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By Charles Willson Peale

The rebel general who gave Tarleton "a devil of a whipping" at the Battle of Cowpens was born in New Jersey, and worked as a wagoner for the British army during the French and Indian Wars. In the Revolution, he marched on Quebec with Benedict Arnold, and took command of the attack after Arnold was wounded. He himself was captured and spent several months in British hands, but was exchanged in time to take part in the Saratoga campaign. Plagued by ill health and dissatisfied with Congress for giving Horatio Gates full credit for the victory over General Burgoyne -- and for not promoting him -- Morgan retired in 1779, only to rejoin the Continental Army a year later and take part in the Southern Campaign. In command of a strong portion of Nathanael Greene's forces, he led Tarleton on a cold, miserable chase through South Carolina. They finally clashed at Cowpens, where Morgan won a resounding victory and decimated the largest force Banastre had ever commanded.

Further Reading:

• Don Higginbotham, Daniel Morgan: Revolutionary Rifleman (Chapel Hill: Published for the Institute of Early American History and Culture At Williamsburg, Virginia by the University of North Carolina Press, 1961).
   
• For an online biography, check out our links page.