As Tarleton’s men attacked, Morgan instructed the militia to fight with them but to leave the front line after firing two rounds. The British mistook the repositioning of the Americans as a rout and ran into an unexpected volley of concentrated rifle fire coupled with a cavalry charge and followed by the return of the militia. Tarleton escaped, but Morgan's troops killed his army. American rifles, scorned by British professional soldiers, proved devastatingly effective in this relationship. More than 800 British troops were killed, wounded or captured. The Americans suffered less than 100 injuries or deaths in the first Patriot victory to demonstrate that they could outfight a similar British force without any other factors to assist them.
