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Dromo's Den
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[Up] [Dromo's Den] Daniel Morgan Biography MORGAN,
Daniel (1736-1802). An American soldier prominent in the Revolutionary War.
He was born in Hunterdon Co., N. J., of Welsh ancestry, removed to Virginia in
1753, served as a teamster under Braddock in 1755, and during an Indian campaign
three years later was seriously wounded. He moved to Winchester in 1762 and
occupied himself with farming and stock raising, but served as a lieutenant in
Pontiac's War and as a captain in Lord Dunmore's War. In 1775 he was put in
command of a company of Virginia riflemen, with whom he joined Washington
at Cambridge in July. Accompanying Arnold's expedition
against Quebec, he served with great efficiency and gallantry, both on the march
and in the attack of Dec. 31, 1775, when he was captured by the enemy. He was
regularly exchanged before the close of 1776; was appointed colonel of a
Virginia regiment, and in 1777 played a most important part in the campaign
against Burgoyne. At the first battle of Saratoga (September 19) he was, until
Arnold's arrival late in the day, the ranking officer in the field; and in the
second battle (October 7) he also took a prominent part. In 1778 he served in
New Jersey under Washington, and in June, 1779, dissatisfied with the policy of
Congress as regards promotions, he resigned; though in September, 1780, he
joined Gates at Hillsboro, N. C., as a brigadier general. He was conspicuous for
his ability and energy throughout the Southern campaign, and was in chief
command at the battle of Cowpens (q.v.), where he defeated Tarleton. Only 200 of
the British escaped, and Morgan by forced marches rejoined Greene,
in spite of the vigorous efforts of Cornwallis to
head him off. Owing to bodily infirmities he was forced to withdraw from the
array in August, 1781. After the war he devoted himself chiefly to farming,
though in 1794 for a time, during the Whisky Insurrection, he served as a major
general, and in 1796 he was elected to Congress, serving in that body as a
Federalist Representative from 1797 to 1799. He died at Winchester, Va., July 6,
1802. Consult Graham, Life of General
Daniel Morgan of the Virginia Line (New York, 1856), and McConkey, The
Hero of Cowpens (2d ed., ib., 1885). The New International
Encyclopaedia, Vol. XVI
(New York: Dodd, Mead & Co., 1920)
250.
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