Daniel Morgan, born in New Jersey about 1736, was of Welsh parentage.
His family having an interest in some Virginia lands, he went to that
colony at seventeen years of age. When Braddock began his march against
Fort Duquesne, Morgan joined the army as a teamster, and did good
service at the rout of the English army at Monongahela, by bringing
away the wounded. Upon returning from this disastrous campaign, he was
appointed ensign in the colonial service, and soon after was sent with
important despatches to a distant fort. Surprised by the Indians, his
two companions were instantly killed, while he received a rifle-ball in
the back of his neck, which shattered his jaw and passed through his
left cheek, inflicting the only severe wound he received during his
entire military career. Believing himself about to die, but determined
that his scalp should not fall into the hands of his assailants, he
clasped his arms around his horse’s neck and spurred him forward. An
Indian followed in hot pursuit; but finding Morgan’s steed too swift
for him, he threw his tomahawk, hoping to strike his victim. Morgan
however escaped and reached the fort, but was lifted fainting from
the saddle and was not restored to health for six months. In 1762, he
obtained a grant of land near Winchester, Virginia, where he devoted
himself to farming and stock-raising. Summoned again to military duty,
he served during the Pontiac War, but from 1765 to 1775 led the life of
a farmer, and acquired during this period much property.
The first call to arms in the Revolutionary struggle found Morgan ready
to respond; recruits flocked to his standard; and at the head of a
corps of riflemen destined to render brilliant service, he marched away
to Washington’s camp at Cambridge. Montgomery was already in Canada,
and when Arnold was sent to co-operate with him, Morgan eagerly sought
for service in an enterprise so hazardous and yet so congenial. At the
storming of Quebec, Morgan and his men carried the first barrier, and
could they have been reinforced, would no doubt have captured the city.
Being opposed by overwhelming numbers, and their rifles being rendered
almost useless by the fast-falling snow, after an obstinate resistance
they were forced to surrender themselves prisoners-of-war. Morgan was
offered the rank of colonel in the British army, but rejected the offer
with scorn. Upon being exchanged, Congress gave him the same rank in
the Continental army, and placed a rifle brigade of five hundred men
under his command.
For three years Morgan and his men rendered such valuable service that
even English writers have borne testimony to their efficiency. In
1780, a severe attack of rheumatism compelled him to return home. On
the 31st of October of the same year, Congress raised him to the rank
of brigadier-general; and his health being somewhat restored, he joined
General Greene, who had assumed command of the Southern army. Much of
the success of the American arms at the South, during this campaign,
must be attributed to General Morgan, but his old malady returning, in
March, 1781, he was forced to resign. When Cornwallis invaded Virginia,
Morgan once more joined the army, and Lafayette assigned to him the
command of the cavalry. Upon the surrender of Yorktown, he retired once
more to his home, spending his time in agricultural pursuits and the
improvement of his mind. In 1794, the duty of quelling the “Whiskey
Insurrection” in Pennsylvania was intrusted to him, and subsequently
he represented his district in Congress for two sessions. He died in
Winchester on the 6th of July, 1802, and has been called, “The hero of
Quebec, of Saratoga, and of the Cowpens; the bravest among the brave,
and the Ney of the West.”