General Daniel Morgan
General Daniel Morgan was born in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, in 1737 and moved to Virginia in 1755. As a young man, he joined the French and Indian War as a private under General Braddock. After Braddock's defeat, he returned home, where he was a farmer and wagoner.
Does one know what is in the heart of a warrior? What would you have done in the heat of the moment? Would you have knelt and prayed?
The Revolutionary War
During the Revolutionary War, Morgan gained the reputation of a fierce fighter. He first enlisted as a rifleman under General Washington at Cambridge. He was with General Montgomery at Quebec and General Gates at Saratoga; he greatly distinguished himself in both battles. For his bravery, he was promoted to the rank of Brigadier General and joined the army in the South.In later years, he told of his soldering while in Quebec and how, in the gloom of early morning, when approaching the battery at Cape Diamond, he knelt in the snow and prayed. Also, before the battle at the Cowpens, he went into the woods, ascended a tree, and poured out his soul in prayer to the Almighty Ruler of the Universe for protection.
The Southern Campaign 1778-1781
As Cornwallis sent his forces into the Carolinas, the American forces gathered momentum with the help of local militia companies.After the battle of Camden, when General Greene assumed the chief command, General Morgan was detached to raise troops in the western part of the State and South Carolina. He soon became distinguished as a partisan officer, inspiring confidence and arousing the despondent Whigs to a more active sense of duty. His victory at the Cowpens was considered one of the most brilliant and decided victories of the Revolution.
Congress Awarded General Morgan a Gold Medal
Later, it was said that General Morgan was dissipated in early life. And that he never prayed." he often exclaimed when speaking of war experiences, "People said old Morgan never feared - they thought old Morgan never prayed - they did not know old Morgan was miserably afraid."
Life after the War
After the battles ended and Lord Cornwallis returned his army to England, the destruction of war had taken its toll. General Morgan returned to his farm to rebuild like so many other soldiers.In 1794, he was appointed by General Washington to quell the Whisky Insurrection in Western Virginia. After the difficulties were settled, he was elected a member of Congress and served from 1797 to 1799. His health failing, he declined a re-election. His farm in Clarke County, a few miles from Winchester, Virginia, was called Saratoga.
In 1800, he removed to Winchester, where he died on the 6th of July, 1802, in the sixty-seventh year of his age.
Sketches of Western North Carolina, Historical and Biographical by C. L. Hunter
Note to Genealogists:
Many emigrants landed in Pennsylvania and moved westward in wagon trains into the uncharted territories of Indian tribes. Bucks and Berk Counties were temporary settlements. They sought temporary quarters near forts as a protection against warring Indians.Searching the trails across the Carolinas and Virginia is wise because this is where your ancestors were before the Revolutionary War. After the war, when they received land grants, many settled in the 13 original colonies.
Because your ancestors were frequently searching for fertile soil, one should search every County in Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia formed after the war. This is the trail. One cannot assume that the families remained in the same homestead. They did not. They were on the move.
GeorgiaPioneers.com contains the surviving records for all the above States, including Kentucky and Tennessee. Tips: Search all County records, reading all the wills and estates because the Irish, Scots, and Germans settled in like communities.
Write down everything, including the names of witnesses to documents because families married neighbors and friends.
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