36 • THE GRIFFON • Summer 2015
Senior Leaders Experience History on Revolutionary War Battlefield By Sgt. Ken Scar 108th Training Command (IET) Public Affairs
COWPENS, S.C. — Senior leadership of the U.S.Army Reserve’s 108th Training Command (IET) spent a sunny winter day walking in the footsteps of Infantry Soldiers from the Revolutionary War in the grassy meadows and shady sweet gum forest of the Cowpens National Battlefield in South Carolina Feb. 7. The visit was part of a training event designed to teach leadership skills through the triumphs and failures of fellow Soldiers from the past. “It’s important for us to remind ourselves of the reason we exist, which is to fight and win the nation’s wars,” said Maj. Sean Healy, assistant operations officer for the 108th Training Command (IET), who helped to organize the event. “Having the opportunity to walk in the footsteps of Soldiers past offers a reminder of what it’s like to be in the heat of battle.” The Battle of Cowpens happened Jan. 17, 1781. It was a decisive victory for the Continental Army forces under Brig. Gen. Daniel Morgan. His wing of the Continental Army was being chased across South Carolina by a much larger British element led by Lt. Col. Banastre Tarleton. Morgan decided to stop and make a stand in the pastureland known as the Cowpens, where he could use the unique landscape to provide cover and concealment and cut off avenues of retreat while capitalizing on his knowledge of his opponent to draw the British forces into the area and give them a false sense of victory.
Revolutionary War re-enactor Christopher Ruff, curator for the National Museum of the U.S. Army Reserve (wearing a replica uniform of the British Army’s 7th Fusiliers), leads a group of senior leadership from the 108th Training Command across a field on the Cowpens National Battlefield Feb. 8, 2015. The command took the trip to the site to learn first-hand the tactics and techniques used by the American forces to win the battle, in which they were greatly outnumbered. Photo by Sgt. Ken Scar, 108th Training Command (IET), Public Affairs
Morgan’s strategy proved to be ingenious.The battle was over in less than an hour, and was a complete victory for the Patriot force. More than 800 British Troops were killed, wounded or captured.The Americans suffered less than 100 casualties. Guided by U.S.Army Col. (retired) Dr. John Boyd, director of the Office of Army Reserve History, the Soldiers of the 108th split into two units
and played out pinnacle moments from the battle, lining up across the tall grass to advance and charge on each other across the exact ground Morgan and Tarleton clashed on 234 years earlier. “I love the aspect of [Brig. Gen. Morgan] himself. Here was a leader who understood the capabilities and capacities of his Soldiers, and the type of Soldiers they were,” said Boyd.“For example his employment
of militia, his use of skirmishers ... the man had such a great knowledge base in terms of what his capabilities were.To translate that into modern terms: he knew how to deploy his weapon systems. It was just plain gutsy leadership.” Revolutionary War re-enactor Christopher Ruff, curator for the National Museum of the U.S. Army Reserve, participated in the maneuvers dressed in a reproduction
