Daniel Morgan, born in New Jersey about 1736, was of Welsh parentage. His family having an interest in some Virginia lands, he went to that colony at seventeen years of age. When Braddock began his march against Fort Duquesne, Morgan joined the army as a teamster, and did good service at the rout of the English army at Monongahela, by bringing away the wounded. Upon returning from this disastrous campaign, he was appointed ensign in the colonial service, and soon after was sent with important despatches to a distant fort. Surprised by the Indians, his two companions were instantly killed, while he received a rifle-ball in the back of his neck, which shattered his jaw and passed through his left cheek, inflicting the only severe wound he received during his entire military career. Believing himself about to die, but determined that his scalp should not fall into the hands of his assailants, he clasped his arms around his horse’s neck and spurred him forward. An Indian followed in hot pursuit; but finding Morgan’s steed too swift for him, he threw his tomahawk, hoping to strike his victim. Morgan however escaped and reached the fort, but was lifted fainting from the saddle and was not restored to health for six months. In 1762, he obtained a grant of land near Winchester, Virginia, where he devoted himself to farming and stock-raising. Summoned again to military duty, he served during the Pontiac War, but from 1765 to 1775 led the life of a farmer, and acquired during this period much property.

The first call to arms in the Revolutionary struggle found Morgan ready to respond; recruits flocked to his standard; and at the head of a corps of riflemen destined to render brilliant service, he marched away to Washington’s camp at Cambridge. Montgomery was already in Canada, and when Arnold was sent to co-operate with him, Morgan eagerly sought for service in an enterprise so hazardous and yet so congenial. At the storming of Quebec, Morgan and his men carried the first barrier, and could they have been reinforced, would no doubt have captured the city. Being opposed by overwhelming numbers, and their rifles being rendered almost useless by the fast-falling snow, after an obstinate resistance they were forced to surrender themselves prisoners-of-war. Morgan was offered the rank of colonel in the British army, but rejected the offer with scorn. Upon being exchanged, Congress gave him the same rank in the Continental army, and placed a rifle brigade of five hundred men under his command.

For three years Morgan and his men rendered such valuable service that even English writers have borne testimony to their efficiency. In 1780, a severe attack of rheumatism compelled him to return home. On the 31st of October of the same year, Congress raised him to the rank of brigadier-general; and his health being somewhat restored, he joined General Greene, who had assumed command of the Southern army. Much of the success of the American arms at the South, during this campaign, must be attributed to General Morgan, but his old malady returning, in March, 1781, he was forced to resign. When Cornwallis invaded Virginia, Morgan once more joined the army, and Lafayette assigned to him the command of the cavalry. Upon the surrender of Yorktown, he retired once more to his home, spending his time in agricultural pursuits and the improvement of his mind. In 1794, the duty of quelling the “Whiskey Insurrection” in Pennsylvania was intrusted to him, and subsequently he represented his district in Congress for two sessions. He died in Winchester on the 6th of July, 1802, and has been called, “The hero of Quebec, of Saratoga, and of the Cowpens; the bravest among the brave, and the Ney of the West.”