Cooper's Clarksburg register. [volume] (Clarksburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1851-1861, 1855-12-26

mentS OF tnelr WoTtn, PerpeLuaI aPPeaH
to our expiring patriotism. Hence SO few
monuments have been erected in our coun
Itry, to the patriotism which, in every sec
ton of it, attached to some noble old pa
triot, who fought to win the liberty We
now enjoy.
This generation is the connecting link
between the living men Of the Revolution
ary period and those who, to come here
after, have never seen one of that glorious
era.
Should not, then, this generation seek,
by such Monumental Appeals as NO pro-
pose, to gather around these honored
names the memory of those great princi-
Piles and events which are associated with
their splendid histories? ?
It is to effect this object, as far as our
section is concerned, that we have selected
the great name of General MORGAN as
the centre of feyer-memorable events in our
Revolutionary history. 1t is not so much
10 honor tho name, as to engraVe upon his
monument the remembrance of the cir
eumstances associated with his name. He
was in life, as he is and ever will be in
the grandest contest for liberty the world
has ever known. Shall his name be for
gotten No rather let it be forever en-
balmed in the hearts of the people with
the recollection of his unfaltering patriot
ism, his splendid achievements, and the
noble cause in which they were performed.
That he is worthy of this honor, let his
tory be our warrant.
The place Of his birth is contested and
uncertain-one account fixing it in New
Jersey and the other in Pennsylvania
He was born about 1876.
His pnrentage was humble and undis-
tinguished. Il was his to win for his
name glory which descent can never
give. DANIEL MORGAN was, as far as we
know, the first Of his family.
He came very early in life to Virginia.
He settled in that part of Frederick Coun-
ty known as Clarke
His life, prior to the Revolution, is en-
vcloped in an almost unpenetrated oblivi-
on. He was certainly, however. connec>
ted with Braddock's expedition, in which
he was wounded and saw the defeat Of
those arms to which, when he became
their opponent he was no stranger.
He was WAGNER in the expedition !;
and we suppose by no means very docile
or submissive. For some supposed or real
offence to British officer, the rude wa
goner of tho backwoods of Coloniol Virgil
MIA smarted under four hundred and nine
ty-nine lashes 500 were awarded him,
but he missed the full allowance, as he
always said, by miscount, which he was
not honest enough TO correctly Whether
he was SO sensitive as to feel the ignominy
Of the punishment, at that time, we can
not say. One thing we know. General
MORGAN returned, without q miscount and
| with interest, the lashes which 2Uagoner
| MORGAN received.
DuringRho interval between the French
war and the Revolution, we would fix the
date Of those campaigns and battles which
gave to the little town near which he liv-
cd (now known as Berryville, the name
Of Battle-Town. He developed, then and
there, the rude marks Of that military
| strategy which broke the English line and
routed the English army at the Cowpens.
MORGAN was q large athletic man, OF
great personal prowess, inand not disposed
to exert his strength in conflicts with men
who boasted Of their own.
1t seems that he was sometimes over~
powered by numbers and being compell-
ed TO retreat before q superior force, he
laid his plans to secure safe one before
going into the fight. Thus, along the
path from his own house TO Battle-Town,
he would collect small piles Of the loose
limestone rocks (of which there was then
no scarcity, nor IS there row ;; so that
when overpowered, he would retreatto the
batteries in succession which his foresight
had supplied; and thus realized to the
TArletons Of Clarke, what the Cavalry
Colonel Of England afterwards found, thai
he was moro dangerous in a retreat than
he was upon the field.
He wore his hair long perhaps it was
rude vanity which induced him to do so
1t gave his enemies great advantage il
fight. Selling his flowing hair, they de-
prived him of his power as effectually as
when the Jewish Sampson lost his by az
attack upon his locks of strength. But
Morgan was moro fortunate in his ally al
home. He proposed to his wife to tie hie
hair in large knot, which he directed
her to fill with small needles, secreted ir
it. The result may be readily imagined
1t was certainly very keenly felt by his an
tagonists who. clusching with readiness
his knotted hair, found to their cost tha
strategy in war is superior often to valoul
and strength and that their old enemy
had converted his very weakness into al
engine of most offensive operations.
But the time was approaching when the
rude warfare Of the neighborhood was tc
be exchanged for the sterner fight Of the
Revolution.
What Morgan thought of Stamp Acts,
colonial taxation, and Kindred measures
we do not know. One would be inclined
to think that the sturdy |backwoodsmar
would recount the lashes he had received
among the series Of oppressive acts which
tempted to leave his humble home fol
the tented. or perhaps untentad. field. Hi,