parks on the National Register of Historic Places in South Carolina
American Revolutionary War sites
Protected areas of Cherokee County, South Carolina
National Battlefields and Military Parks of the United States
Museums in Cherokee County, South Carolina
Protected areas established in 1929
American Revolutionary War museums in South Carolina
National Park Service areas in South Carolina
Parks in South Carolina
1929 establishments in South Carolina
Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in South Carolina
National Register of Historic Places in Cherokee County, South Carolina
American Revolution on the National Register of Historic Places
Conflict sites on the National Register of Historic Places in Virginia