began to collapse; some men surrendering on the spot, while others turned and ran. Howard's men charged forward and seized the two British grasshopper cannons. William Washington's cavalry came around from behind the opposite American left to hit the British on their right flank and rear. Pickens's militia, having now reorganized, charged out from behind the hill, completing a 360-degree circle around the American position to hit the 71st Highlanders on the British left flank and rear. Howard ordered the Virginia militia, whose withdrawal had brought on the British ill-fated charge, to turn about and attack the Scots from the other direction. The shock of the sudden charge, coupled with the reappearance of the American militiamen on the left flank where Tarleton's exhausted men expected to see their own cavalry, proved too much for the British. Nearly half of the British and Loyalist infantrymen fell to the ground whether they were wounded or not. Their will to fight was gone. Historian Lawrence Babits diagnoses "combat shock" as the cause for this abrupt British collapse—the effects of exhaustion, hunger, and demoralization suddenly catching up with them. Caught in a clever double envelopment that has been compared with the Battle of Cannae in ancient times, many of the British surrendered. When Tarleton's right flank and center line collapsed, only a minority of the 71st Highlanders were putting up a fight against part of Howard's line. Tarleton, realizing how desperate his situation was, rode back to his sole remaining intact unit, the British Legion cavalry. He ordered them to charge, but they instead fled the field. The Highlanders, surrounded by militia and Continentals, surrendered. Desperate to save something, Tarleton found about forty cavalrymen and with them tried to retrieve his two cannons, but they had been captured, and he too retreated from the field. Although their charge was initially effective, the dragoons, numbering about 50, were quickly surprised and outnumbered by concealed American cavalry, under Colonel William Washington, and driven back in disarray. Washington was in close pursuit of the retreating Tarleton and found himself somewhat isolated. He was attacked by the British commander and two of his men. Tarleton was stopped by Washington himself, who attacked him with his sword, calling out, "Where is now the boasting, Tarleton?" A cornet of the 17th, Thomas Patterson, rode up to strike Washington, but was shot by Washington's orderly trumpeter. Washington survived this assault and