Road to the Revolution

The Green River Road, which evolved from an Indian trail to a colonial trade route, played a fundamental role in Revolutionary War fighting that led to America’s victory at Yorktown, Virginia. On the evening of October 6, 1780, patriot militia from five colonies met along the road at the Cow Pens while on their way to fight British Major Patrick Ferguson. Three months later, 1100 British troops under Lieutenant Colonel Banastre Tarleton followed Brigadier General Daniel Morgan’s Flying Army along the road from the banks of the Pacolet River north to the Cow Pens. There, Morgan deployed his patriots in three defensive lines along the road and soundly defeated the British Army at daybreak on January 17, 1781. Rather than retreat across the Broad River, Morgan used the wetlands, canebrakes, and sloping terrain along the road to set a trap for the British.

South Carolina · United States