Tonights talk is on a book that explores the life and legacy of Daniel Morgan. Morgan began life as a homeless, illiterate teenage laborer, through ambition and determination and a great deal of luck, he became a land owner, a congressman, and one of the American Revolutions greatest battlefield commanders. Daniel morgan, a revolutionary life, available in the back corner after the speech, is a deeply american story and the become is recently been published by doctoral better louis zambone. He earned his doctorate in American History from the university of oxford and an m. A. In medieval studies from Catholic University of america. He has received a number of scholarships and awards in the field of early American History, including a rockefeller fellowship from Colonial Williamsburg foundation. He is the post of the popular audience format podcast historically thinking. Please join me in welcoming dr. Al zambone. Al. [ applause ] well my thanks to ross perry and to Kelsey Atwood who make this is and other programs possible and to the staff of the Great Library which lies beneath our feet. Particularly to Ellen Mcalister clark, the director and michelle lee silverman. In fact the last time i was here they helped me ultimately unsuccessful attempt to find a engraving of a british soldier being flogged to death. Good times. So as ross indicated, im going to spend the next 30 minutes or so talking about Daniel Morgan. Poor boy, laborer, wagoner, militia officer and that meant something. One Time Military governor of western pennsylvania, one term congressman and presbyterian convert and at his death in 1802 owner up of to 250 acres of lands in the ohio valley. So there is a lot there. I wont be able to cover it all. I want to cover highlights. Up to the moment of his greatest military achievement, victory at battle of cal pens in january of 1780 and ill do that through a series of vignettes or scenes. I also want to spend time after that thinking aloud with you about some of the themes of his life and how theyre connected to the American Revolution but also to our own life. I also want to think about what it means to have a revolutionary life and what is means to be an American Revolutionary. As long as that vast event is important to us, as long as it is the seed of this republic, then thinking about what it means to be an American Revolutionary is important. But to do so i have to define my terms. As i like to tell students, just because you know what a word means that occurred in the 18th century doesnt mean it meant the same thing to them. So what does revolution mean in the 18th century . Im going to put this in your head as you think through morgans life in the next 30 minutes. Samuel johnson gives four or five definition of revolution in the 1755 dictionary of the english language. He defined first as the course of anything that returns to the same point at which it begins to move. It is only in the third definition that he describes revolution as a change in the state of a government or country. Now johnson was archtory and hater of the American Revolution. It is surprising then that noah webster in 1828 in his first dictionary spends five definitions before getting to a sixth definition which matches what we think of revolution. He nearly all of the first five definitions involve the regular occurring of something to its original state. Only in the sixth definition does he describe revolution as a change in politics, a material or entire change in the constitution of a government. And then he adds, we shall as the sentence, we shall rejoice though hear the greeks have effected a revolution. That is a dictionary with a sense of opinion. So the revolution is a curious english word. Much like somewhat like cleave. A word that means two things simultaneously. Returning to the same point, and eternal recurrence or doing away with recurrence altogether and creating something new. There is ambiguity there. There is tension there and therefore there is ambiguity and tension in the title Daniel Morgan, a revolutionary life. And let me assure you that ambiguity was intentional. But before i get carried with way with that subject, lets go to Daniel Morgans story. First imagine late winter of 1753. It is in win chester virginia, only it is not winchester yet. That is how early it is. It is a collection of houses and shops in the middle of the lower shenandoah valley. And at some point in the late winter, we dont know the exact day, a tall young man of uncertain age walked in with clothes on his back and nothing more. Hes been walking throughout the late winter. He spent three weeks in carl ill. He doesnt know his age. He doesnt know when he was born. All hell say for the rest of his life is he left home in new jersey or pennsylvania, hes not specific about which, he left home after argument with his father. He started walking, three weeks in carlyle, he arrived in fredericktown as it was then virginia and he stops there for the rest of his life. So i think it is one of the most important facts about Daniel Morgan is that we have no facts about his origin. After arriving there, he got busy. He moved to what is now clark county to what was then eastern Frederick County along the Shenandoah River between the opec creek and the Shenandoah River. And he started rubbing stumps which i can assure you having done it yesterday or the day before is the worst job anyone could possibly have. He then became manager of a sawmill. He started working a wagon for another owner and within two years owned his own wagon and engaged in independent hauling. And any of you who traveled 50 across the blue ridge over ash bis gap down paris virginia and turn right on the 17 and go past wearington to where the 17 and 29 split, you found his route. I thought how he would loved to have stopped at the sheetz. He would be disappointed they didnt serve rum. It was as a wagoner that he joined the march. It was as a wagoner he was struck across the face by a british officer and being dan morgan struck him back and was sentenced to 500 lashes. This is not a death sentence. Don hagist has told me that he has discovered one british soldier who received the sentence of 500 lashes twice in the same year and survived and was chosen as an exemplar soldier. One has to wonder. But it was done. He took his lashes. He dined out on the story for the rest of his life. The drum major miscounted. In the end he only got 499. The king, he said, owed him one more and he mustnt be allowed to collect the bill. That was a story which showed what a hell of a fellow he was. He had remained conscious the entire time. Not only conscious, he had been able to count. I think that most of us would find that hard work. Nest vignette, april 1756. Followi ining morgans whippinge frontier of virginia is open to attack from the ohio valley. Morgan miraculously goes from being flogged to being in the virginia rangers. A curious unit that exited 100 years. A Halfway House between the virginia militia and the permanent fulltime soldiery which all americans were against. The rangers were tasked with watching the western frontier, guarding against indian incursion. Young George Washington, 24 years old, only had the rangers to rely upon as he brought his new virginia regiment into the full spirit and discipline he wanted them to have. So morgan is a ranger. Yet, that is a lot less glamorous than it sounds. He seems to have spent most of the winter of 1755 and 56 along with a 19man company. There were supposed to be 60. Drinking a large amount of run. A wagonamount of run. You can see the 24yearold is prematurely aged. Sometime in april, hopeful will i after consuming the rum, morgan and one of his companions are ambushed by a war party. His fellow ranger is killed in the first volley. Morgan is shot through the face. Comes out in front of his face, knocked out most of the teeth on the left side of his face. He remains in the saddle. He had a really good horse. He was fond of that horse. Not only did he stay in the saddle, the horse turned to face back the way they had come from, started to trot and eventually gallop without morgan having to do anything. Thereby, he saved his hair and his life. Thats the last we hear of morgan in the french and indian war. He disappears for a couple of years. Then he is back to his old profession, hauling a wagon and getting into trouble. He appears a lot in the Frederick County court records. In 1759, he is in jail for at least a month on charge of bu burning down a tobacco barn. He is tried for criminal assault. Yet ultimately, he could boast a clean record. Many indictments, no convictions. Some of those suits for assault almost certainly came from opponents in a series of encounters which would make a mixed martial arts artist look abashed. This is virginia boxing which has really no rules other than when they beg for mercy you should give it to them. That one is not always followed. These bouts left morgan scarred for the rest of his life. In his last years, his pastor was helping him in and out of bed. Saw that there was a tow on his one of his fee that was folded back over the toe. How did that happen . I got that kicking bill davis over at battletown. He said, i never could get it to set straight. And yet, despite all that, despite drinking Copious Amounts of rum, we know that from the records of the store in which he patronized, despite having no fewer than three women charging credit to his account simultaneously, despite being the purchaser of what i would have to say only can say is an unreasonable number of socks, about 35 over one year. Who has that many socks, even today . He seems to have been someone who is working very hard to be that classic southern stereotype, the man whose last words were, hey, everyone, watch this. And yet, he dies with the aforementioned rank, honor, family and property. One has to wonder, how in the world did that happen . He and one of those three women, abo abigail, curry. They moved in together. Common law marriage. They eventually had two girls. He began to buy land and more land and more land. This is important, he was able to vote. You have to own a certain amount of land, 50 acres, to vote in virginia. You cant be a tenant. He also somehow picked up learning. In 1764, he could not sign his name to a contract. By 1768, he could write a business letter. Its bad writing, but its writing. In four years he learned how to do it. Writing meant ability to have political office. He began to ascend virginia offices. First as a road surveyor, then a lieutenant in the militia, then capta captain. He commands a company in dunmores war in 1774, the last colonial war fought in the ohio valley. So far, so good. So far, he has experienced more and better life than any homeless boy wandering down the great wagon road from lancaster ever should. Then came the revolution. Fast forward to june 1775. A new jersey preacher says how winchester is full of the war of drums, marching, parades, dan morgan is in the heart of it. Three of his best friends are on the committee of safety, the alternative patriot government that runs Frederick County and really the politics of the entire valley of virginia. They not surprisingly, appoint him to command a new company of riflemen which will be part of the new Continental Army gathered outside of boston. He sets off with his company on july 15th and arrived in cambridge, massachusetts, on august 6th. 484 miles, give or take. They didnt march every day. So they were sometimes marching 30 miles a day. As morgan later remarked very proudly in his extremely brief autobiographical remarks, i did not lose a single man. Then as always, morgan believed in both speed and discipline. Fast forward, october 1775. Morgan is with his virginians and on another march through the maine woods. A hurricane struck the new england coast. The rivers and creeks of the appalachians through the back woods, north woods of maine are overflowing. Morgan as one of his pennsylvania riflemen remembered was wearing leggings and a loincloth which exposed his thighs to thorns and briars. His thighs were bleeding with cuts. This pennsylvania rifleman would remember how morgan once took a piece of firewood and threatened to beat a pennsylvania rifleman who had discharged his rifle as a way of unloading it rather than screwing down the muzzle and drawing it out. Morgan was also, again he was hell for discipline. He insisted the riflemen carry heavy wooden boats across the appalachians even though the skin on their shoulders was worn, bloody and wagged. Eventually begins to snow. All the virginmen are lost. They lose the money, medicine chest and morgan is once again, has the clothes on his back and his rifle. As you know, i should hope, the attack on quebec was unsuccessful. Morgan did not succeed in establishing a 14th colony. Benedict arnold, his commander, was wounded and literally the first shot out of the box. Richard montgomery, the overall commander of the assault, was killed by nearly the second one. Morgan and his virginians were killed or captured. One story that i will pretend is true. It might be true. It probably is true. It sounds true. Should be true. Is that morgan refuses to s surrend surrender. Eventually, he is backed up against the wall by the threatening french canadian militia who not long ago, 15 minutes ago had been shouting viva l a liberty. Morgan wept for various reasons, often for rage. He surrendered his sword to a priest. He said not a damn one you have skwound r scoundrels will have it. I will give it to a brave man like that. Morgan was a very bad prisoner. He fought with fellow american officers whom he suspected of being thieves and liars. Most were from connecticut. When he and his fellow prisoners were returned to the United States days after the declaration of independence was read by washington to his Continental Army, he leapt out of the boat and kissed the ground. That summer of 1776. He is on parole, that 18th century gentlemanly thing. Its unknown whether George Washington remembered morgan in a ranger company. He must have known him from washingtons various dealings in the valley. Whatever he knew about him, he marked him down as a man worthy of command. In fact, he gave him a double command. He gave him command of both the 11th virginia regiment and a corps of riflemen, hunters and woodsmen taken from the Continental Army. I should say that washington was deeply disappointed with the riflemen he had gotten in the summer of 1775. He wrote his brother jack and his brother charles. He said, most of them are irishmen immigrated who know more of a rifle than my horse. This time well, also the 8th virginia had been outfitted with rifles and had proven a disappointment when they went to defend charleston. What morgan ends up doing is collecting men who are actually shoot from throughout the army and outfitting them with other peoples guns, trying to see if these people, in fact, actually know how to use a rifle. This is the corps of riflemen. Its a temporary collection of these men. By june 1777, he established them into a somewhat cohesive unit. He has officers for them. And they are skirmishing almost daily with the british army until july, after which the british army disappears onto ships in new york harbor and into the atlantic. July and august are spent marching daily in the heat of northern new jersey. In late august, even though washington needed to stop the british army from attacking philadelphia i think one of washingtons most magnanimous acts, he stopped them from seizing the hudson river valley. Its there, fast forwarding to september and october of 1777, on this great land above the hudson river, that morgan wins not just a national but an international reputation. He is once again commanded by benedict arnold. Gates is a near neighbor of his in virginia. They have drunk rum together. One begins to wonder when reads morgans letters who hasnt he drunk rum with other than George Washington. Morgan, during the battle, used his men like a sniper rifle. He killed officers, artillerymen, horses. He broke apart opposing british formations. Even more importantly, i think, than his performance in the battle was the unseen, unheard scouting that they performed between the battles. Morgans riflemen keep the british army from doing its own reconnaissance, from basically knowing what is going on. He exsells cels at that. The principal reason for frances entry into the war. Saratoga was like all victories, a victory with many architects. Its impossible to imagine saratoga as a victory without the contribution of morgan and his riflemen. Fast forward again, june 1779. Two years later, mostly disappointing for morgan. He could not feed on his victories any more than any other officer in the Continental Army could. We underestimate the stress put upon the officer corps and noncommission officers for the most part who had families at home. Victory, glory and honor were good for an 18th century soldier. They believed in them more than modern soldiers say they do. Victory, glory and honor could not feed a family. They could not plow a field. Morgan was bored at valley forge. He took a leave, went home. 1778, not a great year. 1779, turned out to be much worse. In june, he was passed over for promotion to brigadier general. And to command of the new corps of light infantry, a unit that was to replace the corps of riflemen. These are positions that was impossible for reasons of National Army politics for him to actually have. But so far as he was concerned, being passed over amounted to taking away even his victory, glory and honor. So he resigned from the army. He wrote, as is generally known, that i commanded the light troops of our army and this command is now taken away from me, it will naturally be judged that this change of officers has taken place either on account of some misconduct in me or on account of my want of capacity. I cannot, therefore, but feel deeply affected with this injury done my reputation. I can with sincerity declare i engage Notice Service of my country with full determination to continue in it as long as my services were wanting. I must conclude from what has happened that my country has no more ocean for me. I therefore beg leave to retire. And he did and rode back to winchester with the intention of never serving again in the Continental Army. Washington, i should say, who morgan by this time worshipped only slightly less than his own reputation was furious. A year later, he wrote, that gentleman was a well meaning man but his withdrawing from service at the time he did last year could not be justified on any ground. In fact, if washington had his way, i think morgan would have remained in retirement for the rest of the war. But fast forward to 1780. Late summer in the shenandoah valley. He has been at home for over a year. He might have stayed there for the rest of his life and never been heard of again. W gates was commander in the south. He asked morgan to go with him. He was eager to do so. He also wanted to be a brigadier general. Gates could not promise that. Gates went sourth. Morgan waited for word from congress. At some point in august or early september, morgan received news that gates had lost the entire Southern Army at the battle of camden. An army reconstituted after the previous loss of the Southern Army in the fall of charleston in may of 1780. This is my favorite moment in morgans life. There are a lot of cinematic moments in morgans life. I like to imagine this one. He did what i would like to believe im not certain. But i would like to believe is the only thing he could have gone. I gathered his stuff, found friends morgan went everywhere with friends. Saddled a horse, took another horse on a lead and rode south. He went to assist gates. He was going to go join at the worst moment of the army in the south. He was going to be there. Sold the horse in richmond to pay for his journey and kept on riding. I imagine this sort of fording across the Shenandoah River, up over ashbys gap along with peter bruin who marched with him and riding down the other side, down along virginia 17, heading south for the carolinas. There, eventually, january 1780, a little still small place called the cow pens in the back country, he gained what fame that he still has, which is confined to revolutionary war enthusiasts. There at the cow pens he opposed a slightly smaller force led by a gifted young british officer. After at most an hour of combat, after the first shots were fired, morgan had killed or captured 811 british soldiers. The remainder of the command riding away at top speed, proving the belief that no one had ever seen a dead cavalry ma in history. Morgan was a fine soldier. His victory led some to refer to him as ross did before as one of the Great American captains. I think he was much more than that. I can see think his story is sort of exemplar in which we can see certain things about ourselves. I will stop there. With more years of his life including a term as congressman in which his proudest political moment was passing the alien act. He left philadelphia before he could vote for the sedition act. He would have. I want to relate his life to larger themes and discuss Daniel Morgan as a revolutionary. First, he was ambitious. It should be obvious he was never simply a good old boy, despite all the evidence that attests to that. To make what might seem an odd compa comparison. Lincoln was thought as a hick. Deep within licncoln was ambition. It was an ambition that made him litera literate, which made a landowner. He wanted to dress like success you should see his tailor bill. He wanted to be a success. By the way, he would hate the cover of my book. He would hate it. He is in a hunting shirt. He doesnt want to be in ah÷ hunting shirt. He wants to be in a suit. One of the two portraits, he has so much lace exploding from his collar and from his cuffs, it looks like something a pillow has been cut open. Second, as you can tell, Daniel Morgans story tells us about the American Dream. Its a term, the American Dream, which wasnt used until the 1920s when it was coined. But that idea has been around for a long time. Harness ambition, work hard and you will succeed. One thing morgans story shows is that ambition is not enough. Luck is also necessary. Americans always like to underestimate the amount of luck that is necessary for success. Without luck, horses, stumps, british regulars might trample it. With that freedom, ambitious and luck comes excess. In a new book on the dark side of the American Dream, that if you want a fresh start nation, you need a false start nation. Morgans admission is almost certainly begin with a hot range at the center of his being. He never mentioned his parents names to their grandchildren. They had no idea if he had brothers or sisters. How angry do you have to be into your 60s not to mention your parents names . Ambition comes from some dark places in the soul. Morgans position, his rise to a member of the gentry is not a relic of the hierarchy society of virginia. He didnt want to get ahead until what was the 1960s, a pyramid of a social structure. Then and now, the American Dream is oddly a democratic ideal which has aristocratic pretensions. The goal of the dream is to display yourself. To display your worth, value, to be an aristocrat. Why is everyone so excited Meghan Markle had a baby s . Why do we like aristocrats . Perhaps the constitution was right to worry about titles of nobility. Perhaps they knew us better than we know ourselves. Trying to hold on to that dream, we can see that in lots of other ways besides College Recruiting scandals. We can see that in morgans last years. The sadness of trying to provide for his heirs, trying to make sure that his daughters are taken care of after his death rather than by one of his it yac idiot soninlaws. Finally, morgan possessed a deep well of what moderns might call emotional intelligence. Finally,p well of what moderns might call emotional intelligence. Soninl. Finally, morgan possessed a deep well of what moderns might call emotional intelligence. He had a wonderful capacity for friendship. He writes to thomas jefferson, speaking of benedict arnold, at that time burning as much of the tide water of virginia as he could. He refers to him as my old friend. Im not certain morgan is capable of sarcasm. If he was, i think he was still telling the truth. I think in some ways, arnold was his old friend. They had bled together, gotten through the maine woods together, won at saratoga together. He would have hung arnold but he still would have been list friend. He loved his friends. He cherished them. He also i have the nice view of holland williams. One of his best friends, a rifleman from western maryland, across the potomac from Frederick County, as was and nathaniel greens second in command in the south. Williams died on seeking a healing occur after visiting morgan. As he loved people like williams, he also soundly detested every scoundrel he ever met. People like captain goodrich who he caught stealing a watch. Whom he shook by the throat until he gave it up. Shook him like a dog with a rat someone said. Or a land agent in kentucky. In 1798, he said if he was if i was the man i was 20 years ago, i would ride out to kentucky and i would whip him from morning gun until last post. Thomas jefferson and James Madison who he characterized as egg suggesting dogs caught breaking up hens nests. As joseph henry, one of his riflemen on served, where he became attached, oehe was affectionate. That kindness was combined by this passion for order and discipline which is vest captured in a letter that James Jackson of georgia wrote to morgan recalling the aftermath of the battle of cow pens. Morgan had placed it under guard. The sergeant refused to give jackson any liquor. He wasnt going to trust a militia officer. Jackson and the sergeant quarrelled. Morgan arrived so angry that i thought you would strike me. You got that one right, james. When jackson explained his intent, you made the sergeant apologize to me on his knees. Its a very morgan anecdote. Make of it what you will. To use the modern term of which morgan might approve, morgan was a deeply authentic person. He was in some ways a protoeromantic hero. He was not a mr. Darcy. He had passion aplenty. They were ultimately directed towards the right objects. You should notice in 18th century scoundrels are very popular. The first novels are all written like clarissa are pirates, extremely popular. Highwaymen are extremely popular. You get the idea. Contrast with a darcy figure at the beginning of the 19th century, this scallion gentleman gone bad versus gentleman gone right. Undirected passion, properly directed passion. What people around morgan saw, what people like howard he after whom half of marry is nyl named. What they saw in morgan was someone who had been out of control and made himself into a properly controlled gentleman. He might be still a diamond in the rough, but he was a diamond. Was he a revolutionary . Morgans success shows something about the nature of the American Revolution as well as the period that comes before it. I dont want to litigate between the two contestants. They are both older and much more eminent than i. Im scared of them. There are two points of view. One is theres a radicalism of the American Revolution. One is that colonial america was more radical than we normally imagine. I believe both of them are right. I dont believe thats just selfserving for me, at least. Even before the revolution, morgan had obviously experienced a revolution of his circumstances. An entire change. He enjoyed that remarkable success for a homeless boy. He succeeded in a colonial american and colonial virginia which was the most hierarchy. Morgans society was radical, giving opportunities which are unimaginable to people like him in the other parts of great britain. This is the fourth part of great britain. Thats what morgan believed up until 1776. Of course, the revolution gave limb mo him opportunities. The first British Empire continued in its stately progress without an American Revolution. A revolution gave morgan an opportunity to make money, to make lots of money and to buy those Land Certificates from continental war soldiers for 125,000 acres of land. For a variety of reasons that never would have happened without the revolution. It upended the political order and gave morgan a chance to appear on the national stage. None of those would have happened without a material or entire change. Morgan was also a revolutionary in the sense in which noah webster used in his first four definitions of the term. He returned to his starting point. Thats where i want to conclude. From the first time morgan crossed the potomac and entered the shenandoah, he always returned to that place. I have puzzled over why morgan is not better known and why he doesnt occupy the space occupied by daniel boone and davey crockette. One is bad timing and one is luck. Another one is morgan stayed put. Morgan is in every way a much more important person for the direction of the United States than either morgan or crocket. I think march gones failure to move west made him out of sync with the american story. Gones move west made him out of sync with the american story. Gones move west made him out of sync with the american story. Gones move west made him out of sync with the american story. Gones e west made him out of sync with the american story. Ogones fail move west made him out of sync with the american story. Rgones move west made him out of sync with the american story. Agones move west made him out of sync with the american story. Ngoneso move west made him out of sync with the american story. Ones f move west made him out of sync with the american story. Nes fa move west made him out of sync with the american story. Organse west made him out of sync with the american story. A novel which i hope some of you know, a novel about a very simple man who is far from simple and who spends his life giving it to one small community, one small town in kentucky, not really getting much back, but sufficient happy in the giving of it. Its my unshakable belief i might be delusional. But its my belief that Daniel Morgan and his love for his particular place for what is clark county is as much this character as anyone else from the fictional kentucky but with this difference. Morgans Frederick County is real. It exists. You can drive out on 50 and see it all. You can see white post, the road from white post that morgan first surveyed. You can see paris and millwood with the mill that morgan built and supervised. Made money from. You can see his house of saratoga. You cant really. The owner doesnt let anyone do that you can see it from the road or at least the roof. You can see soldiers rest, near the place that in morgans time was battletown is now berryville. Named after a man who years decades later after morgans death remembered his first day in the shenandoah. Morgan was a failure compared to the western expansion American Dream. He was not daniel boone. He was not the family of laura wilder. The secret is that we prize boone and the ingels and we depend upon people like morgan to return and to defend them and without them, we would have nothing. In that sense, im glad Daniel Morgan was a revolutionary in all possible senses of the word. Thaufrng very much. [ applause ] we have time for a few questions. This is the time for cow pens questions, rifle questions, flogging questions. Rum questions . Rum questions. [ inaudible ] there is, fortunately, in the course of my research, which i have to admit was often conducted by google at 5 00 in the morning, on my couch. Thank god for the modern cyber experience. He was a welsh redhead. People all describe him as tall. Rifleman henry, who was 16 at the time when he was in the maine woods, walked from detroit to lancaster at the age of 15. Henry describes him as being very belasarious in appearance. You get the sense that he had a very casual physical strength which enabled him to plow or jump over things. He is in this one portrait, which i i think recently acquired or identified, its clearly him. Its done by a primitive artist. The other two portraits are by Charles Wilson peel. This one is by an unknown artist. A folk artist. It shows a red haired man. Its clearly morgan. He has a wound in his cheek and exit wound over his mouth. No one else has that particular scar for the reasons i have given you. Whether or not that was the artist following convention, i dont know. Thats my impression of morgan in my head when i would write about him. Sir . The fact there was no information on morgans earlier life, could he have changed his life . Yeah. He could have. Thats an interesting idea. I did something very strange. When i thought about one of the things that attracted me to writing about him in some as a biographer, which im not. Oom im a historian. I thought, psychologically, this guy is really interesting. He has cut himself off from his origins in that way. I dont know if you saw the story in the Washington Post a couple weeks a month ago now about the girl who left her house in west baltimore at 14 and didnt go back until she was 36. I read that and thought, i wish i this when i was writing morgan. Thats morgan except he never went back. Which is a very powerful and scary idea. I think he was welsh. He said he was welsh. He said his parents were from wales but came to the Delaware Valley in the 1720s. Hes the coloring. Maybe their name was evans or owen or jones. Could have been. I tend to believe i just tend to believe it. The choice i made was i decided not to look at his origins at all. A lot of ink has been spilt over that. A lot of misinformation was spread about it. I decidedd biographically speaking, his life began when he walked into the shenandoah, not before. Thank you. Sir . Before his time was the sniper profession well established . What was the general opinion of that particular endeavor throughout society . Not in the colonies. It must have been there must certainly have been riflemen there were riflemen in the french and indian war. Washington didnt allow them in the virginia regiment, i dont believe. Oddly enough, where they began was in the german armies. Not that oddly. They were using german hunting rifles. Frederick the great used them. He actually came up with a doctrine for them. Morgans military achievement is to come up with basically a rifle doctrine for the englishspeaking world, which is quickly forgotten. Rifles for reasons we probably dont have time to get into are tricky things to use in combat. Prior to the invention of smokeless powder. So there was sniper doctrine used. The yeagers who fought did engage in sniping. I dont know im willing to be told about someone who in the 1750s and the seven years war used riflemen on the battlefield the way that morgan did at saratoga and at cow pennpens. I was surprised to find thought he used we think of the third line at cow pens of being continental. There are riflemen from Augusta County sprinkled in companysized units along the third line. He has muskets and rifles in that third line. Which changes the battle from the way i conceived of it before. I dont know of theres no one else certainly english speaker who does that. What was the opinion in society of snipers . The english were against it. That didnt stop them from quickly adopting it. I suspect washington he doesnt say. I think he is iffy on it, too. It makes the tactics privilege volume over accuracy. Basically, 18th century line of battle is a machine gun. They are trying to pump out as many bullets as fast as possible to destroy the resolve of people facing them. It works. Morgans row poproposing someth different. Its hard to come up its like any conception of how to do things differently. Its hard to make that leap. Thank you. Following up on the cow pens. His tactics were quite innovative, particularly with his use as a militia, which nobody had mastered in the american army. He knew how to put them on the front line, told them to fire one shot and byebye. The second and third line then. That wasnt luck. That was some kind did he pick up anything from steuben at valley forge . I racked my brains over that. I looked for some precedent. Oddly enough, the one person that can be found for the way that he lines up people at cow pens is nathaniel greens fight in the summer of 1780 at springfield, in new jersey. I couldnt find any trace whatsoever that morgan knew of it. It did happen this is morgan is lucky. He falls in with Andrew Pickens in the South Carolina and georgia militiamen a week before the battle. He could not have fought that battle without pickens as one of his he had a brilliant set of subordinates at cow pens. The best set of subordinates and officers anyone had in the revolution. Top notch. Thats one reason he did it. Other than that, the green episode is the instance is the only i can find of that sort of that reverse that collapsing defense, the collapsing bag defense. If you look at its interesting how green actually then employs that throughout the south. Green uses that at the courthouse unsuccessfully. Even at utah springs, he assaults just in the same way that morgan defended at cow penns with that same militia. Only this time they are leading the assault. They are so resolute in fighting by that time that they fire them servi themsel themselves dry. That doesnt really answer the question. It was certainly a tactical formation that really became highly effective throughout the rest of the southern war. Which washington, i would have to say, never understood. His letters as president when he visits the courthouse, why would green do this . I dont understand. You cant trust the militia out in front. No conception of what morgan or green was trying to do. One more question. Talk a little bit more about morgan and weeping . Yeah. Several good stories of morgan crying, which i always like. One wished the old man would show emotion. Morgan did it all for him. He weeps supposedly at quebec. James wilkinson reports he was weeping with rage at saratoga when there was a british counterattack. The rifles were charges forward. British cleverly counterattacks with loyered bayonets. That drove riflemen off the ground. One of the weaknesses of riflemen. They cannot withstand a bayonet assault. They cant load fast enough. He found march began with a turkey fall. As soon as morgan sees him, he bursts into tears of rage. By god, major morris ruined me. Im done. Basically, morgans career as a soldier is collapsing before his eyes. Very passionate. He weeps again at cow pens. Everyone has him weeping tears of joy and anger and rage. One story picking up the maryland drummerboy and kissing him on both cheeks. I believe it. Its part of the rest of morgan. Theres some other ones which i cant quite remember off the top of my head. Those are three instances. I tend to credit them. He is not alone in being a person who shows that sort of emotion. But he is much more obvious about it, lets put it that way. Thank you very much, everyone, for your attention. [ applause ] television has changed since cspan began 41 years ago. Our mission continues. To provide an unfilt eered viewf coverage. We brought you the federal response to the coronavirus. You can watch all of the public fairs programmi affairs program. Be part of the National Conversation through cspans daily washington journal program. Or through our social media feeds. Cspan, created by private industry. Americas Cable Television companies. As a Public Service and brought to you today by your television provider. Weeknights this month, we feature American History tv programs to preview whats available every weekend on cspan3. Next, history professor t. Cole jones talks about his book. Then an author on the role of french officers in the revolution. After that, a historian chronicles the life of jengener nathaniel green. Every saturday night, American History tv takes you to College Classrooms around the country for lectures in history. Why do you all know who she is and raise your hand if you heard of this murder, the jean harris murder trial, before this class. Deepest cause where we will find the true meaning of the revolution was in this transformation that took place in the minds of the american people. Were going to talk about both of the sides of the story. The tools, techniques of slave owner power. We will talk about the tools and techniques of power that were practiced by enslaved people. Watch history professors lead discussions with their students on topics ranging from the American Revolution to september 11th. Lectures in history on cspan3 every saturday at 8 00 p. M. Eastern on American History tv. And lectures in history is available as a podcast. Find it where you listen to podcasts. Next, history professor t. Cole jones on his book captives of libertyliberty. The book looks at conditions inside 18th century prison camps and how the Continental Congress dealt with the problem of thousands of p. O. W. S, a population that sometimes outnumbered the american army. Good evening, everyone. So nice to see you here this evening. So many good old friends and new faces. Im ellen clark, the Library Director here at the American Revolution institute of the society of the cincinnati. It is my very special pleasure tonight to be the one to introduce cole jones, who will be speaking to us this evening about his