The people's journal. (Pickens, S.C.) 1891-1903, 1899-03-23
THE BATrLm OF CowPENs.
The Memorial Association Provides
for u Celebration of the American
VfCtocy

Victory.
GaffneY Ledger,
The executive comm ttee of the Cow
pens Memorial Association have fxec
the 9th Of May next as the day t0l
the celebration. TIE committee IL
made up of enterprisin,g and patriotic
men and they will do their part to
wards having u celebration worthy o
tho glorious event which 1t will com
memorate. 1t will be an occasion OF
national Importance and many men o.
national celebrity will honor 1t with
their presence. While this Ia true, 1t
of the celebration viii depend in q
great measure on local interest and
spirit. If! the people of the Piedmont
: region will actively support the com.
mittee in their plans and efforts there
will be no DOUBT of q grand success
which will have far reaching influences,
patriotic, material, morul and political.
It will attract tho attention Of the u,
s. Congress-, widely advertise this part
of the country, allay political and sec-
tiOnal animosities, and stir the emo
F.: tiOns Of q common patriotism all over
this broad land.
:. This is, the second time in the history
of our country that any general at
tempt has been mado to commemorate
! the battle Of Cowpens. In 1856 tho
little monument that now stands on
the battle ground was erected by the
Washington Light Infantry, an his.
toric military company of Charleston,
commanded at that timo by Capt. j..
M. Hatch, who afterwards was the gal
liant commander Of Hatch's Battalion
during the great civil war.
Major Hatch died only O few years
u 10 an hn ,nh
near Asheville, N. G. Ho brought his
companyin 1856 by railroad to Laurens
Q. H., and from that point the men
marched across the country with their
baggage wagons and equipments in
true soldier fashlon 70: the battle
ground OF COwpens. There the monu-
ment was erected under their auspices
In the presence Of a vast concourse Of
. people, with simple but imposing cere-
monies. hev. John G.. Landrum had
previously been selected as the orator
OF the day, on account OF his having
been recommended to 5he company as
being mora thoroughly conversant
with the history of the country than
any one else that could be found. We
have often heard the speech OF Mr.
Landrum on this occasion compliment-
ed as one replete with information, pa.
thos and power. There is good au.
thority for stating that Dr. Thos Cur
tis, who heard both, pronounced it
superior to Prestons great Grafton at
Kings Mountain.
A few years ago we had the privilege
OF reading an account Of the ceiebra-
tion as given IL the Spartan burg Ex-
press in its Issue of May lat, 1856, from,
which we infer that 1t was held In the
latter part of April of that year. In
that account 1t was stated that the
lev. DIR. Gilman, chaplain of the COM
pany, made few remarks appropriate
S0 the patriotic as well rs the sacred
sOlemnittes in which the assemblage
was about to engage, read the 2lst
chapter of Deuteronomy, and offered
up a most fervid prayer. Then Hon.
W. D. Porter, State Senator from
Charleston, and former captain OF the
company, who was-present q q guest,
was called for and responded in few
well-chosen and patriotic words. After
this the main speech Of the day was
delivered by Mr.. Landrum.
These facts, meagre as they are, we
think will be OF interest TO many Of our
readers, now that after forty-three
years the glorious memories 0f Cow
pens are again revived, and q new gen
Grafton are moved by the spirit of their
ancestors.
The battle of Cowpens was wonder
and mystery. No man has ever been
able to explain it on. any rational
theory. 1t violated every prtaciple of
military science, 1t mocked and tan.
talized human foresight and wisdom,
1t bade defiance to human reason and
philosophy The victors were over
whelmed with surprise and the van
quished were paralyzed with astonish
mont. Tarleton himself In his me-
moirs, said it was inexplicable-one Of
those things that will sometimes hap
pen, and no man On earth can tell why.
Morgan, wicked and profane as he was
at the time, always attributed his
victory to the direct power of God.
In his later years whom he had become
religious, she told some friends that
people thought during the war that
old Morgan was never afraid, but the
people didn't know. He ad Aed that on
the night before the battle Of Cowpens,
when he became certain that Tarleton
would be on him the next morning, he
was unnerved and almost overpOwered
with fear and felt that nothing short
of o miracle could save him. In such
d condition, he said, In the dead hours
Of the night when the mon were all
asleep, he went out into the woods,
kneeled down in a tree top and
poured out his soul In suppltCation to
d. the God of battles. He declared" to his
dying day .th&t after. that prayer he
felt strehg thened by some supernatural
power, and that he went into the battle
. fully assured of victory. -"
J; The battle when judged by It's actual
magnitude was an insignificant affair,
but whom measured 'hv its effects, was
one of the most important battles ever
fought on this continent. 1t fired the
patriot with enthusiastic hope and
struck terror to the heart of the in
vader; 1t destroyed British prestige,
vindicated American valor, and pro-
claimed in thunder tones that the days
OF the proud oppressor were numbered
and the era Of liberty and indepen.
dence was dawning.
What wonderful changes since that
cold winter day one hundred and nino.
teen years ago How much more did
Morgan and his heroes fight for than
they ever know II the veil which