At more than six feet, Daniel Morgan was a big man. He was loud, animated, and intimidating as he moved among his troops from fireside to fireside in the chill of the January air. Far from the picture of the colonial gentleman and officer, he loved to fight with his fists and drink in excess. By that winter of 1781, he was a living legend. The stories, the battles, the scars. He spoke to the men about their homes and their sweethearts. He removed his shirt and showed them the old wounds. His candor and presence were a much-needed morale boost, as the Continental Army was dealing with the fallout of a series of devastating blows in the spring and summer of 1780. Morgan encouraged his men not to give up the fight – he had a trick up his sleeve. One that would bring about the defeat of the British.
Morgan’s early life was something of a mystery. He rarely, if ever, spoke on it. Of Welsh stock, he was born in New Jersey in 1736 and gravitated as a teenager to Virginia, where he worked at various trades. His work as a teamster hauling goods to the frontier brought him into the service of the British Army during the French and Indian War. Soon, the “Old Wagoneer,” as he came to be called, was hauling materials for the army as they fought the French for control of the continent.
In early 1756, on assignment moving supplies with the army, Morgan somehow irritated a British Lieutenant. The officer struck Morgan with the flat of his sword. Ever the brawler, Morgan retorted with his fist, knocking the officer to the ground. Facing court martial, Morgan received the sentence of 500 lashes as punishment, one that was generally a death sentence. Morgan not only endured the beating but maintained throughout his life that they had miscounted and only given him 499 strikes. Morgan carried the scars and disdain for the British from that point on.
Nonetheless, Morgan officially joined the British Army the following year. On assignment as a courier with a message to the commander of troops at Winchester, Virginia, Morgan and his detail were attacked by Indians. Morgan’s escorts were killed, and he took a bullet, which dislodged all his teeth on the left side. In 1759, Morgan left the service again. He built a home in Winchester, where he married and raised a family.
When the Revolutionary War broke out, Morgan was quick to take up arms as a continental soldier at Lexington and Concord. Leading a company of riflemen to support the Siege of Boston in 1775, he and his men made the grueling march from Virginia in just 21 days. Their survival skills and superb marksmanship made the Virginians under Morgan’s command a formidable fighting force. Their distinct clothing – a hunter’s buckskin – singled them out to friend and foe alike.
Later that year, while supporting Gen. Benedict Arnold’s expedition into Canada, Morgan took command of the army when Arnold was wounded. Although Morgan and 400 other continentals were captured and held for several months, their performance in the field sealed his reputation as an effective combat leader. The hit-and-run tactics he employed countered the disciplined methods of the British. During the campaigns in New York and New Jersey, he harassed the British by dressing his men as Native Americans and striking them, then fading away. In late 1777, one of his sharpshooters helped secure an American victory in the battle of Saratoga by killing British Gen. Simon Fraser, throwing the British into a panic. Despite his service and achievements, Colonel Morgan was continually passed over for commands and promotion. In frustration and poor health, he resigned his commission in 1779.
Morgan did not stay away for long. After the Continental Army suffered a crushing defeat in the Battle of Camden under the leadership of Maj. Horatio Gates, Morgan swallowed his pride and joined the Southern Campaign. Gates was soon replaced by Nathaniel Greene, who leveraged Morgan’s abilities. Greene gave Morgan command of a “flying army”: Morgan, now a brigadier general, was to ride the Carolina backcountry, gathering troops and supporting other militia in attacks against the British.
In the South, the British were having a streak of good fortune. The capture of Savannah, the takeover of the port city of Charleston, and the defeat of Gates’ troops in Camden had all swelled British morale. Lord Cornwallis, frustrated at the hindrance caused by Morgan’s raids, sent a “flying army” of his own to counter them. Command of this mobile unit was held by Colonel Banastre Tarleton. A young officer of 26, Tarleton was an aggressive and capable commander of Dragoons, an elite cavalry. Tarleton was known for being harsh on the Americans; his reputation solidified at the Battle of the Waxhaws when he ignored the white flag of the Continental troops and continued to engage them in combat. Tarleton was both hated and feared by the Continentals, and he was on the hunt for Morgan.
Morgan knew that a battle loomed. He just had to choose an arena.
The frontiersman chose an unassuming area of South Carolina known by locals as the “Cowpens.” It was a small clearing in a wooded area where local cattle farmers gathered and grazed their herds before market. The site granted Morgan a clear view and a slightly sloped hill on which to engage Tarleton. Continental militia also tended to break ranks and flee when pressed by the British regulars. The Broad River, located about six miles behind Morgan’s now-gathered forces and swollen with recent rain, discouraged the likelihood that the militia would run. In essence, Morgan put them in a do-or-die situation.
The morning of Jan. 17, 1781, was cold. Bitterly so. While Morgan and his men had been in camp and preparing for the fight, Tarleton had been on the march since 2 a.m., pushing his men hard in hopes of catching Morgan in the open. This type of fearless aggression was exactly what Morgan was hoping to capitalize on. Morgan’s plan was so simple it was brilliant.
He knew Tarleton would likely attack head-on. Bringing infantry, cannons, and cavalry to crush the resistance, Morgan placed his troops into three lines. Out front were the elite sharpshooters. Their role was to pick off officers and Dragoons as quickly as possible and then retreat to the second line. This second line consisted of militia commanded by a local South Carolinian, Andrew Pickens. Pickens’ militia was to give two volleys and then retreat to the third line, made up of regular Continental troops. The hope was that the British would see the false retreat and think that the militia had broken and run. This bait would draw them into the trap.
Morgan’s plan worked perfectly. The sharpshooters caused confusion and a momentary retreat of the Dragoons. As the British pressed on, the second line of militiamen fired their volleys and retreated. Sensing a victory, the British charged across the open, up a small rise, and into the awaiting line of regulars and reformed militia. During the fiercest moments of fighting, as soldiers fired point-blank into each other and engaged with bayonets, American cavalry led by Col. William Washington (the future president’s cousin) attacked the British right flank. At the same moment, militia attacked the left. Tarleton’s men were crushed and trapped in one of the few successful double envelopments in U.S. military history.
Tarleton’s forces were routed, and soon, the young commander was on the run. He barely escaped after clashing with Col. Washington on horseback. Only by shooting Washington’s horse was Tarleton able to break away. The battle, over by 8 a.m., was a solid American victory. Angered and embarrassed by the defeat, Cornwallis changed his campaign strategy and chased Greene’s army into North Carolina. Though he gained a victory at Guilford Courthouse, NC, Cornwallis exhausted his army. The respite he sought in Virginia to rest and re-arm his army allowed George Washington to surround Cornwallis at Yorktown.
Following Cowpens, Morgan’s failing health made continued service nearly impossible. Extreme sciatica made riding unbearable. He returned home to Virginia and continued to serve in the militia as needed. In 1797, he was elected as a representative of Virginia to Congress. In 1799, he retired again because of his health and eventually died in 1802 at the age of 67. Buried in Winchester, Morgan was the larger-than-life image of the American frontiersman. His leadership and ability to think outside the norms of warfighting carried the day at Cowpens and helped create a new nation. As Morgan was quoted to say while rallying the militia at Cowpens, “Old Morgan was never beaten!”
