“IN June, 1775, Congress called for ten companies of riflemen from
Pennsylvania, Virginia and Maryland to join the Continental army
besieging Boston,” continued the captain. “Morgan was chosen captain of
one of the Virginia companies, consisting of ninety-six men, and with
it he reached Cambridge about the middle of July.
“A month later eleven hundred hardy men were detached from the army
for the service of Arnold in his expedition against Canada, and its
riflemen were commanded by Captain Daniel Morgan. We will not now go
over the story of that toilsome, perilous and unfortunate expedition.
The journey through the wilderness was a terrible one; but our brave
men persevered and reached Canada. Morgan and his men were the first to
cross the St. Lawrence and reconnoitre the approaches to Quebec, which
was too strongly defended to be attacked with any hope of success.
But a great attack was made on New Year’s morning, 1776, in which
Montgomery was killed and Arnold disabled. Morgan stormed the battery
opposed to him, but not being supported, he and his detachment were
surrounded and taken prisoners. But General Carleton, admiring Morgan
for his bravery, released him on parole and he went home to Virginia.
“Washington earnestly recommended him to Congress as worthy of
promotion, and in November they gave him a colonel’s commission. He
was duly exchanged and released from parole. He raised a regiment of
riflemen and joined the army at Morristown, New Jersey, late in March.
“Morgan’s services in reconnoitring were very great in the skilful
campaign of the following June, in which Washington prevented Howe from
crossing New Jersey.
“In the following July Burgoyne’s descent into northern New York
made it desirable to concentrate as large a body of troops there as
possible to oppose him, and on the 16th of August Morgan was sent with
his regiment to join the army near Stillwater, of which Gates had
lately taken command. His force was five hundred picked riflemen, of
whom Washington said that he expected the most eminent service from
them; nor was he disappointed. And it is said that when Burgoyne was
introduced to Morgan after the battle of Saratoga, he seized him by
the hand and exclaimed: ‘My dear sir, you command the finest regiment
in the world!’ It was no wonder that Burgoyne thought highly of their
skill; for Morgan and his men had played a principal part in the bloody
battle of Freeman’s farm, in which Arnold frustrated Burgoyne’s attempt
to dislodge the American left wing from Bemis Heights, and their
services were quite as great in the final conflict of October 7th, in
which the British army was wrecked.”
“Wasn’t it in the battle of Bemis Heights that General Fraser was
killed, papa?” asked Elsie.
“Yes,” replied her father. “Morgan’s men were skilful riflemen and one
of them shot Fraser. Morgan, seeing that by directing and cheering on
the British troops Fraser was doing more than any one else to defeat
and slay the Americans, perceived that much of the fate of the battle
rested upon him, and that to bring victory to the Americans, who were
fighting for freedom, it was necessary that Fraser should be taken
away. So, calling a file of his best men around him, he pointed toward
the British right and said: ‘That gallant officer is General Fraser. I
admire and honor him, but it is necessary that he should die; victory
for the enemy depends upon him. Take your station in that clump of
bushes and do your duty.’
“Lossing says, ‘Within five minutes Fraser fell mortally wounded, and
was carried to the camp by two grenadiers. Shortly before that two
rifle balls had struck very near him, one cutting the crupper of his
horse, and the other passing through his mane, a little back of his
ears. Seeing all that, Fraser’s aid begged him to retire from that
place. But Fraser replied, ‘My duty forbids me to fly from danger,’ and
the next moment came the shot that killed him.”
“Oh, papa, it was a sad, sad thing to do; a sad thing to order!”
exclaimed Elsie. “I don’t see how Morgan could do it.”
“It was a sad thing. War is always dreadful and a great and fearful
wrong—often on both sides, sometimes right on one, as I think it was in
our War of the Revolution; very wicked on the side of King George and
his ministers, right and praiseworthy on the part of the Americans who
were fighting for freedom for themselves and their posterity. I cannot
see why it should be thought any more sinful to kill Fraser than any
one of the privates under him and whom he was ordering to shoot our
men; and no doubt his death at that time saved many—probably hundreds
of the lives of Americans who were fighting for life, liberty, home,
wives and children.
“And the mortal wounding of Fraser had a good effect—a panic spread
along the British line. Burgoyne, who now took the command, could not
keep up the sinking courage of his men. The whole line gave way and
fled hastily to their camp.
“But I shall not go farther into the account of that battle at present;
in the one which followed on the 7th of October, and in which the
British army was wrecked, Morgan’s services were equally great and
important.
“After the victory Gates was unwilling to send Morgan and his regiment
back to Washington at Whitemarsh, and it was only with some difficulty
and by sending Colonel Hamilton with a special message that the sorely
tried commander-in-chief succeeded in obtaining him.
“Washington was at Whitemarsh, near Philadelphia, and on the 18th of
November, 1777, Morgan joined him there; in time to take part in the
fight early in December of that year.
“On Sunday, the 8th, they advanced, and flanking parties were warmly
attacked by Colonel Morgan and his rifle corps, and Colonel Gist, with
the Maryland militia. The battle was quite severe. Twenty-seven men in
Morgan’s corps were killed and wounded, beside Major Morris, a brave
and gallant officer, who was badly maimed. Sixteen or seventeen of the
Maryland militia were wounded.
“The enemy’s loss, too, was considerable. The movements of the British
seemed to indicate an intention to immediately attack the Americans,
so that Washington was presently surprised to perceive that instead of
advancing they were marching precipitately, in two divisions, toward
Philadelphia. As their adjutant remarked to Mrs. Lydia Darrah, whose
story you have all heard before, they had been on a fool’s errand and
accomplished nothing.
“On the 25th of August, 1777, Washington, with several divisions of his
troops, Morgan and his rifle corps among them, left Philadelphia and
encamped at Red Clay Creek, a few miles below Wilmington, the next
day. Washington established his headquarters at Wilmington, and at
once made preparations to oppose the march of the enemy, scouts having
brought him news of their arrival at the head of Elk.
“In September, Washington broke up his camp and crossed the Brandywine
at Chadd’s Ford, at about two o’clock on the morning of the 9th. The
11th of September was the day of the battle of Brandywine.”
“Which was a defeat for us, wasn’t it, uncle?” asked Eric.
“Yes, though our troops fought very bravely,” replied Captain Raymond.
“There were but eleven thousand of them and the British force was
probably not less than seventeen thousand men. Lossing tells us that
had not conflicting intelligence perplexed and thwarted him in his
plans, it is probable that victory would have attended Washington and
the American army. He was not dispirited.
“But to go back to Morgan. When in June, 1778, Sir Henry Clinton
evacuated Philadelphia and set out for New York by way of New Jersey,
the news presently reached Washington, and he at once broke up his
encampment at Valley Forge, and with almost his whole army started in
pursuit.
“Morgan was in that army with six hundred men. This was on June 20. I
will not go over the whole story. The battle of Monmouth was not fought
until the next Sunday, which was the 28th, and an exceedingly hot day.
I shall not go into the particulars in regard to it just now, but only
remark that Morgan was most unaccountably kept out of the conflict—he
and his brave riflemen at a distance from the field. For hours he was
at Richmond Mills, three miles from Monmouth Court House, awaiting
orders in an agony of desire to engage in the battle, for he was within
sound of its fearful tumult. He strode to and fro, uncertain what
course to pursue, and, like a hound on the leash, panting to be away
to action. It is not known why he was not permitted to take part in
that conflict. It seems altogether likely that had he fallen upon the
British rear with his fresh troops at the close of the day, Sir Henry
Clinton and his army might have shared the fate of Burgoyne and his at
Saratoga.
“After the battle, Morgan joined in the pursuit of the enemy and took
many prisoners.
“About a year later, finding his health seriously impaired, and, like
many other officers, feeling much dissatisfaction with the doings of
Congress, especially with regard to promotion, Morgan sent in his
resignation and went home to Winchester.
“About a year after that, when Gates took command of the southern army,
Morgan was urged to return to the service; but he refused to serve as a
colonel, because if he did he would be outranked by so many commanders
of state militia that his movements would be seriously hampered and his
usefulness impaired. As Congress declined to promote him, he remained
at home; but after the great disaster at Camden he declared that it
was no time to let personal considerations have any weight, and he
promptly joined Gates at Hillsborough.
“That was in September; in October he received promotion, being made
a brigadier-general, and Congress soon had reason to rejoice over the
fact that it had done that act of justice, since it had resulted in
placing Morgan where his great powers could be made of the uttermost
service to the country.
“It was in December that Greene took command of the southern army, and
he then sent Morgan, with nine hundred men, to threaten the important
inland posts of Augusta and Ninety-six, and to co-operate with the
mountain militia. In order to protect those posts and his communication
with them, Cornwallis sent the redoubtable Tarleton with eleven hundred
men to dispose of Morgan. As they drew near, Morgan retreated to the
grazing ground known as the Cowpens,[A] where, on a long rising slope,
he awaited Tarleton’s attack. His men were drawn up in two lines, the
militia, under Pickens, in front, and the Continentals, under Howard,
one hundred and fifty yards behind. Some distance behind these waited
Colonel William Washington, with his admirable cavalry.
“When the British attacked Pickens’ line, after a brief resistance,
the militia broke into two parts and retired behind Howard’s line of
Continentals. As the British advanced to attack this line it retreated
slowly, so as to give Pickens time to reform his militia. Presently
Pickens swept forward in a great semicircle around Howard’s right, and
attacked the British in their left flank. At the same moment Colonel
Washington swept around Howard’s left and charged upon the enemy’s
right flank while Howard’s line, after a few deadly volleys at thirty
yards, rushed forward with levelled bayonets.
“Thus terribly entrapped, most of the British threw down their arms and
surrendered, while the rest scattered and fled. They lost heavily,
in killed, wounded and prisoners, besides two field-pieces and one
thousand stand of arms. Only two hundred and seventy escaped, among
them Tarleton, who barely saved himself in a furious single combat with
Colonel Washington.
“The loss of the Americans in this astonishing action was twelve killed
and sixty-one wounded. It is said that in point of tactics it was the
most brilliant battle of the Revolutionary War. And it is brilliant
even compared with the work of the greatest masters of the military art.
“That victory of the Americans was a crippling blow to Cornwallis,
because it deprived him of his most effective light infantry.
“Cornwallis was nearer than Morgan to the fords of the Catawba which
Morgan must cross to rejoin Greene, but by a superb march Morgan gained
the river first, crossed it and kept on into North Carolina.
“There was a masterly series of movements there, after Greene’s
arrival, which ended in the battle of Guilford and Cornwallis’s
retreat into Virginia.
“But before the campaign was ended Morgan was suffering so severely
with rheumatism that he was compelled to quit active work and go home.
“That was in February, 1781. By the following June he had so far
recovered that he was able to command troops to suppress a Loyalist
insurrection in the Shenandoah Valley.
“He then reported to Lafayette at his headquarters near Jamestown, and
was put in command of all the light troops and cavalry in the marquis’s
army. But in August a return of his rheumatism again obliged him to go
home.
“For the next thirteen years he had a quiet life upon his estate. He
grew wealthy, and entertained many eminent and interesting guests.
His native qualities of mind were such as to make his conversation
instructive and charming, in spite of the defect of his early
education.
“In 1795, with the rank of major-general, he held a command in the
large army that, by its mere presence in Western Pennsylvania, put
an end to the whiskey insurrection. The next year he was elected by
the Federalists to Congress. But failing health again called him home
before the end of his term, and from this time until his death he
seldom left his fireside. He died on the 6th of July, 1802, in the
sixty-seventh year of his age.”
“Was he a Christian man, papa?” asked Elsie.
“I think he was,” her father said in reply. “He had a pious mother
and it seems never forgot her teachings. In his later years he became
a member of the Presbyterian church in Winchester. ‘Ah,’ he would
often exclaim, when talking of the past, ‘people said old Morgan never
feared—they thought old Morgan never prayed—they did not know old
Morgan was miserably afraid.’ He said he trembled at Quebec, and in the
gloom of early morning, when approaching the battery at Cape Diamond,
he knelt in the snow and prayed; and before the battle at the Cowpens,
he went into the woods, ascended a tree, and there poured out his soul
in prayer for protection.
“Morgan was large and strong. He was six feet in height and very
muscular, and weighed more than two hundred pounds. His strength
and endurance were remarkable; and he was a very handsome man—said
to be equalled by but few men of his time in beauty of feature and
expression. His manners were quiet and refined, his bearing was noble
and his temper sweet, though his wrath was easily aroused by the sight
of injustice.”
“No wonder, then, that he took up arms against King George,” remarked
Lucilla.
“A natural result of having such a disposition, I think,” returned her
father, and went on with his story.
“Morgan was noted for truthfulness and candor, and throughout life his
conduct was regulated by the most rigid code of honor. He was also, as
I have said, a devout Christian.”
“Oh, I am so glad of that!” exclaimed little Elsie; “and I hope we will
all meet him in heaven—the dear, brave, good man.”
“I hope we will, daughter,” responded the captain heartily, while
several of his other listeners looked as if they shared the feelings of
love and admiration for the brave patriot, Daniel Morgan.
FOOTNOTE:
[A] The author’s grandfather, Samuel Finley, had charge of the
artillery (one cannon) at the battle of the Cowpens, was afterward
complimented at the head of his regiment and called “the brave little
major.”