Last updated: September 30, 2026
Place
Cowpens Audio Tour Stop 15: Washington Light Infantry Monument
NPS Photo / Mike Puckett
The sole monument on the Cowpens National Battlefield is the Washington Light Infantry Monument. It was constructed in 1856 by members of the Washington Light Infantry Militia from Charleston, South Carolina. The unit was originally named to honor George Washington. In 1827, the widow of Lt. Colonel William Washington, Jane Elliott, donated his flag to the organization. Washington flew the flag at the 1781 Battle of Eutaw Springs.
Jane and William were courting when she made the flag for him and gave it to William prior to the Cowpens battle. Washington may have carried the flag into battle at Cowpens, but there is no definitive proof. William Washington settled in South Carolina after the war and when the unit received the Eutaw flag, they adopted Lt. Colonel Wahington as their new patron instead of his distant cousin George.
The monument is similar in design to others from the American Revolution. Originally constructed with sand and seashells from Sullivan’s Island, it had an octagonal base, an iron shaft, with a golden eagle perched on top of the shaft. In the base, they included a written account of the 1781 Cowpens battle and a roster of the members of their unit. The men also placed a bottle of water from Eutaw Springs and a brick from a house near that same battlefield. Washington was seriously wounded at Eutaw Springs and captured by the British ending his role in the Revolution.
The National Park Service acquired the land where the Battle of Cowpens was fought from private landowners in the 1970’s. The monument had suffered from neglect and time and needed restoration. In the early 1980s, the National Park Service restored the monument as close to its 1856 appearance, but notably lacking the golden eagle.