Brigadier General Daniel Morgan devised a tactical masterstroke against the feared Colonel Tarleton. Morgan positioned his militia in two lines in front of his regulars, ordering them to fire two volleys then deliberately fall back — feigning retreat. Tarleton's cavalry charged in pursuit, only to find the Continental regulars waiting. Morgan then executed a double envelopment — the militia rallied, the regulars held, and Tarleton's entire force was destroyed. Tarleton barely escaped with 200 cavalry.
One of the most tactically brilliant American victories of the war. Morgan's 'double envelopment' is still studied at military academies. It devastated Cornwallis's light forces and set in motion the campaign that ended at Yorktown.
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At 2:38 a.m. Baghdad time on January 17, 1991, the most sophisticated air campaign in history began. F-117 Nighthawk stealth fighters dropped laser-guided bombs on Iraqi command centers and air defense nodes. Tomahawk cruise missiles — launched from ships in the Persian Gulf — flew through Baghdad streets at low altitude, navigating by terrain-following radar to strike the Ministry of Defense and the Ba'ath Party headquarters. CNN reporters in the Al-Rashid Hotel broadcast the explosions live to the world. In the first 24 hours, coalition aircraft flew 1,300 sorties. Iraq's integrated air defense system was blinded within hours.
The opening of Desert Storm marked the birth of modern precision warfare — stealth aircraft, cruise missiles, and real-time battle management made this the most technologically advanced military operation in history to that point.
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