Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1898-09-22


ed mis- meritorious c"unuc 10 Governor
Dinwiddie. On the 80 b OF August, 1855,
he enlisted as soldier ia the "a CON-
pany oftt Vireipil Rangers jmmand-
ed by Capt. John Aahby. He was the
tallest man in the Company and the
second on the roll His height MAS
over six feet aad his sge twenty. Capt.
Ash5y had been Que Of the first to en-
ploy him. When mere hoy he first set
tied in Virginia. and he knew well mis-
good qualities r soldier He did not
continue long private. Through Col.
| Vast ,gton's i. Il i-nce he Was made
ali ensign, then Leu ant, aid lit
tie later captain, though The haughly y
G. ,veruor was reluctant 10 accord these
uerited aouCrS to ore who rai so late
y h-en known as only colnmon la
borer. Washington had discovered in
him super ior judgment great exec
utive ablltl, and the emergencies
q along th- frontiers at that time
required ev rv msn OF that character
for the common detersc. Aud nov,
we take our ave of Daniel Morgan,
ths plodd' & bu'. C; mpeen and fai; h.
fIl wsgoner, and make the aCqusint-
anch OF CAp.ain Morgan at the head OF
company of f arless fighters OF the
Virginia line VINO ars prout Of their
leader for they r., ognize in him born
soldier, daring chief aid msgnani
nous comradf. L-t US follow him in
his wondt rtul course q, he steauily
carves tu h 5 way Ia fame aud 10 his
country's glati' ie y deeds OF daring
and N 4s lv efficiency with rarely a
rarallel in the history Of any struggle.
For several years after the Braddock
expedition, along the frontiers, his life
was beset with perils and dangers j.,
numberl 80 encounters with predatory
bands of French and Indians. Over
and over bis CAP aod jacket were cut
through with balls.
In convoyiug supply expeditions
from pest 10 post long distances throu 10
the wilderness regions he had ma Y
narrow escapes aud adventures. o
one occasion while going TO Wlnchrs
ter with dispai ches he was ambUshrd
by Indians and mary cf his comma d
slain. H. himself was shot thro lgb
the neck, the Dall tearing away part
OF his Jaw and numb. of hls tee b.
Faint and weak from loss of blood ne
imagined his wound Yves fatal, but not
r, li>hing the thought of l,aVing his
scalp for the savages ne clasped hle
arms abou' the neck of his trusty ho st
and ur1iug him by spur TO bis utm ~
speed was enabled to outdistance his
wild pur-uers and reach the fort in
safety. Often al erwards did he relate
how Tue last Indian IN the race finding
his tfJrts hopeless uttered Wild DE-
spsiriog cry and gave up the pursuit,
ct the same time throwing his toma'
nawk after his fast receding victim.
When at length tranquility had been
established along the borders by the
abandonment OF French claims and the
migration farther westward by the In
dians Captain Morgan returned to the
banks of the Shenandoah. In 1862 he
received from Virginia for his services
on the frontiers grant of land few
miles from Winchester, and, hanging up
his sword, was again follower OF the
plow. o. his acres he built g comfor
table dwelling and called his home the
Soldiers Rest" To this home he
brought his wife, the daughter of
neighboring farmer, Abigail Bailey by
name, a woman of rare womanly en-
dowments, whose gentle ways and win
ming sy mpathies were to be for him an
inspiration and radiant star to bright.
en- the pathway OF all his future years.
Her inclinations like his own were all
rural and domestic, and ''she looked well
to the ways OF her household"
But time does not now permit US to
follow the varying fortunes of Captain
Morgan with more than the briefest
meation of his meteor course through
the stirring events of the colonial days,
for the story is long one and fills many
ofthe brightest pages of our national his
tory. His career from the day he threw
of his last wagon load of iron ore at
the Colchester iron furnace on the banks
of the Occcquan to the time when,
forty FIVE years after, q major general
with military renown world
wide he sat q worthy and digni-
ii d representative fiom the State of Virgins
in the Congress of the republic be had ben
one which TO US NV hes more of the glamor
OF ma, a,velous romance than the certainty of
historic fact In another colonial paper al
ready prepared, "a Hero of Five Wars"
We have recounted at !, myth the expot7 of
our wagon boy as ensign, lieutenant and cap
tain in the V ar5 of frontier warfare with the
Indians after the defeat of Bradduck, and IN
the wars of Pontiac and Dunmore, and in rhe
tory rebellion in Ham shirh and the wbiskey
insurrection in Western Penis lvanla.
We have followed him in 1875 1t the he9
OF mis- lrusty rhemen from the Shenandoah
to the he dquarters of Washington VI Boston
to take part III the impending conflict OF tn"
revolution Thence We will 60 with him n
that i'll advised, i'll starred expedition OF Ar
uold six hundred miles through t wilder
neg, of Maine in which he and his men were
sui ect to labor. and hardshps, rigors of eli
maze and e1tremities of hunger rarely ex-
perienced by any other expedition of the
wor rd history, until at the end OF hfty-SiX
dsys they stood wasted, shiverlng band OF
adventures on the banks of the ct Lawrence
river We will tell how his spectral army
successfully crossed the wide and rapidly
Il ,ulng r YER, at midnight. running the
gauntlet of TWO soops OF war stationed III the
stream, how he cawped under the frownlng
bsttlements of iebec and how, soon after
he led his men through binding storm OF
snow and sleet and the darkness of q winter
| night into the very heart of the garrisoned
town. making his WAY by only the flashes OF
b azing musketry and cannon. Lat on IN
| the proer, SIS of the war, with a colonel's com.
mislion, most worthily bestowed by Congress-
we will keep track of our hero as he hovers
like whirlwnd with his sharpshooters about
the refreshing troops of CORVALLIS across the
Jerseys, as he defeats and puts to utter rout
! the flower of the British under Bur. oyne and
| his renowned generals in The two despei ate y
contested battles CT Faratoga; as he drives