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By V.G. Fowler,
National Park Ranger
Charles Wilson Peale
portrait of Daniel Morgan courtesy of Independence National Historical
Park
Daniel Morgan was born of Welsh
parents in 1736. Because he rarely spoke of his early life, much of it
remains a mystery. Therefore, his contemporaries assumed that his
younger years must have been painful. Most authorities agree that Morgan
was born in Hunterdon County, New Jersey. After having an argument with
his father when he was about seventeen years old, he left home without
his parents knowledge or permission and moved to Virginia.
When Morgan arrived in
Virginia, he could barely read and write. His manners were rude, and he
enjoyed fist fighting. He eventually became adept at card games and
enjoyed strong drink. His first job was to prepare land for planting.
Young Daniel was a hard worker and soon moved to another position as
superintendent of a sawmill. After that he became a wagoner, a person
who drove a wagonload of supplies across the mountains to the settlers.
He served as a wagoner for the
British Army during the French and Indian War. It was during this period
that he got his nickname, "The Old Wagoner." In the spring of
1756, as Morgan was taking a load of supplies to Fort Chiswell, he
somehow irritated a British Lieutenant who struck Morgan with the flat
of his sword. Morgan characteristically knocked out the officer with a
single blow of his fist. As a result, he was court-martialed and
sentenced to 500 lashes. In later years, Morgan delighted in telling
that the drummer who was counting the lashes miscounted, and he only
received 499. Morgan always maintained that the British owed him one
more lash. In 1757, Morgan joined the British army, and several
influential men recommended to the governor that Morgan be made a
captain, but the only rank available was that of ensign. Morgan accepted
the commission. As Ensign Morgan and two escorts were taking a dispatch
to the commanding officer at Winchester, Virginia, Indians ambushed them
at Hanging Rock. They killed the escorts and seriously wounded Morgan.
The bullet, which struck him in the back of his neck, knocked out the
teeth on his left jaw, and exited his cheek. Morgan carried the scar the
rest of his life.
In 1759 Morgan bought a
two-story house (which he named Soldiers Rest) in Winchester, and by
1763 he had set up housekeeping with Abigail Curry. They were officially
married in 1773. In the meantime, she had a positive influence on his
manners and morals. Daniel and Abigail Morgan had two daughters. (One,
Nancy, married Presley Neville, a Revolutionary War veteran. Their other
daughter, Betsy, married James Heard, also a Revolutionary War veteran.)
In addition, Morgan had an illegitimate son, Willoughby,* who grew up in
South Carolina.
Having no love lost for the
British, Daniel Morgan joined the American army and accepted a
commission of captain of a rifle company when the Revolutionary War
began. The British captured Morgan and his riflemen along with Benedict
Arnold at Quebec in December 1775.
They paroled them eight months later on the promise that the parolees
would not fight against the British until they were exchanged for
British prisoners. Morgan distinguished himself at both Battles
of Saratoga in 1777, and many historians believe that he did not get
the credit that he deserved for his actions.
In 1779, having been passed
over for promotion to Brigadier General, Morgan resigned from the Army.
In June 1780, Congress offered Morgan command of the Southern Theatre of
the war. Since Congress had not offered him a promotion to go with the
new command, Morgan declined and remained a civilian. After Gates
disastrous defeat at Camden, SC, Morgan put aside his personal feelings
for the good of the country and rejoined the army in the Southern
Campaign. In October of 1780, Congress finally gave him a promotion to
Brigadier General.
Perhaps Morgans most
memorable moment came on January 17, 1781. It was at the Cow
Pens, a well-known pasturing area for cattle in the upcountry of
South Carolina, that Morgan with his experienced, but untrained, militia
and 300 Continentals defeated the better-trained British army under
Lieutenant Colonel Banastre Tarleton. Morgan knew his men and his
opponent, knew how they would react in certain situations, and used this
knowledge and the terrain to his advantage. The Americans camped on the
battlefield the night before the battle. Morgan went amongst the men:
encouraging them, telling them what he expected of them, and showing
them his back, complete with the scars from his flogging.
On the morning of January 17,
Morgan deployed his men in three main lines of defense. He knew that the
militia had a tendency to run. Therefore he divided them into two groups
and placed his sharpshooters on the top of a gentle rise and ordered
them to fire twice and then retreat behind the second line. The second
line of militia were positioned just behind the crest of the hill and
were to fire twice and then retreat behind the Continentals who were
about 150 yards behind them. Morgan knew he could count on the
Continentals to take the hardest part of the fighting and that they
would not run. He prepared them for the militias retreat. He placed
his reserves, Washingtons cavalry, in a swale that hid them from the
British view. He knew that Tarletons aggressive nature would lead him
to drive straight into the Americans.
The British arrived about dawn,
and Tarleton sent them into battle before they were fully deployed. The
militia fired as ordered and retreated. The British pressed on
valiantly, engaging the Continentals and fighting hard. Tarleton ordered
the 71st Highlanders to advance. They threatened the American
right side, and Lieutenant Colonel John Eager Howard ordered the men on
the right to turn to face the new threat. The order was mistaken, and
the entire line began an orderly retreat. Morgan used the mistaken order
to his advantage. He ordered the 3rd line to retreat to a
place which he chose and then to fire. Meanwhile, thinking that they had
won the battle, the British broke ranks and charged forward. The
Patriots surrounded the British. The Americans won.
Because he had sciatica so bad
that it was too painful for him to sit on a horse, Morgan retired to his
home in Virginia after the Battle of
Cowpens. He later built another house which he named Saratoga for
the famous battles in New York at which he had distinguished himself. On
March 25, 1790 he finally received a gold medal which Congress had
struck to honor him for his victory at Cowpens. Following the
Revolution, Morgan organized and led a group of militia against the
protesters during the Whiskey Rebellion.
In 1797 he was elected and served one term in the House of
Representatives. He died on July 6, 1802.
Daniel Morgan is a prime
example of what one can accomplish with ones life if one works hard
and plans well. As his biographer James Graham stated, "His
strength and spirit, his frank and manly bearing, his intelligence and
good-humor, set off by a rich fund of natural wit, which he kept in
constant exercise, rendered him a favorite among the people, and
contributed to give him a great influence over his associates."
*See Daniel Morgan:
Revolutionary Rifleman by Don Higginbotham.
To
learn more about Daniel Morgan, read the following books:
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Life of General Daniel
Morgan of the Virginia Line of the Army of the United States by
James Graham
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Daniel Morgan
Revolutionary Rifleman by Don Higginbotham
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"Downright
Fighting": The Story of Cowpens (Official National Park
Handbook) by Thomas J. Fleming
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A Devil of a Whipping:
The Battle of Cowpens by Lawrence E. Babits
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Encyclopedia of the
American Revolution by Mark M. Boatner III
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Battle of Cowpens: A
Documented Narrative and Troop Movement Maps by Edwin C. Bearss
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