Cowpens Flag or 3rd Maryland Regiment Flag or
North Point Flag or Batchelor Flag-1781
Facing a stalemate in the north, the British shifted focus to the south in 1780. The British march through the southern states was finally stopped by General Daniel Morgan in South Carolina at the Battle of Cowpens on 17 January 1781. Thirty-three years later, once again marching across the south, the British were stopped in Maryland at the Battle of North Point, 12 September 1814.
Legend has it, the Cowpens Flag was carried by William Batchelor at the Battle of Cowpens and by a descendant at the Battle of Northpoint. The Flag was donated to a veterans’ group in 1843. It was presented to the Maryland Statehouse in 1907 and is currently archived.
Fredrick Kemmelmeyer’s 1809 painting, “Battle of Cowpens” prominently features a Flag with 12 stars in a circle and a 13th in the center, linking the design with the Battle of Cowpens. The design was popular from the late 1700’s to the late 1800’s. Several Flags from the mid 1800’s still exist. The Pewter Society included the design on a banner carried in a 1788 parade and in 1876 Archibald Willard placed it in his painting “The Spirit of ‘76”.
Sources include:
American Battlefield Trust. “Cowpens” Retrieved 22 June 2024, from https://www.battlefields.org/learn/revolutionary-war/battles/cowpens
American Battlefield Trust. “North Point” Retrieved 23 June 2024, from https://www.battlefields.org/learn/maps/north-point-sep-12-1814
Canby, George. “The Evolution of the American Flag” pp. 79-84, (1909) Ferris & Leach
Furlong, William and McCandless, Byron “So Proudly We Hail, The History of the United States Flag” p. 133 (1981) Smithsonian Institution Press
Kemmelmeyer, Frederick “Battle of Cowpens” (1809) Oil on canvas. Yale University Art Gallery
Reckord, Milton. “Guide Book and Descriptive Manual of Battle Flags in Flag Room of State House” p. 7 (1965) Military Department, State of Maryland https://msa.maryland.gov/megafile/msa/speccol/sc5300/sc5339/000052/000000/000004/restricted/govpub/i/005423/html/34139-0001.html
Rockefeller, R. J. "Supposed 'Cowpens Flag': Vexillology and Historiography Create a New Understanding and Nomenclature in Raven." (2022)
Sotheby’s “A 13 Star American National Flag Mid 19th Century” (2002)
Sotheby’s “A 13 Star American National Flag Mid 19th Century” (2009)
Unidentified Maker. “Pewterer’s Banner” (1788) Silk. New York Historical Society.
van Walt, Helen “Flag of 1781 and 1812 Holds Honor Spot in State House” (1953) The Washington Post
Willard, Archibald. “Spirit of ‘76” (1876) Oil on canvas. Marblehead Historical Commission, Marblehead, Mass.
Most gracious thanks to Morgan Miller, Megan Craynon, and Owen Lourie of the Maryland State Archives for the plethora of information.