Daniel Morgan was promoted from Colonel to Brigadier General on October 13, 1780, eleven days after taking command of the light infantry corps as part of the southern campaign. After meeting with his new commander, Maj. Gen. Nathanael Greene, on December 3, 1780, Morgan was ordered to take his army of 700 men into South Carolina to forage and harass the enemy, but avoid a direct confrontation. This would give Greene time to strengthen his army in Charlotte. 

After only a few weeks in South Carolina, Colonel Banastre Tarleton and his legion of well trained British soldiers were closing in on Morgan’s army. Knowing a confrontation was inevitable, Morgan made his stand at a place called the Cowpens, in modern day Cherokee County. Joined by several Battalions of local militia, Morgan handed the British one of their most embarrassing losses of the war, and at the same time convinced many skeptics that the war was winnable.

Morgan was loved by those that served under him. He possessed a leadership ability that endeared him to his men while, at the same time, inspiring them to fight battles against, seemingly, insurmountable odds.

Shortly after the Battle of Cowpens, Daniel Morgan retired to his home in Virginia, unable to continue in the war due to ongoing health problems that had plagued him for several years.