Mordecai Gist, born in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1743, was descended from some of the earliest English settlers in that State. Though trained for a commercial life, he hastened at the beginning of the Revolution to offer his services to his country, and in January, 1775, was elected to the command of a company of volunteers raised in his native city, called the “Baltimore Independent Company,”—the first company raised in Maryland for liberty. In 1776, he rose to the rank of major, distinguishing himself whenever an occasion offered. In 1777, he was made colonel, and on the 9th of January, 1779, Congress recognized his worth by conferring on him the rank of brigadier-general.
It is with the battle of Camden, South Carolina, that Gist’s name is indissolubly linked. The British having secured the best position, Gates divided his forces into three parts, assigning the right wing to Gist. By a blunder in an order issued by Gates himself, the centre and the left wing were thrown into confusion and routed. Gist and De Kalb stood firm, and by their determined resistance made the victory a dear one for the British. When the brave German fell, Gist rallied about a hundred men and led them off in good order. In 1782, joining the light troops of the South, he commanded at Combahee—the last engagement in the war—and gained a victory. At the close of the war he retired to his plantation near Charleston, where he died in 1792. He was married three times, and had two sons, one of whom he named “Independent” and the other “States.”
WILLIAM IRVINE.
William Irvine, born near Enniskillen, Ireland, on the 3d of November, 1741, was educated at Trinity College, Dublin. Though preferring a military career, he adopted the medical profession to gratify the wishes of his parents. During the latter part of the Seven Years War between England and France, he served as surgeon on board a British man-of-war, and shortly before the restoration of peace, he resigned his commission, and coming to America in 1764, settled at Carlisle, Pennsylvania, where he soon acquired a great reputation and a large practice. Warm-hearted and impulsive, at the opening of the Revolution he adopted the cause of the colonists as his own, and after serving in the Pennsylvania Convention, he was commissioned in 1776 to raise a regiment in that State. At the head of these troops, he took part in the Canadian expedition of that year, and being taken prisoner, was detained for many months. He was captured a second time at the battle of Chestnut Hill, New Jersey, in December, 1777. On the 12th of May, 1779, Congress conferred on him the rank of brigadier-general. From 1782 until the close of the war, he commanded at Fort Pitt,—an important post defending the Western frontier, then threatened by British and Indians. In 1785, he was appointed an agent to examine the public lands, and to him was intrusted the administration of an act for distributing the donation lands that had been promised to the troops of the Commonwealth. Appreciating the advantage to Pennsylvania of having an outlet on Lake Erie, he suggested the purchase of that tract of land known as “the triangle.” From 1785 to 1795, he filled various civil and military offices of responsibility. Being sent to treat with those connected with the Whiskey Insurgents, and failing to quiet them by arguments, he was given command of the Pennsylvania Militia to carry out the vigorous measures afterward adopted to reduce them to order. In 1795, he settled in Philadelphia, held the position of intendant of military stores, and was president of the Pennsylvania Society of the Cincinnati until his death on the 9th of July, 1804.
DANIEL MORGAN.
Daniel Morgan, born in New Jersey about 1736, was of Welsh parentage. His family having an interest in some Virginia lands, he went to that colony at seventeen years of age. When Braddock began his march against Fort Duquesne, Morgan joined the army as a teamster, and did good service at the rout of the English army at Monongahela, by bringing away the wounded. Upon returning from this disastrous campaign, he was appointed ensign in the colonial service, and soon after was sent with important despatches to a distant fort. Surprised by the Indians, his two companions were instantly killed, while he received a rifle-ball in the back of his neck, which shattered his jaw and passed through his left cheek, inflicting the only severe wound he received during his entire military career. Believing himself about to die, but determined that his scalp should not fall into the hands of his assailants, he clasped his arms around his horse’s neck and spurred him forward. An Indian followed in hot pursuit; but finding Morgan’s steed too swift for him, he threw his tomahawk, hoping to strike his victim. Morgan however escaped and reached the fort, but was lifted fainting from the saddle and was not restored to health for six months. In 1762, he obtained a grant of land near Winchester, Virginia, where he devoted himself to farming and stock-raising. Summoned again to military duty, he served during the Pontiac War, but from 1765 to 1775 led the life of a farmer, and acquired during this period much property.
The first call to arms in the Revolutionary struggle found Morgan ready to respond; recruits flocked to his standard; and at the head of a corps of riflemen destined to render brilliant service, he marched away to Washington’s camp at Cambridge. Montgomery was already in Canada, and when Arnold was sent to co-operate with him, Morgan eagerly sought for service in an enterprise so hazardous and yet so congenial. At the storming of Quebec, Morgan and his men carried the first barrier, and could they have been reinforced, would no doubt have captured the city. Being opposed by overwhelming numbers, and their rifles being rendered almost useless by the fast-falling snow, after an obstinate resistance they were forced to surrender themselves prisoners-of-war. Morgan was offered the rank of colonel in the British army, but rejected the offer with scorn. Upon being exchanged, Congress gave him the same rank in the Continental army, and placed a rifle brigade of five hundred men under his command.
For three years Morgan and his men rendered such valuable service that even English writers have borne testimony to their efficiency. In 1780, a severe attack of rheumatism compelled him to return home. On the 31st of October of the same year, Congress raised him to the rank of brigadier-general; and his health being somewhat restored, he joined General Greene, who had assumed command of the Southern army. Much of the success of the American arms at the South, during this campaign, must be attributed to General Morgan, but his old malady returning, in March, 1781, he was forced to resign. When Cornwallis invaded Virginia, Morgan once more joined the army, and Lafayette assigned to him the command of the cavalry. Upon the surrender of Yorktown, he retired once more to his home, spending his time in agricultural pursuits and the improvement of his mind. In 1794, the duty of quelling the “Whiskey Insurrection” in Pennsylvania was intrusted to him, and subsequently he represented his district in Congress for two sessions. He died in Winchester on the 6th of July, 1802, and has been called, “The hero of Quebec, of Saratoga, and of the Cowpens; the bravest among the brave, and the Ney of the West.”