With the commencement of the year all parties in the South prepared for war. On the 1st of January, Lord Cornwallis left his camp at Winnsborough, intending to advance into North Carolina and interpose between Greene and Morgan, who were now actively on the alert, and against the latter of whom Tarleton had been despatched, with orders to “push him to the utmost.” Greene, at the head of 1,000 men, was encamped at the confluence of Hick’s Creek with the Peedee, while Morgan, with the same number, had been sent westward by him to guard the passes of the Pacolet river. On Tarleton’s approach Morgan retreated; Tarleton crossed the river, and the pursuit began. The situation of Morgan was perilous, the enemy was behind him, the Broad River before him, to cross which was impossible. But Morgan, the stout quondam wrestler and teamsman, was not easily daunted; on his right lay a hilly district which might afford him protection; choosing, therefore, his ground hastily, he drew up his men in order of battle, at a place called the Cowpens, about three miles south of the boundary of South Carolina. The forces were about equal. Tarleton was confident of victory; Morgan also intended that the day should be his; about half of his troops, however, were South Carolina militia, under General Pickens, new to war, and therefore little to be relied upon. These he placed in the van, while the continentals, on whom he could depend, were posted in an open wood, and the cavalry on a slope in the rear. As he expected, the militia gave way immediately before the impetuous attack of Tarleton; the British troops shouted for victory, and rushed forward in pursuit, but then the real struggle of the fight commenced. The continentals, too, had retrograded for a moment before the rapid advance of the British, who, mistaking this for retreat, rushed forward in some confusion, and the next moment a deadly fire from the Americans, who had suddenly faced about, turned the British pursuit into flight; and while these rapid movements had been taking place, the American cavalry coming up decided the fortune of the day. The ground was in an instant, as it were, covered with killed and wounded. Tarleton’s whole force was completely routed. The British lost 400 in killed and wounded, while 500 prisoners, with a large quantity of baggage, and 100 dragoon horses, fell into the hands of the Americans, whose loss was less than eighty men.