Daniel Morgan: Revolutionary Rifleman (Published for the Omohundro Institute of Early American Hist) [Paperback]

Don Higginbotham (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press (July 23, 1979)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0807813869
• ISBN-13: 978-0807813867
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.1 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 0.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #179,114 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

39 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Dan the Man: Frontiersman, Patriot, Tactition, Leader, July 2, 2003

By 

Wayne A. Smith (Newark, DE) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Daniel Morgan: Revolutionary Rifleman (Published for the Omohundro Institute of Early American Hist) (Paperback)

Dan Morgan epitomizes the rough-and-ready individualist who made America.

A frontiersman from the Shennandoah Valley, Morgan knew a hard early life that steeled him for the physical challenges of his Revolutionary War service. A wagoneer in Gen. Braddock's Expedition, Morgan endured 400 lashes after tangling with a British soldier (he claimed only 399 and loved to regale listeners with the fact that he still owed the British one miscounted lash).

His physical endurance and prowess was combined with the ability to lead men and a superior ability to plan and manage battlefield tactics. He has been described as one of the Revolution's best battlefield commanders and this book gives plenty of examples to support that claim.

Morgan's service to our Republic was remarkable. Although a failure, his part in the Quebec expedition helped make possible one of the most grueling campaigns military history. Traveling overland through the spine of backwoods Maine, Morgan helped lead outnumbered American forces to a wintry showdown that could have produced a fourteenth colony in revolt against the Crown. In fact, Morgan stood at the moment of victory; had his desire to keep driving into the city after breaching its under-defended backside been followed, the city could have been captured. As it was, hesitancy on the part of other American commanders led to defeat and Morgan's capture. He had to endure a period of imprisonment until paroled.

That parole was a costly one for the British. It allowed Morgan, when exchanged, to play his decisive roles at Saratoga and Cowpens.

Morgan's ability to lead riflemen and read the battlefield was crucial to Gate's success at Saratoga (which led to French recognition, support and the resources to chance complete independence). Morgan's later brilliance at Cowpens, site of the famed double envelopment of Tarleton's British Legion, led to the series of events that ended with Cornwallis being pinned against the James at Yorktown. Cowpens, arguably the most decisive American victory of the war, was brilliant. Morgan, as the American commander, threaded strategic understanding, leadership (he had to persuade bayonetless American militia that they had a crucial role to fulfill in the battle and would be allowed to retire once fulfilling it), battlefield planning and tactical control to produce a victory that is rightly studied to this day.

A character, Morgan is one of the men who made the Revolution a success. This highly readable account develops the man, his character and his military personae in introducing the modern reader to a historic figure who needs to be more widely appreciated for his great effect on the success of our founding.

26 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Wonderful Biography of One of the Revolution's Greatest, January 19, 2000

By 

Zeb - See all my reviews

This review is from: Daniel Morgan: Revolutionary Rifleman (Published for the Omohundro Institute of Early American Hist) (Paperback)

Daniel Morgan, barring Benedict Arnold and Washington himself, was the most important U.S. officer of the Revolution. His riflemen were crucial in the victories at Saratoga, Bemis Heights, and Cowpens, and very nearly won at Quebec. This biography of Morgan details his life from his beginnings as a wagoner to his death in 1802 at his mansion, "Saratoga." Don Higgenbotham's work is readable and never boring, and countless primary sources are cited.

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Captures Morgan's Personality, but...., September 12, 2006

By 

William K. Sturley (Metropolitan Detroit) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Daniel Morgan: Revolutionary Rifleman (Published for the Omohundro Institute of Early American Hist) (Paperback)

Higginbotham does a credible job of revealing Morgan's personality, character and genius as a military leader, particularly since there is little if anything known about Morgan before he appears in Winschester VA at the age of 18. The book reads fairly easily and describes the elements of the Revolution's Southern Campaign in which Morgan participated, but Higganbotham seems to have a penchant for defending Horatio Gates in a positive light I have not seen before. He seems to gloss over most of Gates's personality flaws and military errors to render him more effective than he probably was. This treatment of Gates raises the issue that face many biographers; i.e. they take a liking (or disliking)to a character and sometimes use literary license to make their points. This is the first biography I've read on Daniel Morgan, who is portrayed as a classic American hero, rising from nowhere to have a major impact on history. My interpretation of Higginbotham's characterization has me believing that without Morgan the Revolution may have been lost because Morgan's victory at the Cowpens effectively set the stage for Nathaneal Greene to later drive Cornwallis from South Carolina to Yorktown where Washington and the French conducted the final battle of the war. Stuff I love to read and talk about: unheralded heroes and certainly Morgan appears to be one of the most important in America's fight for freedom. But I have to wonder whether Higginbotham has skewed the facts about Morgan as he seemed to do with Gates. I hope not.