Daniel Morgan

Daniel Morgan 1736-1802, American Revolutionary general, b. probably in Hunterdon co., N.J. He moved (c.1753) to Virginia and later served in the French and Indian Wars and several campaigns against Native Americans. In the Revolution, Morgan assumed command of the attack on Quebec (see Quebec campaign ) after Benedict Arnold was wounded, but Morgan himself was captured. He was exchanged (1776) and took part in the Saratoga campaign, but dissatisfied with the congressional policy of promotions, he retired in 1779. He reentered the army in 1780 and joined the Carolina campaign. Serving under Nathanael Greene, he defeated the British at Cowpens (1781). After the war he helped to suppress the Whiskey Rebellion and served (1797-99) as a U.S. Congressman.

Bibliography: See biographies by N. Callahan (1961) and D. Higginbotham (1961).

Morgan, Daniel (c. 1735–1802) Revolutionary War general whose tactical genius contributed significantly to the victory at Cowpens (1781), for which he was eventually awarded a medal by Congress (1790). He left the army in 1781 because of physical infirmities. Earlier in the conflict he had commanded the only rifle unit in the armies, which had exacted heavy tolls at the battles of Saratoga (1777). Dissatisfied with his role thereafter, Morgan took an honorable furlough in 1779, but after Horatio Gates's defeat at Camden, South Carolina (1780), he joined the Southern army.