Riding to the Rescue

Daniel Morgan commanded men detached from the 8th Virginia during the 1777 Saratoga campaign. He was from Frederick County, which also produced Capt. Thomas Berry's Company. Though in bad physical condition, he came out of retirement to respond to the British invasion of Virginia in 1781.

When General Cornwallis invaded Virginia in 1781, many of the Old Dominion's best men had already done their part. Daniel Morgan, the Continental Army's best tactician, had a damaged spine and what were then called "piles," both of which made it painful to ride a horse. Eighth Virginia veteran Lt. Col. William Darke had just been exchanged after three years as a prisoner of war. Drafting soldiers had grown difficult and getting men to volunteer nearly impossible.

​But when Richmond was burned and Banastre Tarlton's British Legion followed the legislature and Governor Jefferson all the way to Charlottesville, it was clearly time for extraordinary measures. The House of Delegates asked Jefferson to "call for the immediate assistance of Brigadier General Morgan to take command of such Volunteers, Militia, and others as he may be able to speedily embody." Jefferson wrote to the general on June 2nd: "I sincerely wish your health may be so far reestablished as to permit you to take the field." He sent along enough blank commissions for three battalions.

Morgan accepted to assignment and set about trying to raise three troops of light cavalry. He appointed a trio of men to lead and recruit, and sent letters himself urging local leaders to help. He wrote to Taverner Beale, a former 8th Virginia officer and now a local official in Shenandoah County. "Colo. Triplett I have appointed to raise a Brigade below the Ridge in Fauquier and Loudon," he wrote, " Colo. Darke in Berkeley and Hampshire, Colo Smith in Frederick and Shendooe, will you undertake to raise what men you can in your County and join Colo. Smith[?] The matter is just this, if we do not make head and oppose the enemy they will destroy us."

As hard as the officers tried, they had to compete with the wheat harvest, which was just gearing up. Wheat was the primary crop of the Shenandoah Valley, and neglecting the harvest might cost a man most of a year's income. Morgan decided to "call on the best aid I could possibly get," and convened a meeting of the lower Valley's "Gentlemen who I esteem of most influence" to figure out what to do. William Darke, Charles Myn Thruston, Horatio Gates, the county lieutenants (militia commanders), and others met on June 15. They wrote to the General Assembly recommending a "decisive measure" for beefing up enlistment. The legislature acted quickly to create a militia law with teeth. Going forward, anyone who failed to appear for a two-month militia tour would be put into the Continental Army for six months. Penalties were set for local officials who failed to try and punish deserters. The death penalty was applied to deserters who left with public property. 

​​There was no way Morgan was going to raise the corps of 2,000 volunteers Jefferson and the legislature had hoped for. But the draft law worked, and Darke (despite his Continental commission) commanded militia through the surrender at Yorktown in October.

William Darke was a lot like Morgan in temperament and character. Long before the war, they were both part of a group of young men that engaged in fist fights or wrestling matches at the "Battle Town Tavern," where Berryville is now. Both men rose from rough beginnings to a status they were never fully comfortable with.

Below is a letter written by General Morgan on June 26th to Virginia's new governor, Thomas Nelson. Nelson had just written him urging him to hurry up. The original is in the collection of Haverford College. It is transcribed without alteration but annotated at the end of each paragraph in italic text.

Daniel Morgan to Thomas Nelson, June 26, 1781

Sir,

​I recd the letter you did me the honor to write me by Colo Rootes and in compliance therewith shall March with what Volunteers I have in a day or two. I flatter my self you, Sir, will not think my time has been mispent, when I asure You I have been exerting every nerve to get Men into the field who would be of service when there. ◊ "Colo Rootes" may be George Rootes, who represented Frederick County in the First Virginia Convention in 1776. Nelson succeeded Jefferson as governor on June 12th. He wrote to Morgan from Staunton (where the state government had retreated).
 
You, Sir, are well acquainted with the Enemy’s superiority in Cavalry and the absolute necesity there is for as many horse as We can mount; this has induced me to endeavour to raise three troops mounted on the best horses these Counties can produce; such a reasonable supply will be of the utmost consequence, and their remaining three months will give time for a more permanent establishing of Dragoons, the part of an army not to be dispensed with; to attain this desirable purpose, my self with a number of other Gentlemen, have engaged our selves to some people in Frederick Town in Maryland, for such accoutrements as could be hastily furnished, for payment whereof, we make no doubt, provision will be made, when the accounts are rendered; such necessaries are allways greatly wanted, and when the volunteers times have expired, they will remain to equip future Dragoons; The horses will be an acquisition, the Country will find very beneficial. ◊ This appears to be the point of contention between Morgan and the governor. Morgan had invested time and effort into raising cavalry, but Nelson wanted men of any sort to come as soon as possible.
 
You can’t conceive how reluctantly the people leave their homes at this season of the year, and it was the general opinion if I left the Country before they were imbodied, they would not be prevailed upon to March; small parties have been pushed on and a few days, will produce the wished for march of the whole. ◊ Wheat, grown as what is now sometimes called "winter wheat," was planted in the fall and harvested in June and July. After Saratoga and especially Cowpens, Morgan was a hero. The legislature was counting on his reputation and charisma to inspire men to enlist.
 
Give me leave to press the forming magazines at the places mentioned in my last, from whence the army may be supplyd without delay: and I am of opinion too many workmen can not be imployd in making and repairing warlike instruments—many hands may be set at work in this part of the Country. For want of storehouses we are obliged to pick up provisions in such quantities as it can be found, this frequently subjects us to scantiness and is very disgusting to the people, both which, I humbly apprehend, may be obviated by the recommended magazines. I shall immediately march my voluntiers and what Militia are ready, the remainder will follow with the greatest dispatch. ◊ Morgan is being argumentative here. In the close of Nelson's June 20 letter to Morgan, he explicitly said they had no time for devising complex supply schemes, but indicated they might turn to Morgan's ideas later.
 
Had I known my presence in the Army was so immediately expected, I would have joined it on the earliest notice, but I had gone too far in the Voluntier s[c]heme to recede; it was and still is my opinion they will be extremly usefull—many of the officers I have appointed, have seen service, and the rest, Gentlemen who may be depended on.
 
However sanguine some Gentlemen may be in a hasty gathering of the Militia, You, Sir, who have seen service know, so well an appointed Army as the Brittish, Commanded by so experienced an officer as Lord Cornwallis, is not to be beaten but by well furnished troops, especialy with proper arms and well equipped horse. Could I have properly completed my Volunteer corps of two thousand, I flatter my self we should have done honor to our selves, and distinguished services to our Country. ◊ Morgan is apparently inoculating himself from blame, implying that if his recruits did not perform well, insufficient time to recruit, equip, and train them would be the cause. Morgan joined General Lafayette with the men he was able to raise on July 7th, the day after the Battle of Green Spring. He was unable to continue more than a few days and returned home.
 
I have the honor to be
Sir
Your most obedt hum Servt
 
26th June 1781
 
Danl Morgan

Gen. Daniel Morgan’s sword, made about 1776, has Spanish inscriptions that translate to “Draw me not without reason” on one side and “Sheath me not without honor” on the other. (VMHC)

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