Cowpens was the battle in the RevWar in SC where loyalist dragoon commander Butcher Tarleton had his head handed to him by Dan Morgan in the space of some 20 min.
Lots of areas back then were open space and used as “cow pens”, or pastures. This is just 1 of them and probably gained official naming just because of the pivotal battle.
Interesting, I didn’t know that bit of history. Around here, a pasture is generally a wide open space, used either for cattle grazing, or growing feed, or hay, and a cowpen is a smaller fenced area used for separating cattle or feeding. Usually knee-deep in manure and mud this time of year. I’ll give ‘em a pass for naming their ship that then..LOL.