Battle of Torrence's Tavern

The Battle of Torrence's Tavern (also referred to as the Skirmish at Torrence's Tavern or the Battle at Tarrant's Tavern) was an engagement of the American Revolutionary War that took place in what was the western portion of Rowan County, North Carolina, approximately 10 miles (16 km) east of the Catawba River near modern-day Mooresville in Iredell County. Torrence's Tavern was a part of the larger Southern campaign of the American Revolution, which, by 1780–1781 involved a series of clashes between the British Army and Loyalist militia and the Continental Army and Patriot militia in the Piedmont region of North and South Carolina.

The engagement took place on either February 1 or February 2, 1781 immediately following the Battle of Cowan's Ford. Units commanded by Colonel Banastre Tarleton defeated General Daniel Morgan's forces. The victory further demoralized fleeing militiamen and refugees, and shrank the numbers of North Carolina militia who turned out. General Nathanael Greene, commander of the Continental Army in the southern theater, moved his forces further east. This move allowed Greene to unite his army with several detached Patriot forces in the Piedmont prior to the Battle of Guilford Courthouse.