Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 4).djvu/434

896 recommendations for brevet promotions in the army. He was on recruiting service from 9 Aug., 1860, till 15 April, 1867, and became major of the 4th artillery on 5 Feb., 1867. He then served in the artillery-school at Fortress Monroe and other stations on the Atlantic coast, and at the time of his death commanded Aleatraz island, Cal.

MORGAN, Daniel, soldier, b. in New Jersey about 1736; d. in Winchester, Va., 6 July, 1802. He was of Welsh extraction, but little or nothing is known of his parents or of his own childhood. Early in 1754 he re- moved to Charles- town, Jefferson co., Va., and next year he began his mili- tary career as a teamster in Gen. Braddock's army. In the rout at the Monongahela he did good service in bringing away the wounded, and about this time he became acquaint- ed with Washing- ton. Afterward he was attached to the C[uartermas- ter's department, and his duty was to haul supplies to the military posts along the frontier. In 1757, having knocked down a Brit- ish lieutenant who had struck him with the fiat of his sword, he was punished, it is said, with five hundred lashes. Shortly afterward, at the head of a few backwoodsmen, he defeated a small force of Frenchmen and Indians, and received from Gov. Dinwiddle an ensign's commission. While on his way to Winchester with despatches he became engaged in a fierce woodland fight with the Indians, in which nearly all his com- rades were slain, and Morgan himself was shot through the neck with a musket-ball. Almost fainting with the wound, which at the moment he supposed to be fatal, he was resolved never- theless not to leave his scalp in the hands of an Indian, and falling forward with his arms tightly clasped about the neck of his stalwart horse, though mists were gathering before his eyes, he spurred away through the forest paths, until his foremost Indian pursuer, unable to come up with him. hurled his tomahawk after him with a yell of baffled rage, and gave up the chase. This was the only wound he ever received.

About 1762 Morgan obtained a grant of land a few miles east of Winchester, and devoted himself to farming and stock-raising. Pie married Abigail Bailey, daughter of a farmer in that neighborhood, a woman of rare beauty and lofty character. He named his home the "' Soldier's Rest," but was soon called away from it by Pontiac's war, in which he served as a lieutenant. From 1765 till 1775 he prospered as a farmer, and acquired considerable property. In 1771 he was commissioned captain of the militia of Frederick county, and in 1773 served in Lord Dunmore's war on the frontier. In June, 1775, congress called for ten companies of riflemen from Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Maryland, to join the Continental army besieging Boston. Morgan was chosen captain of one of the Virginia com- panies, consisting of ninety-six men, and with it arrived in Cambridge about the middle of July. A month later he was detached, at the head of three companies, to take part in Arnold's memorable march against Quebec through the wilderness of Maine. On 13 Nov. he and his men were the first to cross the St. Lawrence and reconnoitre the approaches to Quebec, which was too strongly de- fended to be attacked with any hope of success. In the great assault of New- Years morning, 1776, when Montgomery was slain and Arnold disabled, Morgan stormed the battery opposed to him, and fought his way far into the town ; but, as his charge was not properly supported, its success only isolated him, so that he and his detachment were surrounded and captured. Gen. Carleton, who admired his bravery, treated him kindly, and in the following summer released him on parole. Morgan then went home to Virginia. In November, at Washington's earnest recommendation, congress gave him a colonel's commission. About the beginning of 1777, having been duly exchanged and released from parole, he raised a regiment of rifles and joined the army at Morristown, N. J., late in March. In the extremely skilful campaign of the following June, in which Washington prevented Howe from crossing New Jersey, Morgan's services in reconnoi- tring were invaluable. During July the progress of Burgoyne, in his descent into northern New York, made it desirable to effect as strong a concentration as possible to oppose him, and on 16 Aug. Morgan was sent with his regiment to join the army near Stillwater, of which Gates had lately taken com- mand. From this force of about 500 picked rifle- men, said Washington in a letter to Gov. George Clinton, " I expect the most eminent services," and he was not disappointed. In the bloody battle of Freeman's Farm, 19 Sept., in which Arnold frus- trated Burgoyne's attempt to dislodge the American left wing from Bemis Heights, Morgan played a principal part ; and in the final conflict of 7 Oct., in which the British army was wrecked, his services were equally eminent. It is said that when Bur- goyne was introduced to Morgan, after the sur- render at Saratoga, he seized him by the hand and exclaimed, " My dear sir, you command the finest regiment in the world ! " In the great work of overthrowing Burgoyne, the highest credit is due to Morgan, along with Arnold, Herkimer, and Stark. After the victory. Gates was unwilling to send Morgan and his regiment back to Washington, and it was only with some difficulty and by send- ing Col. Hamilton with a special message that the sorely tried commander-in-chief succeeded in ob- taining them. At length, on 18 Nov., 1777, Morgan joined Washington at Whitemarsh, near Philadel- phia, in time to take part in the aft'air of Chestnut Hill, 8 Dec. He served in the Monmouth campaign, June, 1778. thoTigh he was not present in the battle of the 28th. After the battle he joined in the pur- suit of the enemy, and took many prisoners. A year later, 30 June, 1779, sharing in the dissatisfac- tion with which many of the officers viewed the conduct of congress, especially with regard to pro- motions, and finding his health seriously impaired. Morgan sent in his resignation and went home to Winchester.

When Gates took command of the southern army in June, 1780, Morgan was urged to enter the service again, but he refused to serve as a colonel, because he would thus be outranked by so many commanders of state militias 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 forthwith joined Gates at Hillsborough in Sep-