It was during his confinement in “The Seminary,” following his capture, that Morgan was tempted by the British to desert the cause of his country. Had he been made of common clay he might have yielded. He was half-naked; the few garments he wore were in tatters; he was a thousand miles from home; he was a prisoner of war with no prospect of release. But beneath the ragged hunting shirt of this nobleman from the Virginia forests beat a heart as full of loyalty as of love for his country. The polished and generous Governor-General, Sir Guy Carleton, knew of his wonderful courage in the assault. Through the mediation of a subordinate, he tendered Morgan in delicate and diplomatic language “the commission, rank and emoluments of a colonel” in the British Army. “I hope, sir,” was his disdainful reply, “I hope, sir, you will never again insult me in my present distressed and unfortunate situation by making me offers which plainly imply that you think me a scoundrel.”
On the 10th day of August, 1776, the prisoners of war in Quebec were released on parole, and a month later landed from the transports at Elizabethtown Point. General Washington gave Morgan a flattering reception. His high qualifications as an officer had become known throughout the army, and the Commander-in-chief desired to avail of his talents at once. From the Heights of Harlem, on the 20th day of September, 1776, General Washington addressed a communication to the President of Congress urging the appointment of Morgan to succeed Colonel Hugh Stephenson of the Rifle Regiment lately ordered to be raised. He stated “his conduct as an officer, in the expedition with General Arnold last fall, his intrepid behavior in the assault on Quebec, when the brave Montgomery fell, the inflexible attachment he professed to our cause during his imprisonment, and which he perseveres in,” all entitled him “to the favor of Congress.” After his release from his parole, Congress acted on the recommendation and Captain Morgan became “a Colonel of the Eleventh Regiment of Virginia in the army of the United States.” Before the year 1776 closed he was once more in the field of active operations.
He was ordered northward with a regiment of his own recruiting to check the ravages of the Indians attached to Burgoyne’s army. During that ever memorable campaign under Gates, Morgan and his men were in the thick of every engagement until the capitulation of the British at Saratoga. “Sir, you command the finest regiment in the world,” was Burgoyne’s outburst to him when they were introduced after the surrender. And in his “Review of the Evidence taken before the House of Commons,” in which Burgoyne’s conduct was a subject of investigation, in speaking of Morgan’s regiment having driven the British light infantry from the field and attacked them in their entrenchments, Burgoyne remarks: “If there can be any person who, after considering that circumstance and the positive proof of the subsequent obstinacy of the attack on the post of Lord Balcarras, and various other actions of the day, continue to doubt that the Americans possess the quality and faculty of fighting (call it by whatever term they please) they are of a prejudice that it would be very absurd longer to contend with.”
That is honorable testimony from an able adversary of the part Morgan bore in those momentous days. And yet the name of Morgan was omitted from the official account of the surrender which he did so much to compel. The reason was not far to seek and is now well-known. Again—this time on a triumphant field—did the innate nobleness, the loyalty and love of country of Daniel Morgan overcome the blandishments of the tempter and scorn his proffered preferments. General Gates sought to persuade the honest woodsman to join him and his co-conspirators in the “Conway Cabal,” which had for its object the promotion of Gates over Washington. He refused. Had he yielded, his name would have blazoned the dispatches announcing the capitulation. When Gates had concluded his request, the frank and honest soul of Morgan was aflame with indignation. “I have one favor to ask of you, sir, which is never to mention that detestable subject to me again; for under no other man than Washington as commander-in-chief would I ever serve.”
Vain was the attempt to ignore the services of Morgan and his regiment in the campaign against Burgoyne! The omission of his name by Gates in the dispatches should be supplied by the mighty pen of his grateful countrymen, and writ large, in letters of gold, upon the imperishable annals of the Republic. His enemies paid homage to his gallantry. An incident occurred at this time, as related by Lee in his Memoirs, which illustrates the resentment of Gates towards Morgan and demonstrates how unworthy and undeserved was his malice. Shortly after the rejection by Morgan of General Gates’ proposition to join the “Conway Cabal,” Gates gave a dinner to the principal officers of Burgoyne’s army. The principal officers of the American army were also present. But Morgan was not invited. Having occasion to seek an interview with General Gates before the entertainment was concluded, the British officers, observing the noble mien and soldier-like carriage of Morgan and that he wore the uniform of a field officer, made inquiries concerning his identity immediately upon his withdrawal. When informed that he was Colonel Morgan, of the Rifle Regiment, they arose to a man, and overtaking him in the road severally introduced themselves and declared their admiration for his bravery and skill as a commander.
After the surrender, Colonel Morgan, by express command of General Washington, marched southward to join him. The commanderin-chief was then operating on the Hudson and in New Jersey and Pennsylvania and was anxious to avail himself of the remarkable talents of Morgan, whose Rangers were now become the elite rifle-corps of the army. To follow him in all of his engagements while under the immediate command of Washington would prolong this address beyond the limitations which patience and the conventions prescribe. No undertaking having for its object the success of the American cause was too hazardous, no service too difficult for him to perform. It was during this period that developed those intimate personal relations between Colonel Morgan and General Lafayette which continued through life and which is affectionately manifested in the correspondence of the polished Marquis with his unaccomplished friend. In a letter from Fishkill, November 28, 1778, Lafayette, in thanking Morgan for the friendship and good opinion he expressed for him on the eve of his departure for France, said: “Both are extremely dear to my heart; and I do assure you, my dear sir, that the true regard and esteem and the sincere affection you have inspired to me, will last forever.
“Farewell, my dear sir, don’t forget your friend on the other side of the great water, and believe me ever,
“Your affectionate,
“Lafayette.”