By Larry Moore
Greene, Morgan and Putnam Counties in Georgia are all named after Revolutionary War heroes. This story of General Daniel Morgan is the third of a three-part series. Eight other US counties were named for General Morgan. Morgan was one of the sources for the fictional Benjamin Martin character in the recent movie The Patriot. Morgan County was formed from Baldwin County in 1807.
As a young pioneer, Daniel Morgan, the first cousin of Daniel Boone, cleared land, worked in a sawmill and concentrated on being a teamster. He was known for his tremendous capacity for work as well as for his attraction to gambling, hard drinking and fistfights, which interfered with studying. He was poorly educated and was considered a rough young man but nonetheless became a General in the Revolutionary War and later a member of the US Congress.
Daniel Morgan was born in New Jersey in 1736. His early years were painful and he almost never spoke of his youth. Problems at home mounted and at about 16 years old, after a fight with his father he left home, working odd jobs through Pennsylvania until he reached today’s West Virginia.
He could hardly read or write but was already an expert teamster, which later led to recognition in the French and Indian War. His skill in removing the wounded from battle caught the attention of a young colonel, George Washington, and gave Morgan his nickname throughout his life, The Old Waggoner.
Later in the war, an ambush killed the others in his party but even though a bullet had entered his neck and exited his cheek, knocking out the teeth in his left jaw, he stayed on his horse and escaped.
After the French and Indian War, Morgan began living with a sixteen year old girl/woman, who he finally married eleven years later after two children. She was able to tame Morgan and his manners and morals became more acceptable to polite society. His 255-acre farm prospered until the Revolutionary War interfered but he was ready for action, having remained active in the local militia.
Virginia chose Daniel as a captain to head one of two companies when the Continental Army was formed. In July, 1775, he recruited 100 men in ten days and marched them to Boston in twenty-one more to serve under Benedict Arnold (before he became a traitor).
Captured in the Battle of Quebec early in 1776, Morgan refused to give his sword to the British, handing it to a priest instead. He was released in an exchange early in 1777 and after joining George Washington went on to inflict heavy casualties upon the British. His riflemen were crack shots since he would only recruit those who could hit a picture of King George at 100 yards.
Morgan resigned from the Army in 1779 since he was passed over for promotion to Brigadier General and suffered from previous injuries, but Congress, realizing that he was needed in the Southern Campaign, gave him the rank he and many others thought he deserved.
Morgan went on to meet his new commander, General Nathanael Greene, for whom Greene County, Georgia was named, in North Carolina. Brigadier General Morgan was instrumental in the success of the Southern Campaign and was especially effective commanding in the Battle of Cowpens, SC where his forces killed or captured over three-fourths of the enemy.
After the Revolution, Morgan returned home to Charles Town, Virginia (now West Virginia) and over time owned an estate estimated at 250,000 acres. In 1794, at 58 years old, he was called back into service to suppress the Whiskey Rebellion. Upon returning home again he was elected to the US Congress. He died at home in 1802.
Published U.S. Legacies July 2004
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