A treasured American myth is the one that asserts that the American people, when they saw their liberties threatened by increasing Parliamentary control from Great Britain, rose up, left their fields and shops, defeated the foe, and returned to their peaceful lifestyles. While this myth has lost much of its power, it persists into the present day. The following essay proposes to further reject the preceding interpretation by describing the military education of one of the great tactical commanders of the American War of Independence.

Most people who are familiar with Daniel Morgan know him for his exploits in the American War of Independence. During that conflict, he commanded the riflemen at a number of engagements including the battles of Saratoga and Cowpens. In fact, Morgan is probably best known for his command at the battle of Cowpens in January of 1781, where he demonstrated his supreme understanding of the tactical combination of militia and regulars. This understanding led to a crushing defeat for the troops under the command of Banastre Tarleton. These are impressive credentials to be sure, though they did not come to him right out of the gate. The Virginian had already seen much of warfare. As Morgan's biographer, Don Higginbotham wrote elsewhere, most officers in the eighteenth century went through a sort of apprentice phase in learning the art of war.

There was some reading of military texts, but this was supplemented by a period of tutelage under a more experienced senior officer. While it is not known if he read the military literature of his time, and many factors would suggest that he did not, Daniel Morgan fit well into the overall parameters of this tradition. He worked for the British, serving as a teamster, in the French and Indian War. Later in this same conflict, he served as a ranger. These early experiences contributed a great deal to the man who would one day give Tarleton a devil of a whipping at Cowpens.

The record of Morgan's early life is spotty to say the least. Born in 1735 or 1736, either in Bucks county Pennsylvania or in New Jersey, he was reputed to be a first cousin of Daniel Boone. The people Morgan grew up amongst constituted a fairly independent-minded group, and he seems to have adopted this trait fairly early in his own life.

After quarreling with his father at age 17, he moved on his own into the Shenandoah Valley where he worked as a farm laborer and teamster. This would have been around 1752. Over time, he saved enough of his earnings to by his own team and wagon and went into business for himself.

Three years later, in 1755, at age nineteen, Morgan served as a teamster for the British army on the ill-fated expedition of Major General Braddock on the Monongahela River. This is the first definite proof we have of Morgan witnessing frontier fighting. Though he was not directly involved in the battle that saw the British run from their enemies, he was present to see the aftermath, using his wagon to transport the some of the wounded back to the staring point of the expedition.

During this march, Morgan had the opportunity to see George Washington in command of the retreating column. On the long road back, Morgan likely heard the stories of the fate that had befallen the head of the column, and realized the havoc well concealed fighters could have on a column of regulars.

Later in 1755, after the debacle on the Monongahela, Morgan gained a commission as an ensign in the Virginia militia. He served in Captain John Ashby's Virginia Ranger Company. April 1756 saw Morgan guiding a militia contingent from Fort Ashby to Fort Edwards, twenty miles to the north of Winchester. This was territory familiar to Morgan the ranger, he had often worked in this region as a teamster.

On April 16th, Morgan and another member of the ranger company embarked on their return trip to Fort Ashby. In some accounts they were carrying dispatches, in others merely returning to their base. Fourteen miles out from Fort Edwards a party of Indians ambushed the two men. Morgan was wounded, a musket ball passing through his neck and out of his cheek, taking several teeth with it. Likewise, the other ranger was killed, all in the first blast. Morgan reined his horse and road on at top speed, just making it back to base before he collapsed from loss of blood.

Debilitating as the wound was, it proved to be far from life threatening, though Morgan was permanently scarred, a fact the artists who painted his portrait in later years mercifully neglect. More importantly, what the above experience, along with the following one demonstrate is that Morgan was beginning to acquire a reputation for survival, endurance, and cunning. These would all precede him in later years, and contribute to the men's confidence in his leadership.

Historians differ as to when the following series of events took place. Some have it as prior to Braddock's expedition, others during,

They must have occurred in 1755, however, for after that date Morgan was engaged as a ranger. Though Morgan did return to wagon driving in 1758, but by then the focus of fighting had moved far from Virginia.

Regardless of when the events occurred, they were key in the development of Morgan's perceived qualities as an officer in the War of Independence.

As the story goes, Morgan, still working as a teamster, was transporting supplies to a frontier post when a British officer struck him. The details of this incident remain obscure, and it quickly became a sort of myth that grew up around the teamster. Essentially, Morgan, ever the proud frontiersman refused to leave the road to get out of the officer's way. In order to prod him, the officer hit Morgan with the flat of his sword, a move meant to humiliate as much as to hurt.

In retaliation, Morgan punched the officer, essentially cold-cocking the man and knocking him to the ground. For this offense, he was sentenced to receive 500 lashes. According to Morgan's own testimony, he heard the drummer, whose duty consisted of counting the blows, miscount as another soldier administered the punishment. Morgan thought better of correcting the mistake. In later years, he would boast that the British owed him a stripe. Again, it was this sort of bravado that could bolster the morale of soldiers, especially militia, before a difficult fight.

Morgan's experiences on the frontier in the French and Indian War certainly shaped the commander he was to become in the War of Independence. While his biographers often dwell upon the tough backwoodsmen qualities he developed during this period in his life, they fail to observe the relevance of these same qualities. Certainly, Daniel Morgan learned the tricks of backwoods survival, at least those he had not already had occasion to learn. Likewise, it was most likely during these years of warfare on the frontier that he gained a true appreciation for the different capabilities of the rifle and the smoothbore musket. These, as well as more personal qualities Morgan began to develop at this time would come in quite handy in the War of Independence.

Among the personal qualities had to be a strong sense of self-confidence, born out of his successful escape, while wounded, from the ambush. Morgan more than likely developed a strong hatred for the British army, especially their officer corps, resulting from his own experience. Still, these last points are mere conjecture. One thing that is clear, Daniel Morgan was no stranger to the sights and smells of battle when he joined the Continental Army. He had developed a reputation for courage and determination born out of his French and Indian War experiences as well. These intangibles would later lend Morgan the kind of personal magnetism that led his men to follow at places like Cowpens.

All too often the romantic myth persists even to the present day that many of the prominent officers of Washington's Army were civilians who donned their uniforms to fight for American freedom, and then went back to civilian life. While this myth is certainly appealing in a society that praises civilian control of the military, it is far from the reality. Many of the officers that eventually held high commands in Washington's army got their first taste of combat fighting alongside the British in the French and Indian War. Daniel Morgan was one of these officers. Twelve years later, his experiences in the French and Indian War would stand them in good stead.

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