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Daniel Morgan: Fighting Frontiersman
Profiles the general whose skill during the battle at Cowpens helped win the American Revolutionary War.
88 pages, Hardcover
First published September 30, 2006
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
October 12, 2011
I'm coming to respect this series, and also to soberly reflect that ALL heroes of the American Revolution are becoming forgotten. This brave giant of a man, "arguably the greatest battlefield tactician of the Revolutionary War" (79), who acquired literacy late in life, roughed it for most of his days.
He never could stomach the thought of surrender, and he laid it all on the line at Cowpens, his last major battle and one of the greatest of the war. He went head to head with the infamous Tarleton and sent him running. And this from unfavorable terrain for a forced stand, as he saw the importance of repelling the invaders. As Morgan later wrote, "I would not have had a swamp in view of my militia on any consideration; they would have made for it, and nothing could have detained them from it. As to retreat, it was the very thing I wished to cut off all hope of. . . . When men are forced to fight, they will sell their lives dearly" (67). My own relatives were in the first two of three lines in the face-off, the second broken line rallying to join some desperate hand to hand combat. I had little difficulty picturing his endearing chats with pockets of troops the night before.
This truthful history doesn't shy away from briefly and tastefully depicting certain jealousies in seeking promotion in the Continental army, or from indicating that Morgan had a sort of carousing, hard-drinking, womanizing (if monogamous all the while) life, though by war's time a settled and indulgent family man.
He never could stomach the thought of surrender, and he laid it all on the line at Cowpens, his last major battle and one of the greatest of the war. He went head to head with the infamous Tarleton and sent him running. And this from unfavorable terrain for a forced stand, as he saw the importance of repelling the invaders. As Morgan later wrote, "I would not have had a swamp in view of my militia on any consideration; they would have made for it, and nothing could have detained them from it. As to retreat, it was the very thing I wished to cut off all hope of. . . . When men are forced to fight, they will sell their lives dearly" (67). My own relatives were in the first two of three lines in the face-off, the second broken line rallying to join some desperate hand to hand combat. I had little difficulty picturing his endearing chats with pockets of troops the night before.
This truthful history doesn't shy away from briefly and tastefully depicting certain jealousies in seeking promotion in the Continental army, or from indicating that Morgan had a sort of carousing, hard-drinking, womanizing (if monogamous all the while) life, though by war's time a settled and indulgent family man.
October 4, 2016
Not a bad book. If you know nothing about the man, this is a good place to start. It is probably geared for about 6th-8th grade students. I knew a lot about the man because I like this period in history. I got it at Cowpens National Battlefield. Even though I didn't pick up anything new, it's always good to re-read what this brave & brilliant fellow did.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews