SACRED to the Memory of the the 19th of June, MDCCLXXXVI, Service of the U. S. and The United States, in Congress HIS PATRIOTISM, VALOUR, AND ABILITY, MONUMENT. To the disgrace of the nation, no monument has been erected; nor, for the want of a headstone, can any one at present designate the spot where the relics of the Hero of the South lie interred. DANIEL MORGAN, BRIGADIER-GENERAL IN THE AMERICAN ARMY. GENERAL MORGAN was the creator of his own fortune. Born of poor, though honest parents, he enjoyed none of the advantages which result from wealth and early education. But his was a spirit that would not tamely yield to difficulties. "He was born in New Jersey, where, from his poverty and low condition, he had been a day-labourer. To early education and breeding, therefore, he owed nothing. But for this deficiency his native sagacity and sound judgment, and his intercourse with the best society, made much amends in after life. "Enterprising in his disposition, even now he removed to Virginia, in 1755, with a hope and expectation of improving his fortune. Here he continued, at first, his original business of day-labour; but exchanged it afterward for the employment of a wagoner. "His military novitiate he served in the campaign under the unfortunate Braddock. The rank he bore is not precisely known. It must, however, have been humble; for, in consequence of imputed contumely towards a British officer, he was brought to the halbert, and received the inhuman punishment of five hundred lashes; or, according to his own statement, of four hundred and ninety-nine; for he always asserted that the drummer charged with the execution of the sentence, miscounted and jocularly added, "That George the Third was still indebted to him one lash.' To the honour of Morgan he never practically remembered this savage treatment during the revolutionary war. Towards the British officers whom the fortune of battle placed within his power, his conduct was humane, mild, and gentlemanly. "After his return from this campaign, so inordinately was he addicted to quarrels and boxing matches, that the village of Berrystown, in the county of Frederick, which constituted the chief theatre of his pugilistic exploits, received, from this circumstance, the name of Battletown. "In these combats, although frequently overmatched in personal strength, he manifested the same unyielding spirit which characterized him afterward in his military career. When worsted by his antagonist, he would pause for a time, to recruit his strength, and then return to the contest, again and again, until he rarely failed to prove victorious. “Equally marked was his invincibility of spirit in maturer age, when raised, by fortune and his own merit, to a higher and more honourable field of action. Defeat in battle he rarely experienced; but when he did, his retreat was sullen, stern, and dangerous. "The commencement of the American revolution found Mr. Morgan married and cultivating a farm, which, by industry and economy, he had been enabled to purchase, in the county of Frederick. "Placed at the head of a rifle company, raised in his neighbourhood in 1775, he marched immediately to the American head-quarters in Cambridge, near Boston. "By order of the commander-in-chief, he soon afterward joined in the expedition against Quebec, and was made prisoner in the attempt on that fortress, where Arnold was wounded, and Montgomery fell. "During the assault, his daring valour and persevering gallantry attracted the notice and admiration of the enemy. "The assailing column to which he belonged was led by Major Arnold. When that officer was wounded, and carried from the ground, Morgan threw himself into the lead, and, rushing forward, passed the first and second barriers. For a moment, victory appeared certain. But the fall of Montgomery closing the prospect, the assailants were repulsed, and the enterprise abandoned. During his captivity, Captain Morgan was treated with great kindness, and not a little distinction. He was repeatedly visited in confinement by a British officer of rank, who at length made an attempt on his patriotism and virtue, by offering him. the commission and emoluments of colonel in the British army, on condition that he would desert the American and join the royal standard. 66 Morgan rejected the proposal with scorn, and requested the courtly and corrupt negotiator 'never again to insult him in his misfortunes by an offer which plainly implied that he thought him a villian.' The officer withdrew, and did not again recur to the subject. "On being exchanged, Morgan immediately rejoined the American army, and received, by the recommendation of General Washington, the command of a regiment. "In the year 1777, he was placed at the |