In an age of civil unrest, burning cities, and bitter political division, the words “Give me liberty or give me death” may sound like a relic, until you realise how urgently they still apply.
As Americans mark 250 years since the birth of the U.S. Army, we’re reminded that the republic was not forged by standing armies alone, but by citizens who stood up when the moment demanded it. The militia - ordinary men with muskets, not uniforms - were the backbone of early American resistance. And today, as debates rage over gun rights, government power, and the meaning of freedom, the Second Amendment is not just about hunting rifles.
It’s a living reminder that liberty has always depended on the courage and readiness of the people. This is the story of Cowpens, of cunning and courage, and of how a ragtag militia helped birth a nation - and why their legacy still matters.
June 14, 1775, marks the official birth of the United States Army - the day the Continental Congress, facing the outbreak of revolution, resolved to unify the scattered colonial militias under one command. What began as a desperate act of survival - organising farmers, blacksmiths, and shopkeepers into soldiers - became the cornerstone of the longest-standing military force in American history.
The militia may have lit the match, but it was the Continental Army that kept the flame alive through eight long years of war.
Formed on June 14, 1775, by order of the Continental Congress, the Army was built from scratch, poorly equipped, frequently unpaid, and often undermanned. But it had one irreplaceable asset: endurance. While militias came and went, the Continentals stayed. They wintered at Valley Forge, marched barefoot through snow, and held the line when others could not.
At Cowpens, the genius of Daniel Morgan was not just in deploying militia to feint and fall back - it was in trusting the Continental line to hold fast. When the British surged forward in disarray, it was the steady discipline of the Continentals that broke their advance. Calm, methodical, and trained to fire by volley, they blunted the charge that Tarleton assumed would rout them.
The militia lured the British in - but it was the Continentals who crushed them.
This synergy - spontaneous patriotism backed by professional resolve - is what ultimately won the war. One without the other would not have been enough.
A Backcountry Turning Point
"The Battle of Cowpens, fought on January 17, 1781, was pivotal during the American War of Independence. Located in present-day South Carolina, this battle is celebrated as a masterpiece of military strategy and a significant turning point in the Southern campaign..."
So begins the account - and what an account it is. I do encourage you to watch " The Patriot " if you have not seen it. It is a top watch. "The Patriot" follows the journey of Benjamin Martin (Mel Gibson), a composite character inspired by several historical figures, including Francis Marion, (known as the Swamp Fox ) Thomas Sumter, and Daniel Morgan. Martin, a veteran of the French and Indian War, initially seeks to avoid the conflict with Britain but is drawn into the fray after a personal tragedy. His son Gabriel (Heath Ledger) joins the Continental Army, and the narrative centres on their efforts against the brutal British forces, particularly the fictional Colonel William Tavington (Jason Isaacs), inspired by the notorious British officer Banastre Tarleton.
But back to our story: Led by Brigadier General Daniel Morgan, the Americans faced off against the ruthless British cavalry commander Banastre Tarleton, whose name had become synonymous with fear in the South. Tarleton was swift, brutal, and overconfident. Morgan, however, had a secret weapon: not just strategy, but trust in the irregulars..... the very militias often dismissed as unreliable.
Morgan’s tactical genius lay in how he wove the militia into the fabric of the battle plan. The militia were not cannon fodder. They were a feint. Positioned on the front line, they were ordered to fire two volleys and then retreat... deliberately drawing Tarleton into the trap. Behind them stood the hardened Continentals, calm and ready. Waiting in reserve, Colonel William Washington’s cavalry, hidden and patient, would strike the flanks and rear.
The result was not just a victory. It was a textbook display of layered defense, deception, and timing. Tarleton’s troops were broken, outflanked, and captured. It was one of the most complete routs in British military history.
After suffering setbacks in the North, the British shifted their focus to the South, aiming to rally Loyalist support and regain momentum. General Charles Cornwallis, the British commander in the South, dispatched Banastre Tarleton to pursue and neutralise the American forces under Daniel Morgan.
On the morning of January 17, 1781, Tarleton's forces, numbering around 1,100, engaged Morgan's approximately 1,000 men. As planned, the militia fired their volleys and then feigned a retreat, luring Tarleton's troops into a hasty and uncoordinated charge.
And at its core was a truth still often overlooked: the militia didn’t just participate - they enabled the victory.
Citizen Soldiers and the Cause of Liberty
Watching Mel Gibson's film The Patriot, one cannot help but be struck by the tension between duty and reluctance, between fighting for one’s land and hoping the fight never comes to your door. And yet it always does. Just as in the film, the American Revolution was not won by professionals alone. It was ordinary men, called up from their farms and towns, who pushed the struggle beyond speeches and into action.
"The militia consisted primarily of ordinary colonial citizens, including farmers, craftsmen, merchants, and others who were not professional soldiers..."
Each colony had its militia system. Loosely trained. Poorly equipped. Often led by local figures of trust rather than military pedigree. But they knew the terrain. They knew their communities. And they knew what they were fighting for.
Their motto wasn’t polished military doctrine. It was raw:
“Give me liberty, or give me death.”
In the tangled woods of the South, in swamps and backroads, these part-time patriots fought like ghosts - ambushing supply lines, harassing redcoats, and vanishing before retaliation. They were America’s first guerrilla fighters, not unlike the French Resistance of WWII: driven not by uniforms, but by belief.
From Militia to Military
When Congress formed the Continental Army in 1775, it did so by adopting the militias already engaged around Boston. The birth of the Army was not the replacement of the militia, but its transformation - a maturation from chaos to cohesion. The Army would go on to win the war, but it never did so alone.
The lesson of Cowpens, and countless other battles, is that citizen soldiers made the dream of a republic real.
Even after the war, this legacy echoed. The Second Amendment, ratified in 1791, doesn’t just speak of arms. It speaks of a “well-regulated militia”, enshrining the idea that ordinary people, prepared to defend liberty, remain the final safeguard of a free state.
250 Years On
As America marks 250 years since June 14, 1775, it is right to honour the Continental Army - the disciplined, steady force forged in the crucible of rebellion.
But we must also remember the men who stood on that first line at Cowpens.The ones who fired two volleys and ran, not in cowardice, but according to plan. The ones who fought without pay, without rank, without certainty. The ones who believed enough to pick up their muskets anyway.
This is where the Army began - with the militia and The Continentals. And this is where freedom begins - with the ordinary people.
From Cowpens to the Capitol: How the Militia Became the National Guard
The uneasy partnership between the militia and the Continental Army in the Revolution eventually matured into one of America’s defining military principles: the balance between the citizen-soldier and the standing army.
After the war, there was deep distrust of permanent military power. Many of the Founding Fathers .... including George Washington, understood the necessity of a professional army, but feared what a large, unchecked force might mean for liberty. The solution? A small standing army backed by state-controlled militias, regular citizens trained and ready to defend their communities and the republic if called upon.
This model evolved slowly, but it was formalised over the 19th and 20th centuries. The Militia Act of 1903 marked the beginning of the modern National Guard, integrating state militias into the federal military structure. Guardsmen would train under federal standards, but remain under state control unless federalised - a dual loyalty reflecting the Founders’ original vision.
Today, that balance remains:
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The U.S. Army represents the professional, full-time force, the heirs of the Continental line.
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The National Guard traces its lineage to the militias, local, responsive, and tied to the citizenry.
They serve together in war zones. They respond together in natural disasters. And, just like at Cowpens, their strength lies in how they complement each other - discipline and spontaneity, training and heart, permanence and patriotism.
Sadly, of late, we have seen riots and protests from people who believe that " Death to America " and burning the flag is an act of honour.
It’s easy to call yourself a liberator. Harder to build a nation worth liberating.
As civil unrest sweeps through cities and slogans of resistance fill the air, it’s worth remembering the true legacy of America’s original freedom fighters. The militia men of 1775 didn’t tear their country down - they built it, from muskets and grit and a belief in liberty strong enough to die for.
As we mark 250 years since the U.S. Army was born, we revisit the Battle of Cowpens - a moment where citizen and soldier stood together. And we reflect on why the Second Amendment wasn’t written to glorify violence, but to enshrine the duty of the people to defend what they had fought so hard to create.
As an Australian, I hope I have told this historical tale accurately. If I have erred, please let me know. Monty.
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