Major Archibald McArthur

Archibald McArthur was a professional British soldier who had risen through the ranks of the 71st Regiment of Foot — Fraser's Highlanders — one of the most storied Scottish regiments in the British Army. The regiment had been raised in 1775 specifically for service in America, drawing its officers and men from the Highland clans whose martial tradition made them among the most formidable infantry the Crown could field. McArthur commanded the regiment with the experience and steadiness expected of a veteran officer in a crack regular unit.

At the Battle of Cowpens on January 17, 1781, the 71st Highlanders formed the core of Tarleton's British force and were positioned as the final reserve intended to deliver the decisive blow against what Tarleton expected to be a disorganized American militia. When the apparent retreat of the American line seemed to offer the opportunity for a finishing assault, Tarleton committed his reserves, including the Highlanders, to press the pursuit. Instead of meeting a broken enemy, McArthur's men ran into the disciplined bayonet charge of the Continental regulars of the Maryland and Delaware lines. Simultaneously, William Washington's cavalry struck the British flank and Andrew Pickens's re-formed militia swept around the opposite side. Caught in a closing double envelopment, the Highlanders had no avenue of escape and no reserves left to support them. McArthur surrendered what remained of his command on the field — a capitulation that marked the effective destruction of Tarleton's force. The loss of the 71st, the most experienced regular unit in the British southern army, was a blow from which Cornwallis could not easily recover.

McArthur and the surviving Highlanders were taken prisoner and held in American captivity. His personal fate after the war is less well documented than those of more senior officers, but his role at Cowpens secured his place in the historiography of the battle as the commander of the unit whose surrender signaled the completeness of the American victory. The conduct of the 71st at Cowpens — professional and disciplined until the tactical situation made resistance impossible — was fully consistent with the regiment's reputation throughout the war.