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In the later months of the Revolutionary War, Lord Charles Cornwallis marched his British forces through the backcountry of North Carolina to intercept General Nathanael Greene and his Patriot troops. On February 1, 1781, the Battle of Cowan’s Ford was General Greene’s attempt to prevent a full-scale battle with the superior British forces. Although Lord Cornwallis successfully tricked the Patriot forces at Cowan’s Ford, General Greene was able to elude the British with his “fight-and-retreat” strategy.
As General Greene marched his troops through North Carolina, the British chased him and the Patriots through Piedmont, North Carolina. General Greene knew that Cornwallis had to cross the Catawba River to continue his pursuit, and he predicted that the British would cross Beattie’s Ford or Cowan’s Ford. Knowing the British’s intentions, Greene commissioned General William Lee Davidson with a small force of about five hundred militiamen to stymie Cornwallis’s advance.
Cornwallis, an elusive and masterful opponent, attempted to deceive General Davidson by sending a small number of British soldiers to Beattie’s Ford on January 31. The British commander and the bulk of his forces intended to cross the Catawba at Cowan’s Ford instead. However, Davidson, informed by Greene about Lord Cornwallis’s tactics, moved his men to Cowan’s Ford under the cover of the night.
The Catawba River near Cowan’s Ford was about 400 yards wide, with a rocky and irregular bottom that caused fluctuations in depth. Regular travelers had established two lines of direction for crossing. A wagon ford went directly across to the east bank, and a longer, shallower horse ford started at the same point but turned right about two-thirds of the way across, ran over the end of a large island, and headed toward a rocky hill about a quarter of a mile from the exit of the wagon ford. Recent rains had swollen the river, creating a swirling current, and a misty fog shrouded the area, but Cornwallis wasted no time in ordering his men to cross the wagon ford. They waded in, four to a column, with bayoneted muskets and long staffs to steady them in the rough current. Not until considerable progress had been made did the splashing waters alert American sentries, who sounded the alarm and began firing.
Davidson, expecting the British to cross via the horse ford, had deployed most of his men there. Quickly responding to the sounds of battle, he led the remainder of his force to the scene, but by the time he arrived, the first British troops had reached the shore and cannons brought to the British front on the west bank had begun to pound the American defenses. Davidson ordered his men to fall back to the woods and dense undergrowth to regroup, but while trying to rally a particularly hesitant unit, a ball pierced his chest and he died instantly. With their general down, the Americans broke ranks and fled, turning the battle into a rout for the British.
Late that evening Davidson’s body was found, stripped and raindrenched. His wallet of papers, presumed taken by a British soldier, was discovered in the Public Records Office in London, in 1951. It was returned to the United States in 2001.[8] General Davidson is buried at Hopewell Presbyterian Church in Mecklenburg county, NC.
A Patriot later recalled the retreat. In Narrative of the Battle of Cowan’s Ford, Robert Henry writes, “I observed Beatty loading again; I ran down another load—when I fired, he cried, ‘it’s time to run, Bob’” (p. 11). As Henry fled from the British, his friend, Beatty, was struck by British musket fire. He writes: “I then ran at the top of my speed about one hundred yards” (p. 11). Henry’s primary source provides a first-person account of the Patriots’ retreat.
Today, the present site of the Battle of Cowan’s Ford rests under Lake Norman near Charlotte, North Carolina. A memorial site rests near the area that honors General William Lee Davidson.
As mentioned, LKNConnect.com aims to report the history of “Life Before The Lake.” We will be researching the past of the towns around the lake and would like to hear from you about your family’s history of the area.
I have lived in Huntersville my entire life. We actually trace my family’s history back for eight generations. When folks hear this, they ask, “What was life like before the lake?” That question inspired me to research the history of the area. This new feature is the result of those questions. I plan to write many articles about “Life Before The Lake” and post them on www.Lknconnect.com’s website.
Information for this article came from several sources. One was Chuck McShane’s book A History of Lake Norman, published by The History Press, Charleston, SC 29403, Copyright, 2014. The other source was from Cindy Jacobs’ book, Images of America, Around Lake Norman, published by Arcada Publishing, Charleston, SC Copywrite, 2008
Photos were Courtesy of Duke Power
Follow LKNConnect.com for future short articles from these books, or they can be ordered from your favorite online bookstore.
