220 UNION COUNTY PAST AND PRESENT
li with the Virginians under Washington and was present at
Braddock’s defeat.
In the attack on Fort Edward by the French and Indians,
Morgan made his first appearance as a soldier. He led the
garrison in the pursuit of the attacking army, and it is said
O that under the stimulus of battle "his voice was worth a regi-
ment." Soon afterward he was commended to Governor Din-‘
widdie for a captain’s commission. The royal governor, though
averse to promoting one who so recently had held the humble
post as Wagoner, finally granted him a commission as ensign,_
with a post at Fort Edward.
Morgan was a man of magnificent physique and in his ea.rly
years in the army he was renowned as a pugilist who never met
defeat. He married Abigail Bailey, the daughter of a farmer,
and built a home ("Soldier’s Rest") for his wife and himself
near Winchester, Virginia. He was soon called from his home,
however, by the outbreak of Pontiac’s War in which he took g
an active part. In 1771 he was commissioned captain in the
militia of Frederick County, Virginia, by Governor Nelson, and
two years later he was on the frontier fighting in Dunmore’s
War.
On returning to Virginia, Morgan’s division heard of the events
taking place in the North and they eagerly espoused the cause
of Independence. In a short time he received his commission
and was on his way to Boston at the head of a company of
Virginia riflemen. In the winter of 1775 he accompanied Gen.
Benedict Arnold to Canada and led a detachment consisting
of three companies in the attack on Quebec. He was hemmed
in and taken prisoner, but was released in 1776, and soon after-
ward was commissioned a colonel in the Continental Army. He
took part in both battles of Saratoga and, for his gallantry in
this action, the Virginia Legislature passed a resolution pre-
senting him with a horse, pistols, and a sword; he fought with
Horatio Gates at Hillsborough, North Carolina, where he took
command of a corps and was later made brigadier general. In
January, 1781, Cornwallis and Tarleton attempted to entrap
him and his army, but at Cowpens (January 17) he defeated
Tarleton, broke up the British force, and escaped from Corn-
wallis into North Carolina.
Morgan retired after the close of the war. His farming and
stock-raising brought him rich returns, and his military grants