Battle Of Cowpens Essay, Research Paper
06 October 2000
MEMORANDUM FOR Professor of Military Science
SUBJECT: Compare and Contrast the battle of Cannae and the battle of Cowpens.
1. The battle of Cannae was fought between Hannibal and the Romans. Because of key factors, such as unity of command and maneuver, Hannibal was able to defeat the Romans with a smaller force. Hannibal placed himself between the Roman leigons and a river with the majority of his cavalry on his left flank. As the romans began marching forward, Hannibal instructed his main effort to conduct a delaying action by slowly maneuvering back. At the same time his cavalry moved forward to destroy the cavalry on the Roman s right flank. After that they completely circumvented the roman legion to its rear and attacked the cavalry on the Roman legions left flank. At this time the Roman forces were completely surrounded by Hannibal s infantry with his cavalry to their rear.
a. Unity of Command: Hannibal had complete control of all his forces, even though he had them perform as separate entitys. The romans had two commanders controlling cavalry and infantry which maneuvered as one force.
b. Maneuver: The romans maneuvered as on unit in one direction with the cavalry securing each flanks. Hannibal s forces maneuvered as three separate entitys with one clear objective. His cavalry exposed the Roman s flanks then waited till the romans were surrounded.
2. The battle of Cowpens was fought between America led by Morgan and Britain led by Tarleton. The majority of Morgan s forces were militia men and less experienced than the contennentals or the redcoats. To compensate for this Morgan placed his men in three ranks. Sharpshooters were in the first rank. Militiamen were in the second rank. Contenentals were in the third rank. The sharpshooters were ordered to fire two volleys and withdraw behind the militiamen who would fire a couple volleys then retire behind the contenentals. Tarleton attempted to flank Morgan s infantry; however, Morgan countered this with Washingtons cavalry which he had hidden behind a hill. Tarleton s forces continued to move forward, while Morgan s militia men gave the impression that they were retreating, but in actuality they were maneuvering behind the hill to Morgan s rear so they could attack Tarleton s left flank. This left Tarleton s forces completely surrounded with contenentals in front militiamen to their left and cavalry to their right.
a. Maneuver: Like Hannibal, Morgan maneuvered a portion of his forces to unexpectedly flank Tarleton. Unlike Hannibal, Morgan took advantage of the high ground and major terrain features. Hannibal just used the river to his rear to give the impression that he had no where to retreat.
b. Unity of Command: Morgan maintained complete control of all his forces, even though they all played a different part in the operation