Daniel Morgan

On January 17, 1781, on a pasture in western South Carolina, some of the best troops in the British Army were defeated by a motley collection of militiamen and soldiers of the Continental Army. The man who planned and executed the stunning American victory was Daniel Morgan.

Morgan was an unlikely American military hero. He had run away from home as a teenager—he was never quite sure of his age—and wandered into the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. There he had worked as a farm laborer, in sawmills, and as a teamster guiding Conestoga wagons to Virginia’s ports. After his service in the French and Indian War, he had acquired land, money, and local success. When in 1775 the Continental Congress called for riflemen to join the siege of Boston, Morgan organized a company and led it north. From that moment on, Morgan’s presence on the battlefield made an impact wherever he went. Washington and others recognized his abilities, and his fame was sealed by his rifle corps’ service during the British defeat at Saratoga in October 1777.

In Daniel Morgan: A Revolutionary Life, the first major biography of this iconic figure to be written in fifty years, historian Albert Louis Zambone presents Morgan as a man who through driving ambition rose from homelessness and poverty to wealth and prominence in both war and peace. Drawing upon decades of scholarship in the social history of Virginia and the early American frontier, this biography presents a portrait of one of the most iconic and yet forgotten men of the founding era, whose was both an uncommon man of the common people, and at the same time a common man in uncommon times.

“In his riveting biography of Daniel Morgan, a home-grown military genius who left an indelible mark on America’s Revolutionary War, Albert Zambone provides a thrilling account of a world in upheaval as seen through the eyes of the canny though unlettered Morgan.  With his frontier riflemen and tactical brilliance, Morgan did as much to beat the British as any American soldier except Washington, and inhabits these pages with a rough grace and compelling charm.”
—David O. Stewart, author of The Summer of 1787: The Men Who Invented the Constitution

“Albert Louis Zambone’s evocative and engaging book immerses readers in the fascinating life and tumultuous times of Daniel Morgan. The biography follows Morgan as he fought his way up: he was a nobody from nowhere who became a celebrated military tactician and war hero. Zambone restores Morgan to a place of prominence in the story of American independence. Through his exploration of Morgan’s life, Zambone also illuminates the interplay between the Revolutionary War and the larger American Revolution, which transformed Morgan’s life and the society he inhabited. Daniel Morgan is important and crisply written and not to be missed by readers interested in the origins of the American Republic.”
—Lorri Glover, John Francis Bannon, SJ Professor of History at Saint Louis University, author of The Fate of the Revolution: Virginians Debate the Constitution and Founders as Fathers: The Private Lives and Politics of the American Revolutionaries

“Daniel Morgan gives substance to the legends and mythology surrounding the American Revolution…He was a self-made man who could never have risen through the ranks of the British army and yet played a critical leadership role in two of the most decisive battles of the war: Cowpens and Saratoga. Elegantly written, Al Zambone has not only produced an original new account of his military career but has successfully placed him in the context of his times and integrated his biography into the wider world of Revolutionary and Early Republican America.”
—Andrew Jackson O’Shaugnessy, author of The Men Who Lost America

“Daniel Morgan has been overdue for a new biography, and Zambone has given us a tour-de-force.  His volume is exhaustively researched, elegantly written, and deeply revealing—by far the best biography we have of this fascinating yet enigmatic member of the founding generation.  A wonderful book.”
—Mark Lender, co-author of Fatal Sunday: George Washington, the Monmouth Campaign, and the Politics of Battle, Emeritus Vice President for Academics at Keane University

“This long-overdue reappraisal of the dramatic life of one of America’s finest military leaders places Daniel Morgan squarely in the context of his times. Rugged and defiant, Morgan was also a clever and innovative officer whose influence on the American military ethos reaches right down to today. Best of all, Zambone’s book is quite an enjoyable read!”
—Edward G. Lengel, author of General George Washington: A Military Life

“Roughhewn backwoodsman Daniel Morgan, known as the ‘Old Wagoner,’ was truly a front line hero of the American Revolution. Think of the invasion of Quebec in 1775, the battles of Saratoga in 1777, and his classically brilliant victory at the Cowpens in 1781 during the Southern campaigns. Morgan constantly provided invaluable martial leadership during the Revolutionary War. Albert Zambone’s new biography beautifully captures the old wagoner’s action-packed military adventures and life story. A gem of a book.”
—James Kirby Martin, Cullen University Professor of History, University of Houston, author of Benedict Arnold, Revolutionary Hero

“In his riveting biography of Daniel Morgan, a home-grown military genius who left an indelible mark on America’s Revolutionary War, Albert Zambone provides a thrilling account of a world in upheaval as seen through the eyes of the canny though unlettered Morgan.  With his frontier riflemen and tactical brilliance, Morgan did as much to beat the British as any American soldier except Washington, and inhabits these pages with a rough grace and compelling charm.”
—David O. Stewart, author of The Summer of 1787: The Men Who Invented the Constitution

Author Albert Zambone discussed the life of Revolutionary War general Daniel Morgan on C-SPAN at an event hosted by the American Revolution Institute of the Society of the Cincinnati.

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