* He was made a prisoner there. After his exchange, he was appointed to the command of the 11th Virginia regiment, in which was incorporated his rifle corps. * He performed great service at Stillwater, when Burgoyne was defeated. Gates unjustly omitted his name in his report of that affair to Congress. He served under Gates and Greene at the South, where he became distinguished as a partisan officer. His victory at the Cowpens was considered a most brilliant affair, and Congress voted him a gold medal. (See next pane). At the close of the war, he returned to his farm. He commanded the militia organized to quell the Whisky Insurrection in Western Virginia, in 1794, and soon afterward was elected a member of Congress. His estate in Clarke county, a few miles from Winchester, Virginia, was called Saratoga. He resided there until 1800, when he removed to Winchester, where he died on the sixth of July, 1802, in the sixty-seventh year of his age. The house in which he died stood in the northwest part of the town, and a few years since was occupied by the Reverend Mr. Boyd. His grave is in the Presbyterian grave-yard at Winchester; and over it is a plain horizontal slab, raised a few feet from the ground, upon which is the following inscription: "Major-general Daniel Morgan departed this life on July the 6th, 1802, in the sixty-seventh year of his age. Patriotism and valor were the prominent features of his character, and the honorable services he rendered to his country during the Revolutionary war crowned him with glory, and will remain in the hearts of his countrymen, a perpetual monument to his memory."
* In early life General Morgan was dissipated, and was a famous pugilist; yet the teachings of a pious mother always made him reverential when his thoughts turned toward the Deity. In his latter years, he professed religion, and became a member of the Presbyterian church in Winchester. "Ah!" he would often exclaim, when talking of the past, "people said old Morgan never feared—they thought old Morgan never prayed—they did not know old Morgan was often miserably afraid." He said he trembled at Quebec, and in the gloom of early morning, when approaching the battery at Cape Diamond, he knelt in the snow and prayed; and before the battle at the Cowpens, he went into the woods, ascended a tree, and there poured out his soul in prayer for protection. In person, Morgan was large and strong. He was six feet in height, and very muscular. *
* The following are the devices and inscriptions upon the medal: An Indian queen with a quiver on her back, in the act of crowning an officer with a laurel wreath; his hand resting upon his sword. A cannon lying upon the ground; various military weapons and implements in the background. Legend: Daniel Morgan duci Exercitus Comitia Americana—"The American Congress to General Daniel Morgan." Reverse: An officer mounted, at the head of his troops, charging a flying enemy. A battle in the back-ground. In front, a personal combat between a dragoon unhorsed and a foot soldier. Legend: Victoria libertatis vindex—"Victory, the maintenance of Freedom." "The foe put to flight, taken, or slain, at the Cowpens, January 17, 1781."
* This sketch of the flag of Morgan's rifle corps I made from the original in the Museum at Alexandria, in Virginia.
Defeat of Tories by Washington.—Pursuit of Morgan by Tarleton.—Gold Medal awarded to Morgan.
tacked and defeated two hundred of them at Hammond's store, and soon afterward a section of Washington's command dispersed another Tory force under Bill Cunningham. Cornwallis, who was still at Winnsborough, perceived these successes with alarm, and apprehending a design upon his important post at Ninety-Six, over the Saluda, determined to disperse the forces under Morgan, or drive them into North Carolina, before he should rally the Mountain Men in sufficient numbers to cut off his communication with Augusta. He accordingly dispatched Tarleton with his legion of horse (three hundred and fifty in number), and the foot and light infantry attached to it, the 7th regiment, and the first battalion of the 71st, with two field pieces, to force Morgan to fight, or retreat beyond the Yadkin. Tarleton's entire force consisted of about eleven hundred well-disciplined men, and in every particular he had the advantage of Morgan.
Tarleton commenced his march on the eleventh of January. The roads were in a very bad condition, and it was not until the fifteenth that he approached the Pacolet. He had crossed the Broad River near Turkey Creek, and advanced with all possible speed toward the camp of Morgan. That officer was at first disposed to dispute Tarleton's passage of the Pacolet, but, informed of the superiority of his numbers, and that a portion had already crossed above him, he retreated hastily northward, and took post on the north side of Thicketty Mountain, near the Cowpens. Tarleton passed through the place of Morgan's camp in the evening, a few hours after he had left,Jan. 16, 1781 and leaving his baggage behind, he pressed eagerly forward in pursuit, riding all night, and making a circuit around the western side of Thicketty Mountain. Early the following morning,Jan. 17 he cap-