Battle of Torrence's Tavern

Confusion exists over the exact date of the Battle of Torrence's Tavern; official North Carolina historical sources often cite February 2 as the date, but Tarleton's memoirs indicate that the engagement occurred at two o'clock in the afternoon of February 1, after the early-morning confrontation at Cowan's Ford.^[8]

Cornwallis, whose army took longer to cross the Catawba, wanted to prevent Greene's forces from withdrawing quickly and being able to regroup, and so he ordered Colonel Tarleton, the commander of the British Legion, to pursue the militia formerly commanded by Davidson.^[2] After the engagement at Cowan's Ford, citizens between the Catawba and Yadkin rivers who were sympathetic to the Patriots became panicked, and many fled their homes with whatever valuables they could pack in a short period of time.^[9]

Tarleton's British Legion was a force that contained infantry, cavalry, and artillery units, but Tarleton was forced to take only his mounted soldiers with him due to heavy rains in the area. Upon nearing the site of what Tarleton labeled "Tarrant's Tavern", the British commander gained information that led him to believe the militia ahead were unprepared for any engagement, and were waiting on reinforcements from Mecklenburg and Rowan county militias.^[8] At the time of the battle, Torrence's Tavern sat on a roadway that ran from Beatty's and Cowan's fords on the Catawba directly to Salisbury.^[10] Additionally, the same rain that forced Tarleton to shed his foot-soldiers had rendered much of the militia's gunpowder supply useless. Refugees with Patriot sympathies who had fled in advance of Cornwallis' army had also used Torrence's Tavern as a rendezvous point, and a large number of both militiamen and refugees consumed alcohol from the tavern's stores.^[11]

Despite lacking support from Cornwallis' main army, Tarleton's cavalry struck immediately upon arriving at the scene, charging into the militia's makeshift camp.^[11] At the first sign of the British approach, the Patriots organized a defense under the ad hoc command of Captain Nathaniel M. Martin, who rallied the militia to a line behind a nearby rail fence. There is also evidence that Col. Thomas Farmer and some 300 militia were stationed at the tavern as a secondary defensive line.^[12] When Tarleton ordered the charge, he reminded his cavalrymen to "remember the Cowpens".^[8] The British won in a quick and convincing fashion, dispersing the militia units before they managed to complete their rally.^[11] Martin was captured in the first few moments of the battle, thereafter leaving the Patriots without any effective tactical command.^[11] With Patriot forces under the effects of such confusion, Tarleton divided his dragoons into smaller parties, ordering them to chase and further disperse the militia from the area.^[9][13]

While the battle was small, the defense provided some additional time for Greene's main army of regulars to cross the Yadkin River without harassment near Salisbury, which allowed that force to regroup and resupply.^[11] At the time of the skirmish, Greene was at a farm owned by David Carr (sometimes attributed as "Cain"^[9]), approximately 6 miles (9.7 km) from the tavern.^[10] Carr's farm had been set as a secondary rendezvous point for the Patriot militia, but none of the expected units rallied to that location following the Torrence's Tavern engagement.^[9] Upon reaching Salisbury after the loss, and finding nearly 1,700 stands of muskets rusted and in useless condition, Greene reportedly exclaimed: "These are the happy effects of defending the Country with Militia from which the good Lord deliver us!"^[14] The tavern that stood at the location of the battle was burned to the ground the day after the engagement by the main British army, as it had been operated by the Ann (Bonar) Torrence, widow of Patriot Adam Torrence—a militiaman killed at the Battle of Ramsour's Mill.^[9]

The battle's effect on the war in the south was minor, but the failure of Patriot militia to stall Cornwallis at Cowan's Ford and Torrence's Tavern forced Greene to hasten his retreat. He headed straight to his ultimate goal, Guilford Courthouse, where he planned to rendezvous with a detached force under the command of Isaac Huger.^[15] The total impact of Torrence's Tavern alone, however, has been rated as especially minor, since the Continental Army force commanded by Greene managed to escape Cornwallis' advance regardless of the short engagement's outcome, and given the more substantial delay to the British caused by the defense at Cowan's Ford the previous day.^{[10][failed verification]}

John Buchanan, an American historian, postulated that at most, Torrence's Tavern discouraged further militia turnout among North Carolinians of fighting age, noting, however, that turnout had previously been very low in that state. Buchanan went so far as to state that "had Tarleton not lived to write his history of the campaign Torrence's Tavern probably would have merited at most a footnote."^[10] Cornwallis, however, wrote to George Germain, 1st Viscount Sackville about the engagements of February 1–2, 1781, and stated that "this stroke, with our passage of the ford, so effectively dispirited the militia, that we met with no further opposition on our march to the Yadkin."^[11]

A Daughters of the American Revolution stone marker was placed near the battle site in 1914, marking the site of the tavern and commemorating the members of nearby Centre Presbyterian Church who had fought in the war.^[1] In 1939, the State of North Carolina placed a Historical marker on the south-bound shoulder of N.C. Highway 115 in Mount Mourne marking the approximate location of the battle.^[16]

• Barefoot, Daniel (1998). Touring North Carolina's Revolutionary War Sites. Winston-Salem, NC: John F. Blair. ISBN 978-0-89587-217-3.
• Buchanan, John (1997). The Road to Guilford Courthouse: The American Revolution in the Carolinas. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. ISBN 0-471-16402-X.
• Cross, Jerry L. (2006). "Cowan's Ford, Battle of". In Powell, William S (ed.). Encyclopedia of North Carolina. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press. ISBN 978-0-8078-3071-0.
• Hairr, John (2006). "Torrence's Tavern, Battle of". In Powell, William S (ed.). Encyclopedia of North Carolina. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press. ISBN 978-0-8078-3071-0.
• Rankin, Hugh F. (1971). The North Carolina Continentals. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press. ISBN 978-0-8078-1154-2.
• Stonestreet, O.C. IV (2014). A Quick and Bloody Affair: The Skirmish at Torrence's Tavern. Createspace Publishing. ISBN 978-1-5025-3410-1.
• Stonestreet, O.C. IV (2012). The Battle of Cowan's Ford: General Davidson's Stand on the Catawba River and its place in North Carolina History. Createspace Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4680-7730-8.
• Tarleton, Banastre, Lt. Gen. (1787). A History of the Campaigns of 1780 and 1781: In the Southern Provinces of North America. Dublin: Colles, Exshaw, White, H. Whitestone, Burton, Byrne, Moore, Jones, and Dornin. OCLC 16156093.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

35°32′35″N 80°50′50″W / 35.54306°N 80.84722°W / 35.54306; -80.84722