Daniel Morgan (politician)

Daniel Morgan (portrait of Charles Willson Peale )

Daniel Morgan (born July 6, 1736 in Hunterdon County , Province of New Jersey , colony of the Kingdom of Great Britain , † July 6, 1802 in Winchester , Virginia , USA ) was a British-American pioneer, soldier and congressman for Virginia. One of the most gifted battlefield tacticians in the War of Independence , he later commanded the troops that put down the Whiskey Rebellion .

Early years

Morgan was the fifth of seven children of blacksmith James Morgan (1710–1782). When he was 16 years old, he left home after a fight with his father. After working in the strangest jobs across Pennsylvania , he went to the Shenandoah Valley . Most recently he settled in the border area of ​​Virginia, near what is now Charles Town .

Morgan was a tall, rude, poorly educated man who preferred drinking and gambling to studying. But he also showed a great ability to work. He cleared land, worked in a sawmill and as a carter. In a year he had enough together to employ his own team and he concentrated on the trucking business.

French and Indian War

→ Main article : Seven Years War in North America

In 1755 Morgan was employed as a civilian transporter in support of the Braddock expedition against Fort Duquesne . After the Battle of the Wild on July 9, his job of recovering the wounded caught the attention of young Militia Colonel George Washington . This expedition earned him the nickname his troops used during the War of Independence: Old Wagoner .

In 1758 he joined the Virginia Rangers as an ensign . When he was transporting cargo from Fort Edward (near Capon Bridge ) to Winchester , his three-man force was ambushed. The other two were killed and Morgan was seriously wounded. A bullet hit him in the neck, exited through his cheek, knocking out all the teeth in his left jaw. But he stayed in the saddle and was able to escape.

Civil life

After the war, Morgan returned to work as a haulier. He bought a house in Winchester and started a household with 16-year-old Abigail Bailey in 1762. When the two married in 1773, they already had two daughters, Nancy and Betty. Morgan successfully farmed and built a one-square-mile farm near Winchester.

He also remained active in the local militia. In 1763, as a lieutenant, he prepared armed forces for resistance to the Indian uprising known as the Pontiac Rebellion . In 1774 he went back to war as a militia captain, this time in Dunmore's War . In a campaign that lasted five months, he led his company against the Shawnee and advanced far into Ohio .

American War of Independence

Main article: American War of Independence

After the American War of Independence with the battles of Lexington and Concord had begun in 1775, which provided Continental Congress , the Continental Army on. He called for people from the middle colonies for ten rifle companies to aid the siege of Boston , and in late June 1775 Virginia agreed to send two. The Virginia House of Representatives selected Daniel Morgan to erect one of the two and serve as captain. He recruited 96 men in ten days and assembled them in Winchester on July 14th. Then he marched with them to Boston in just 21 days and arrived there on August 6, 1775.

Invasion of Canada

Main article: Invasion of Canada (1775)

Later that year, Congress authorized an invasion of Canada. Colonel Benedict Arnold convinced General George Washington to launch an eastern offensive against Québec in support of Richard Montgomery's invasion. Washington agreed to send three rifle companies from its armed forces near Boston if they volunteered. All of his companies were ready, so it was drawn by lot who should go, and Morgan's company was among those who went. Arnold selected Captain Morgan to command all three companies as a unit. The expedition set out from Fort Western on September 25th , with Morgan's men in the lead.

At the beginning there were more than 1000 men on the Arnold expedition , but by the time it arrived on the Île d'Orléans on November 9th , it had reduced to 600 men. (Note: Historians have never reached consensus on the title of this epic journey.) When Montgomery arrived, they began their disastrous attack on December 31, the Battle of Québec . The Patriots attacked in two forays commanded by Morgan and Arnold.

Arnold led the attack on the Lower City from the north, but soon fell out with a bullet in his leg. Morgan took command of his forces and they successfully captured the city by following him over the first barricade. Montgomery's attack stalled and British General Guy Carleton, 1st Baron Dorchester , turned to face the second attack. He moved cannons and men to the first barricade, behind Morgan's forces. Cut off in the lower town, under fire on all sides, they were forced to capitulate bit by bit. Morgan gave his sword to a French priest because he refused to give it to the troops. Morgan was among the 372 men captured. He remained imprisoned until January 1777.

11th Virginia Regiment

When he rejoined Washington in early 1777, Morgan was surprised to learn that he had been promoted to colonel because of his successes in Quebec. He was assigned to set up and command a new regiment, the 11th Virginia Regiment of the Continental Army. In April, Morgan had recruited 400 men to fill its ranks.

His shooter recruitment test became a campfire legend. He had several targets depicting the head of a British officer ( some versions speak of King George ) and he only picked those that hit the target with their first shot from a distance of 100 yards (91.44 meters). News of this also reached England, where Morgan was considered a war criminal because aiming at individuals was seen as unsportsmanlike and aiming at officers was downright treason.

On June 13, 1777 Morgan was given command of a compiled Light Infantry - corps of 500 shooters, including himself. Washington assigned them to harass General William Howe's rearguard, and Morgan followed suit, attacking their entire retreat through New Jersey .

Saratoga

Main article: Battle of Saratoga

Morgan and his regiment were reassigned to the Northern Department of the Continental Army, and on August 30 he joined General Horatio Gates to support the resistance to John Burgoyne's offensive in the Saratoga campaign .

Freeman's Farm

Main article: Battle of Freeman's Farm

Morgan commanded his regiment, with the support of 300 men from Henry Dearborn's New Hampshire Infantry, as a main force scout. At the Battle of Freeman's Farm , they stormed the advance of General Simon Fraser's wing of Burgoyne's forces. All British officers died on first encounter and the scouting party withdrew. Morgan's men rushed on without orders, but turned back when they ran into the British main column under General James Inglis Hamilton . When Benedict Arnold arrived, he and Morgan organized the reorganization of the unit. When the British began to form on the other side of the fields from Freeman's farm, Morgan's men continued to break open their formations with aimed fire from the woods on the opposite side of the fields. They were joined by another seven regiments from Bemis Heights.

For the rest of the afternoon, the American fire kept the British in suspense. However, American attacks were repeatedly repulsed by British bayonets. Finally, the Americans withdrew because they ran out of ammunition. The British claimed victory, but they lost twice as many as the Americans.

Bemis Heights

Main article: Battle of Bemis Heights

Burgoyne's next offensive led to the Battle of Bemis Heights on October 7th . Morgan had been given command of the left (western) flank of the American position. The British plan was to fall on this flank with a force of 1,500 men. So Morgan's brigade faced General Fraser's forces again.

Shooting through the ranks of Canadian Loyalists , Morgan's Virginia snipers cross-fire the British light infantry and the shots of Dearborn's regiment. Although the light infantry was destroyed, General Fraser ordered them to storm. When Benedict Arnold arrived and noted that Fraser weighed an entire regiment, Morgan reluctantly ordered Fraser to be shot down by a sniper and Timothy Murphy obeyed him.

When Fraser fell fatally wounded, the British light infantry fell back and returned to the fortifications that held Burgoyne's main force. Morgan was one of those who followed Arnold in a counterattack on the British center. Burgoyne withdrew to his starting positions, but had lost 500 men. That night he retired eight miles northwest to the village of Saratoga .

For the next week Burgoyne dug in and Morgan and his men went to the north side. Their ability to intercept any patrols sent in their direction convinced the British that further retreat was not possible.

New Jersey and farewell

After Saratoga, Morgan's unit near Philadelphia rejoined Washington's main army. During 1778 he attacked British marching columns and supply routes in New Jersey , but was not involved in any major battles. While not participating in the Battle of Monmouth , he pursued the retreating British troops and took many prisoners and booty. When the Virginia Front was reorganized on September 14, 1778, Morgan became Colonel in the 7th Virginia Regiment.

During this time, Morgan became increasingly dissatisfied with the Army and Congress. He was never politically active and had never cultivated a relationship with Congress. As a result, he was repeatedly passed over for promotion to brigadier general, in favor of men with less combat experience but better political connections. While he was always a Colonel with Washington, he had at times commanded Weedon's brigade and felt ready for the position. In addition to his frustration, his legs and back ached from the stresses they were exposed to during the Québec expedition. Ultimately, he was allowed to quit on June 30, 1779 and returned home to Winchester.

In June 1780 he was urged to resume service under General Gates, but he refused. Gates took command of the Southern Department of the Continental Army, and Morgan believed that the many militia officers ranked higher than him would limit his usefulness. After Gates' defeat at the Battle of Camden , Morgan pushed all concerns aside and joined the Southern Department at Hillsborough .

The southern campaign

He met Gates in Hillsborough and was given command of the Light Infantry Corps on October 2. Morgan was finally promoted to brigadier general on October 13, 1780.

Morgan met his new department commander, Nathanael Greene , at Charlotte on December 3, 1780 . Greene did not change his command, but gave him new orders. Greene had decided to split up his army and hold the enemy in suspense with pinprick attacks to buy the time to reorganize the army. He put Morgan in command of 700 men for raids and forays into upstate South Carolina avoiding direct confrontation.

When the strategy became apparent, British General Charles Cornwallis sent Colonel Banastre Tarleton's British Legion to hunt down Morgan. Morgan spoke to many militiamen who had previously fought Tarleton and decided to disobey Greene's orders and initiate a direct confrontation.

The Battle of Cowpens

Main article: Battle of Cowpens

Morgan chose Cowpens . On the morning of January 17, 1781, they met Tarleton at the Battle of Cowpens . At the time, the two sides were outnumbered with more than 1,000 men each. Morgan had joined militia forces under Andrew Pickens and William Washington's Dragoons . Tarleton's Legion was supported by the light infantry of various regular regiments.

Morgan wanted to take advantage of Tarleton's penchant for quick action, his disdain for militiamen, and the greater range and accuracy of his Virginia shooters. The snipers were posted in front, then the militia and finally the regulars on the top of the hill. The first two units should withdraw as soon as they were seriously attacked, but first cause as much damage as possible. That should tempt a hasty attack.

The strategy worked very well. In less than an hour, of Tarleton's 1,076 men, 110 were dead and 712 were captured. 200 of the prisoners were wounded. Although Tarleton escaped, the Americans captured all of his supplies and equipment, including the officers' slaves. Morgan's cunning plan by Cowpens is widely considered a tactical masterpiece of the art of war .

Cornwallis had not only lost Tarleton's Legion, but also his light infantry, which hampered his responsiveness for the remainder of the campaign. In return for his services, Virginia gave Morgan land and a mansion that had been abandoned by loyalists . The wetness and cold of the campaign had made his hip disease so worse that he was in constant pain. So he returned to his Virginia farm on February 10th. On July 7, 1781, Morgan briefly joined Marie-Joseph Motier, Marquis de La Fayette , to pursue Banastre Tarleton again, this time in Virginia, but this time without much success.

After American independence

Daniel Morgan's grave in Winchester

After Morgan returned to Charles Town, he gradually became less active. He turned his attention to investing in land instead of clearing new land, and eventually built a country estate of over 1,000 square kilometers. As part of his sedentary life, he joined the Presbyterian Church and built a new house near Winchester in 1782 . He named his home "Saratoga" after the place of his victory in New York State. He spent a lot of time with his family and especially developed strong bonds with his 19 grandchildren. Congress awarded him a gold medal in 1790 in memory of his victory at Cowpens.

In 1794, he was briefly recalled to national service when he led militia units that put down the Whiskey Rebellion . By deploying a massive contingent of troops, he was able to put an end to the protests without firing a shot. Morgan ran twice for the federalists to vote for the House of Representatives . He lost in 1794, but won the next election for the 1797-1799 election period.

In 1821 Virginia named a new county in his honor, Morgan County . The states of Alabama , Georgia , Illinois , Indiana , Kentucky , Missouri , Ohio, and Tennessee followed suit.

Morgan and his deeds were one of the sources for the fictional character Benjamin Martin in the 2000 film The Patriot .

literature

• Idella Bodie: The Old Wagoner (= Juvenile nonfiction ). Sandlapper Publishing, 2000, ISBN 0-87844-165-4 .
• North Calahan: Daniel Morgan: Ranger of the Revolution. AMS Press, 1961, ISBN 0-404-09017-6 .
• Michael Cecere: A Good and Valuable Officer. Daniel Morgan in the Revolutionary War , Westminster: Heritage Books 2018 ISBN 978-0-7884-5748-7 .

• James Graham: The Life of General Daniel Morgan of the Virginia Line of the Army of the United States: with portions of his correspondence. Zebrowski Historical Publishing, 1859, ISBN 1-880484-06-4 .
• Don Higginbotham: Daniel Morgan: Revolutionary Rifleman. University of North Carolina Press, 1961, ISBN 0-8078-1386-9 .
• Jim Stempel: American Hannibal: The Extraordinary Account of Revolutionary War Hero Daniel Morgan at the Battle of Cowpens , Tucson, Ariz .: Penmore Press 2018, ISBN 978-1-946409-26-3 .

Web links

• Daniel Morgan (politician) in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)
• patriotresource.com discussion of the film The Patriot (English)