Daniel Morgan

Daniel Morganhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Morgan“While carrying dispatches to Winchester he was struck by an Indian bullet that passed through his neck and his mouth. He lost all the teeth on one side of his face”(Bellesiles).

Before he even joined the biggest fight of his life, Daniel Morgan was almost killed helping others.  Daniel Morgan lived from July 6, 1736 to July 6, 1802. He is believed to be born in Hunterdon County, New Jersey and died in Winchester, Virginia.  In 1753, he moved out and lived by himself to chase his military career. For a big percentage of his life he kept advancing ranks in the American Revolution.  From 1775-1783, he started in the war as a soldier and ended as a brigadier general. The battles Daniel Morgan is best known for is the battles of Cowpens, South Carolina, Quebec, Canada, and Saratoga County, New York. Through the years 1777-1781, Morgan had fought his prime battles.  In 1797, he ran for Congress and had one term. A hero must possess courageousness and persistency as traits. Being courageous means that one is brave, and has the ability to face danger without being afraid. Being persistent means that once one has a task or obstacle, that person won't stop until one overcomes that obstacle.  Daniel Morgan isn’t famous but shows courageousness and persistency through his war efforts on the battlefield, risking his life to give the Americans freedom.  

Morgan https://www.britishbattles.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/RanneyDanielBoone-1849.jpgMorgan being widely unknown fought with the minimal troops he had, showing true leadership. He led himself and his troops to hard fought victories with the high chance of failure, making him courageous.  While in the raid of Quebec, Canada, during the American Revolution, Morgan shows his first signs of leadership and courageousness. “During the attack Morgan took temporary command after Montgomery was killed and Arnold was wounded. He fought heroically against the enemy until finally overwhelmed by superior numbers and compelled to surrender”(Daniel Morgan." Encyclopedia of World).

Being a colonel at the time,  Morgan shows that even not getting much credit for the standoff he still gives it his all in an attempt to win.  Even not knowing his troops, he took command of them and fought hard to be victorious but surrendered so the troops didn’t get killed in action.

Being recognized by a few generals, Morgan now has his own troops, "Upon rejoining Washington, the following April, he organized, under the latter's order, a corps of five hundred sharpshooters, and participated in various movements in New Jersey.  Here his troops rendered such signal service at the battles of Freeman's Farm and Bemis Heights that Gates, replying to Washington's request for their return"("Daniel Morgan.” Dictionary). Now that Morgan had his own troops to take care of, it’s a lot of work for him to lead them to victory.  In such few months, Morgan has trained his own army of 500 men to fight without exposing themselves to injury.  This shows Morgan’s courageousness to be a leader for these soldiers to fight for all of the American’s freedom.  Even if Morgan may not know it, he shows great leadership skills proving how courageous he has to be to take on that power of having such small amount of troops trained enough to be able to fight for the American’s freedom without failure.  

Daniel Morganhttps://www.badassoftheweek.com/images/738856129310/danmorgan6.jpgOnly given a small amount of troops and small parts in battles; Morgan always turned his situation around to make the best of it no matter the difficulty. This shows how persistent he is.  Morgan cares more about his troops not his rank when it comes to how persistent he is.  “When Morgan learned of the disaster at Camden, however, he rejoined the army regardless of rank. On 2 October he was given command of a corps of light troops that had been organized by Gates. On 13 October Congress at last appointed him brigadier general”(Bellesiles).  This proves how that even being retired from the war that Morgan will come back and help the Americans win.  After proving to Washington that Morgan can handle coming out of retirement; he was given the outstanding rank of brigadier general. After coming out of retirement, Morgan does small things to help, and that turns him into the great general he once set out to be. Now with the rank of general, he has a better chance of helping the people of America.  When Morgan gets into tough battles, he looks after his troops and tries to make the best possible outcome in battles.

“He was determined to make a stand with his small force of somewhat over eight hundred. On Jan. 17, 1781, largely by the effective work of his cavalry, he won the brilliant victory of Cowpens, one of the decisive victories of the war”("Daniel Morgan." Dictionary). This shows that Morgan will give it his all without stopping to achieve what he wants.  In this case, Morgan shows true persistency when he is outnumbered, and still makes a large difference to the battle. To further prove, a majority of his troops were untouched at the end of the battle.  Morgan being a persistent general commands his troops to fight strategically without endangering themselves so they can pursue America’s freedom.

Daniel Morgan risked his life fighting for the Americans' freedom showing how courageousness and persistent he was in the war.  Morgan was courageous through every battle and made every situation he was in better than before. He fought strategically and cautiously so that he could achieve his goal of getting Americans their independence and looking after the lives of every single soldier in his capacity.  

Before the war started, Morgan was helping people and then was punished for it. “He was punished with a life-threatening 500 stripes for knocking down a British officer who had hit him with a sword.  After … Morgan helped to evacuate the wounded and hauled supplies to frontier posts. ”(Bellesiles). This shows that before the American Revolution came around, Morgan stood up for himself and the helped others no matter if they were British or American.  This should inspire others to stand up to what they believe in and be a helping hand. Daniel Morgan inspires me because of how he is helping to change the lives of 2 million people living in America during the American Revolution. Even though he may not know any of the Americans, doing his part in the war is helping everybody living there change their lives for the better.  Not only doing his job, Daniel Morgan was always helping others in any situation.  Even being shot in the mouth and almost whipped to death, Morgan still pushed forward to becoming one of the best unknown generals of the American Revolution and an inspiring hero.

Works Cited

Bellesiles, Michael. "Daniel Morgan." Encyclopedia of the American Revolution: Library of

Military History, edited by Harold E. Selesky, Charles Scribner's Sons, 2006. Biography In Context, https://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/K3454901064/BIC?u=powa9245&sid=BIC&xid=b22b31ba. Accessed 10 Dec. 2018.

"Daniel Morgan." Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner's Sons, 1936. Biography

In Context, https://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/BT2310007172/BIC?u=powa9245&sid=BIC&xid=fbd215e5. Accessed 11 Dec. 2018.

"Daniel Morgan." Encyclopedia of World Biography, Gale, 1998. Student Resources In Context,

https://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/K1631004653/SUIC?u=powa9245&sid=SUIC&xid=dfa1ab23. Accessed 7 Dec. 2018.