Daniel Morgan: America’s Most Versatile Professional General Part 3

Upon return to the Colonies, Morgan headed another company of Virginian riflemen, several of which served with him during the failed Canadian Campaign, however; this time he was under the command of General Horatio Gates. Morgan’s unit until his retirement, maintained autonomy during the Campaign against General Burgoyne and acted a key reconnaissance detachment and in many cases the vanguard of the Colonial Army. Three battles during this period offer various insights to Morgan’s character and genius of Command, which culminated in the Colonial victory at Saratoga.

The first battle of merit took place at the foot of Freeman’s Fields. Morgan’s Corps became the vanguard for the Colonial left flank during an intended meeting engagement to check General’s Burgoyne’s advance towards Albany and crossing of the Hudson. In the days prior to this meeting engagement Morgan’s men inflicted numerous casualties on the first British elements crossing the Hudson.[1] This light attrition of the British forces had a telling effect on the British advance causing many of the Canadian and Indian volunteers to desert, due to Morgan’s reputation.[2]

During the first major action on September 19^th, Morgan’s Corps engaged the British and scattered under the initial British advance. Morgan went forward with the second echelon of his corps using a turkey call to regroup his force while the British continued to advance. Morgan within minutes completely regrouped his force and immediately attacked the British. This attack pushed the British back several hundred yards and allowed the Colonials to capture the British artillery until British reinforcements arrived.[3] When the British reinforcements arrived on the scene Morgan shortly withdrew to his initial starting position of his attack in order to engage the British from the safety of cover.

With sufficient reinforcements arriving, the British moved decisively to the attack, only to once again be pushed back as two additional American Brigades entered into action, preventing Morgan from being outflanked. Once again, Morgan ordered an assault on the numerically superior British, driving them back and once again capturing the British artillery. The action finally ended at nightfall. During the battle Morgan not only faced an opponent that at all times at least had over a thousand men more than his force, but also the advantage of artillery support. Morgan denied the British full use of their artillery by constantly maneuvering his forces and keeping in close proximity of the British forces rendering artillery fire hazardous to the British. Morgan’s attacks against the British left them so mentally taxed, that the British forces slept on their arms during the night, fearing that Morgan would launch a night attack against them.[4] Though the battle seemed absent of an obvious victor, the Americans were able to declare victory through the attrition inflicted upon the British and that the action effectively stopped the British advance on Albany.

With the British advance stalled both the Americans and British fortified their respective camps while awaiting reinforcements. During this time, George Washington requested that Gates should dispatch Morgan’s Corps to be under his personal command.[5] George Washington obviously felt that Morgan and his Corps were critical assets to the Continental Army. Gates immediately replied to Washington that he would not part with the force that “the Army of General Burgoyne are most afraid of.”[6] The stalemate along the Hudson continued into October while both sides waited for a definite advantage.

On October the 7^th, the British began operations, since supplies were running low and desertion began having a telling effect. The British advanced towards the Continental Camp once again on the left flank, bringing Morgan back into the action. General Gates ordered Morgan to commit to a hasty attack on the enemy, since he obviously did not have full situational awareness. Morgan quickly rebuked these orders and offered his desired course of action to General Gates. Gates quickly accepted Morgan’s course of action, which consisted of the envelopment of the British right flank, which consisted of Indians, Tories, and British Light Infantry. Morgan’s assault rapidly collapsed the British right with intense rifle fire, ferocity, and rapid maneuver. During the battle, Morgan ordered the shooting of General Frazer, who continuously rallied the British forces in the face of Morgan’s advance; following his death the British right completely fell apart.[7]

With the British right completely devastated and their reserves used in a futile effort to check Morgan’s assault the rest of the British forces were forced to flee from the field, leaving behind eight artillery pieces, which the Colonial Army direly needed to begin the assault on the British Camp. Morgan aggressively pursued the British into their camp. Morgan systematically pushed into the British defensive works using his riflemen to deliver precision shooting into enemy strong points and artillery positions.[8] By nightfall, Morgan occupied 25% of the British fortified camp. Once again, his exertions completely overcame the advantaged opponent and forced a superior British force to withdraw. In addition, his initiative allowed the Colonials to gain a foothold in the British fortified camp, which after three weeks of fortification presented a potent redoubt. His success forced the British to make a night withdrawal to prevent the impending disaster if they continued to fight at their now compromised defensive works.

Morgan throughout these two battles displayed several skills his contemporaries lacked. First, Morgan always used cover and concealment to render the effects of British fire completely ineffective, while allowing him to maximize on his units primary skill base, precision shooting. When British artillery presented itself on the battlefield he either maneuvered to make its firing position useless, or he rapidly assaulted the British lines forcing the guns to silence themselves in order not to hit British forces. Second, Morgan focused the efforts of his most proven marksmen to kill British officers and artillerymen as well creating total anarchy amongst the British lines and quelling the heroic notions of the British officer corps. Third, he familiarized himself with the local area, giving himself a situational awareness that both his fellow officers and British never achieved. Finally, his aggressive maneuvers prevented the enemy from fixing him in a position in which they might be able to flank him.

These battles forced General Burgoyne into an unfavorable position near the town of Saratoga on October 9^th. The American forces quickly encircled the constructed British camp during the following days. Morgan corps received orders to observe the Albany road, which constituted the main line of retreat for the British. Burgoyne, seeing the impossibility of now fighting a now superior American force, attempted to escape the encirclement by having his engineers begin preparation of the Albany road for his retreat. Morgan’s corps quickly dashed all British hopes of that possibility with several volleys of well aimed fire. The British eventually capitulated on October 17^th officially marking the turning point of the Revolutionary War. Throughout the days prior to this crucial event, Morgan continuously proved him the primary catalyst to this victory, however; he never received full recognition for his part in the action due to a major injustice done to him by General Gates.[9]

Shortly after the initial success against the British forces in the series of battles, but before the British capitulation at Saratoga, General Gates conceived a great vision in which he desired to unseat George Washington as the Commander and Chief of the Colonial Army. Gates perceived that the success of his army gave him advantage over the obvious military failures Washington continuously faced.[10] Gates quickly found favor with the “Conway Cabal,” a group led by General Conway which sought to remove Washington’s command. Gates became their primary choice as Washington’s replacement.[11]

During an officer meeting, Morgan and Gates entered into a dialogue in reference to the issue. Morgan listened to the arguments presented by General Gates, but he refused to take part in the plot aimed at removing George Washington. This turn of events created an environment of ingratitude which Gates fostered against Morgan throughout the remainder of the campaign. The situation became obvious even to the British prisoners of war, who could not believe that General Gates would not even introduce them to the infamous Morgan to whom they credited their defeat. In one anecdote that is relevant to the issue Morgan reported to Gates’s Headquarters, which was the site of dinner party attended by the defeated commanders of Burgoyne’s Army. The British officers were astonished that Gates would not introduce a field officer to them and were even more astounded to find out that the field officer in question was Morgan. The British officers promptly excused themselves from the table and chased after Morgan in order to meet him and express their admiration.[12] Gates continued on his crusade to become the Commander and Chief during the next several weeks by denying Washington reinforcements until Colonel Hamilton forced General Gates to abide to the commands to do so.

It is important to remark that Morgan’s decision to support George Washington was a crucial action in the Revolution. With Morgan’s endorsement, the “Conway Cabal” might have succeeded and drastically changed the course of American History. Additionally, it shows Morgan in an interesting light. Following the invitation to join the cabal Morgan found himself in a position where he could not trust the intentions of his superiors in regards to his units well being or his own. He faced the an unnerving situation of following orders of a man who held traitorous desires and having his successes adding to the case against George Washington, whom he obviously held high esteem for.

Morgan is truly admirable in his ability to bite his tongue and continue to obey orders and focus on the task at hand over any personal reservations he may have harbored at this point. It also adds a interesting twist to Washington’s request to have Gates send Morgan to join his forces, though no correspondence is available it is possible Morgan passed his reservations to Washington in order to escape this difficult position. During a similar situation during the failed march on Quebec Morgan in fact did send a letter in secret to George Washington in regards to issues with the chain of command.[13]

Though Morgan did not join in the plot to relive George Washington of command he found himself as the figure head of an enormous response to a chronic set of injustices the Continental Congress unwittingly victimized the Colonial officers with. The primary issue focused on the fact the Continental Congress continued to overlook several officers for promotion to general. Instead of promoting colonial officers who had fought through numerous campaigns and gained numerous successes, they chose to promote foreign officers who had very little actual military experience. Morgan began to weigh the issues as well as several other officers. Morgan for example not only was a member of the army from the beginning, he had by far the greatest success record during his career under the most adverse conditions, and he continued to be a primary contributor to Colonial victories in the North. Additionally, Morgan won the admiration of his commanding officers on several occasions including the praise of George Washington, who encouraged congress to promote him immediately.[14] Congress declined Morgan’s promotion, causing him to resign from the Colonial Army in June of 1779. With his resignation, several other officers immediately resigned from the Continental Army.

[1] Victor Brooks, and Robert Hohwald, How America Fought Its Wars: Military Strategy from the American Revolution to the Civil War (Conshohocken, PA: Combined Publishing, 1999), 77

[2] Larry R. Gerlach, James A. Dolph, and Michael L. Nicholls, eds., Legacies of the American Revolution (Logan, UT: Utah State University Press, 1978) 169

[3] Broadus Mitchell, Alexander Hamilton: the Revolutionary Years, ed. Callahan, North (New York: Thomas Y. Crowell, 1970), 94

[4] Graham, James. The life of General Daniel Morgan, of the Virginia line of the army of the United States, with portions of his correspondence; comp. from authentic sources, 151

[5] Letter from George Washington to General Gates September 24, 1777 Graham, James. The life of General Daniel Morgan, of the Virginia line of the army of the United States, with portions of his correspondence; comp. from authentic sources, 157

[6] Letter from General Gates to George Washington October 5, 1777 ibid pg. 158

[7] Victor Brooks, and Robert Hohwald, How America Fought Its Wars: Military Strategy from the American Revolution to the Civil War (Conshohocken, PA: Combined Publishing, 1999), 80

[8] Robert Middlekauff, The Glorious Cause: The American Revolution, 1763-1789 (New York: Oxford University Press, 1985), 383

[9] Broadus Mitchell, Alexander Hamilton: the Revolutionary Years, ed. Callahan, North (New York: Thomas Y. Crowell, 1970), 94

[10] Bernhard Knollenberg, Washington and the Revolution, a Reappraisal: Gates, Conway, and the Continental Congress (New York: Macmillan, 1940), 65

[11] Henry Lee, Lees Memoirs, pg. 220

[12] Graham, James. The life of General Daniel Morgan, of the Virginia line of the army of the United States, with portions of his correspondence; comp. from authentic sources, 62

[13] Letter from George Washington To Daniel Morgan Oct 4, 1775Graham, James. The life of General Daniel Morgan, of the Virginia line of the army of the United States, with portions of his correspondence; comp. from authentic sources pg. 62

[14] Letter from George Washington to Congress June 30, 1779 ibid pg, 231