Shannon Stirnweis (Arizona, New York, New Hampshire Oregon, B. 1931) "Battle of the Cowpens" Original Oil painting on Illustration Board. Signed lower right. Provenance: Collection of James A. Helzer (1946-2008), Founder of Unicover Corporation. This painting was originally published on a Fleetwood First Day of Issue Postal Card for the U.S. 10c Battle of the Cowpens. Nathanael Greene, the new American commander in the southern theater of the Revolutionary War, elected to play a dangerous but necessary game. He detached Daniel Morgan with a thousand men to harass enemy outposts in the Carolina backcountry. Dividing his strength in the face of Charles Cornwallis' superior British force was highly unorthodox -- but also highly effective. Cornwallis took the bait and divided his own army, sending cavalryman Banastre Tarleton after Morgan. On January 17, 1781, Morgan took position at a grassy meadow called the Cowpens. Morgan, a rough-hewn former teamster, had a special way with raw militia troops. He put them in the front line, promising "two shots, boys, and you are free!" They were then to retreat to safety behind a low ridge and let the second line, of seasoned Continentals, carry the fight. And so it happened, exactly as Morgan had planned. The impetuous Tarleton sent his men charging forward, the militia delivered a killing fire and hurried for the rear. Heartened by the sight, Tarleton charged the second line. At the height of the action, just as the Continentals counterattacked, Morgan led the militia into action again, hitting the exposed British flank. Redcoats by the hundreds threw down their arms in surrender. Against casualties of just twelve and sixty wounded, Morgan could count the nearly complete destruction of Tarleton's force -- over nine hundred killed, wounded, or captured. Image Size: 15.5 x 15.25 in. Overall Size: 20.25 x 17.25 in. Unframed. (B06885)