Part 5
Gates, on the contrary, finding his forces largely increasing, being plentifully supplied with provisions, and knowing that Burgoyne had only a limited store, and that rapidly lessening, and could not be recruited, was not without hopes that victory would come, in time, even without a battle. His troops were so numerous, and his fortified position so strong, that he was able to take measures for preventing the retreat of the enemy, by occupying the strong posts in his rear.
Accordingly, nineteen days passed without any further operations, a delay as ruinous to one party as it was advantageous to the other.
At the end of this period, the British general found his prospects of assistance as remote as ever, and the consumption of his stores so alarming, that retreat or victory became unavoidable alternatives. On the eighth of October a warm action ensued, in which the British were everywhere repulsed, and a part of their lines occupied by their enemies. Burgoyne’s loss was very considerable in killed, wounded and prisoners, while the favorable situation of Gates’ army made its losses in the battle of no moment.
Burgoyne retired in the night to a stronger camp, but the measures immediately taken, by Gates, to cut off his retreat, compelled him without delay to regain his former camp at Saratoga. There he arrived with little molestation from his adversary. His provisions being now reduced to the supply of a few days, the transport of artillery and baggage towards Canada being rendered impracticable by the judicious measures of his adversary, the British general resolved upon a rapid retreat, merely with what the soldiers could carry on their backs. They soon found they were deprived even of this resource, as the passes through which their route lay were so strongly guarded, that nothing but artillery could clear them. In this desperate situation a parley took place, and on the sixteenth of October the whole army surrendered to Gates. The prize obtained consisted of more than five thousand prisoners, some fine artillery, seven thousand muskets, clothing for seven thousand men, with a great quantity of tents, and other military stores. All the frontier fortresses were immediately abandoned to the victors. This successful capture filled America with joy: Congress passed a vote of thanks, and ordered a gold medal (_See_ Plate III.) to be presented to him by the President. It is not easy to overrate the importance of this success. It may be considered as deciding the war of the revolution, as from that period the British cause began rapidly to decline. The capture of Cornwallis was not considered of equal importance to that of Burgoyne, nor an event which caused more exultation.
The conduct of General Gates towards his conquered enemy was marked by a delicacy which did him the highest honor; he did not permit his own troops to witness the mortification of the British in depositing their arms. The system of General Gates was that of forbearance and lenity--of allowing for honest intentions and difference of opinion. The benignity of his measures were seconded by the urbanity of his personal deportment--he was courteous and even friendly to the proscribed, and this event entitled him to a high rank among the deliverers of his country. Soon after General Gates retired to his estate in Virginia, and died in 1806, at the advanced age of seventy-seven years.
MEDAL.
OCCASION.--Surrender of Lieutenant-General Burgoyne and his army at Saratoga, New York, in 1777.
DEVICE.--Bust of General Gates.
LEGEND.--Horatio Gates duci strenno comitia Americana.
REVERSE.--Gates and Burgoyne in front of the American and British troops. Burgoyne in the act of presenting his sword to Gates. The Americans on the right, with arms shouldered and colors flying. The British on the left, in the act of grounding their arms, and laying down their colors. By the side of the two generals are a drum and a stand of colors.
LEGEND.--Salus Regionum Septentrional.
EXERGUE.--Hoste ad Saratogam in dedition. Accepto die 17th October, 1777.
GENERAL DANIEL MORGAN.
The father of Daniel Morgan was a Welshman, who had emigrated from Wales, and settled in the state of New Jersey, some years before the birth of his son, which took place in the year 1736. His father was poor, consequently his education was confined to the ordinary branches of a country school. At an early age, an enterprising character appeared to be developing itself, and our hero, at the age of seventeen, left the humble roof of his parents, to improve his fortune at the south. Accordingly, we next find him as wagoner on the estate of a wealthy planter, in Frederick county, Virginia. In the situation of teamster, he continued until after the unfortunate expedition of Braddock; during the whole of this campaign he drove his own team attached to the army. During this unfortunate campaign he was charged with insolence to a British officer, tried and sentenced to receive five hundred lashes, which he submitted to with that firm indifference which was peculiar to him through the remainder of his life. Lee, in his memoirs says, “That in a few days after the infliction of this disgraceful punishment, the officer became convinced of the injustice of the charge, and made an ample atonement to young Morgan before the whole regiment.” It was during this disastrous campaign, that the military qualifications of Morgan were first noticed, when the officers recommended him to the colonial government of Virginia, from which he received a commission as ensign in the English service. It was in this capacity that his powers of mind burst forth, in those qualifications which twenty years afterwards distinguished him as one of the prominent heroes of the glorious revolution.
Although engaged from 1775 to 1781, in which he saw more actual service than any other American officer, he received but one dangerous wound. He was attacked by a party of Indians, while carrying dispatches to a frontier post, accompanied by two soldiers; he received a ball, which entering the back of his neck, came out through his left cheek, shattering his jaw in a dangerous manner. He was mounted on a fleet horse, and in falling, grasped firmly the neck of the animal. The savages, presuming he was dead, left him to scalp the two that had fallen. Morgan, who believed that his wounds would prove fatal, or that he should be exhausted by loss of blood, urged his horse to full speed, and the noble animal escaped with him into the fort. One of the savages followed him for some distance, as fast as he could run, with open mouth and tomahawk in hand, expecting every moment his victim would fall. When the disappointed savage found the horse was fast leaving him behind, he threw his tomahawk with great force, but without effect, and abandoned the pursuit with a most hideous yell.
This serious wound confined Morgan to the hospital for six months; as soon as convalescence permitted, he returned to his native state, where he remained till he was quite recovered. In 1774, we find him possessor of one of the finest farms in the county of Frederick. During this year he took the command of a company in an expedition to the west, under Lord Dunmore, against the Indians, who were defeated. On his return, on the Ohio river, he first heard of the hostilities between the English and the Bostonians. On their arrival at Winchester, Virginia, the corps was disbanded, and they severally pledged themselves to each other, to aid their eastern brethren if they should require it. Matters now becoming serious, he applied to Congress for permission to raise a company, which was immediately granted, with an appointment as captain. His military popularity being so well known, that in the short space of eight days, ninety-six men had enrolled themselves under his command, which formed the nucleus of that celebrated rifle company, which so signally distinguished itself in so many battles. His corps being complete he reached Boston in fifteen days, and remaining there some time in inactivity, he requested to be detached to Quebec. This was done, and under the orders of General Arnold, in that celebrated march through the woods, he led the van. Shortly after his arrival, General Montgomery also arrived, when the attack was decided upon. Morgan led the vanguard, under the order of General Arnold, who, being badly wounded in the leg, was carried from the field at the commencement of the attack.
At this time there were three field officers superior in command to Morgan, but each, from inexperience, insisted upon waiving their rank, and placed Morgan in command. His attack was upon a two gun battery, supported by fifty men. Having twice fired and missed, he ordered the ladders to be placed, which he mounted, and leaped into the town amidst the fifty men who, after a faint resistance, fled; this daring act inspired the soldiers, who lost no time in following their leader.
The English soldiery were panic-struck, the battery was carried without resistance, the barrier left open, and the people gave themselves up, asking for protection. Before entering the barrier gate, he was ordered to wait for General Montgomery. In this he very reluctantly acquiesced, saying at the same time that it would give the enemy time to rally, and recover from their panic. In this he was correct, for the news of the death of the brave Montgomery seemed to damp the ardor of the brave soldiers; although they fought to desperation, they were overwhelmed by numbers and made prisoners of war. Soon after the exchange of Morgan, he received the appointment of colonel in the continental army; and marched at the head of the partisan rifle corps to the assistance of General Gates. At the glorious victory of Saratoga, he took a most conspicuous part; although Gates shamefully omitted to do him justice at the time, the English account of the battle gave the principal credit of the victory to Morgan.
A reconciliation, however, soon took place between Morgan and Gates; and the latter, on every subsequent occasion, endeavored to make amends for the injustice. The legislature of Virginia presented Morgan with a horse, pistols and a sword; and his neighbors named his plantation “Saratoga,” in honor of his late victory. His next act of bravery and skill was displayed in the defeat of General Tarleton, at the battle of the Cowpens, on the 17th of January, 1781, where he took nearly as many prisoners as he had men of his own; and Congress testified the high sense they entertained of this brilliant victory, by presenting him with a gold medal, (hereafter described.) At the end of the war General Morgan retired to his plantation at Saratoga, and devoted himself to agricultural pursuits. He was elected to Congress, but after serving two sessions, his debilitated health obliged him to retire from public life.
In 1800, General Morgan removed to Winchester, where he was confined by extreme debility for nearly two years, and expired on the sixth day of July, 1802. General Morgan had two daughters, the eldest married to the late General Presly Neville, of Pittsburgh, and the youngest to Major Heard, of New Jersey. Of this gallant soldier it may truly be said, that no officer rendered more efficient aid to the cause of his country, and that he well merited the character at that time given him, the hero of the three greatest victories, Quebec, Saratoga, and the Cowpens.
DESCRIPTION OF THE MEDAL.
(_See_ Plate III.)
OCCASION.--Victory at the Cowpens, North Carolina.
DEVICE.--An Indian queen with a quiver on her back, in the act of crowning an officer with a laurel wreath; his hand resting on his sword: a cannon lying on the ground: various military weapons and implements in the back-ground.
LEGEND.--Danieli Morgan, duci exercitus comitia Americana.
REVERSE.--An officer mounted, at the head of his troops, charging a flying enemy. A battle in the back-ground: in front, a personal combat between a dragoon unhorsed and a foot soldier.
LEGEND.--Victoria libertatis vindex.
EXERGUE.--Fugatis, captis aut cæsis ad cowpens hostibus, 17th January, 1781.
JOHN EAGER HOWARD.
John Eager Howard, the subject of this memoir, was born on the 4th of June, 1752, in Baltimore county, and state of Maryland. He was the grandson of Joshua Howard, who, when young, left his home, in the vicinity of Manchester, England, and against the wishes of his parents, joined the army of the Duke of York, afterwards James the Second, during Monmouth’s insurrection; fearing to encounter the displeasure of his parents, he joined a band of adventurers, who were preparing to seek their fortunes in the British colonies in North America, in the year 1685.
He soon obtained a grant of land in Baltimore county, (which is still held by the family,) and married Miss Joanna O’Carroll, of an Irish family, but recently emigrated from Ireland.
Cornelius, his son, and father of the subject of this sketch, married a Miss Eager, whose estate now forms part of the city of Baltimore. During the interval that elapsed between the emigration of the early members of the family to the revolution, they appear to have been quiet cultivators of the soil, taking no part in the political broils that were frequently arising in the colonies.
The time had now arrived, when every true son of America felt bound to participate in the approaching struggle for liberty and independence, and John Eager Howard received a commission as captain, in one of those bodies of militia termed flying camps in the regiment commanded by Colonel Hall. The commission depended upon his raising thirty men in a given time; but such was the esteem in which our hero was held, that he formed his company required in two days, and marched direct to the army.
In the following year he was promoted, till finally he succeeded Lieutenant-Colonel Ford in the command of the second Maryland regiment. He was present at the battle of White Plains, and continued to serve till the end of the year 1776, when his corps was dismissed. Congress having resolved to raise additional regiments to serve during the war, with officers commissioned by Congress, Major Howard was one of the number allotted to Maryland, and in April 1777, we find him marching with his regiment to join the army at Rocky Hill, near Princeton, where he remained till the latter end of June, when receiving information of the death of his father, he returned home, till the following September, when he rejoined the army a few days after the Battle at Brandywine Springs, but in time to give proofs of his bravery at the battle of Germantown, which afterwards so greatly distinguished him.
Colonel Hall being disabled at the commencement of the battle of Germantown, Major Howard assumed the command and encountered the British corps of light infantry, posted some distance from the main body, and after a sharp conflict, pursued them through their encampment, Howard passing with his regiment amidst the standing tents, and in front of Chew’s house, without any serious injury from the fire of the British. Having passed in safety, he advanced his Maryland troops about a quarter of a mile farther towards the main body of the British troops, who now sallied forth from their temporary fortress, and attacked the Maryland corps, but a return fire killed the officer who had commanded the garrison, and no further molestation ensued.
Major Howard still remained with the army, and was present at the battle of Monmouth, but we do not hear of any particular share that he bore in that contest. In June, 1779, Major Howard received the commission of Lieutenant-Colonel of the fifth Maryland regiment in the army of the United States, and accordingly prepared for a southern march, to meet General Gates and his army at the camp at Deep Run, North Carolina.
Having reinforced, they made night marches, in order to attack the British army, commanded as they thought by Lord Rawdon, but Cornwallis, who had lately arrived from Charleston with a strong reinforcement, was resolved to assault Gates in his camp. Gates, who had left his camp, and was proceeding by night marches to meet his antagonist, was encountered in the woods, where, to his great astonishment and dismay, he found that not Lord Rawdon, but Cornwallis, was the commander of the British troops, and that the enemy was much superior in force to the American troops. A retreat now was impossible, and the only alternative offered, was to form a line of battle. The disheartening intelligence, that Cornwallis had reinforced the British army, and the darkness of night, may, in some measure, account for the conduct of the militia in the battle of Camden, for they gave way early in the action, thereby throwing the whole of the British troops entirely upon the two Maryland brigades, who maintained the contest obstinately against superior numbers, at one time making a partially successful attempt to use the bayonet. Colonel Howard drove the corps in front of him out of line; and if the left wing of the American army had been able to occupy the attention of the British right, the day would have been propitious; but attacked as he was in front and rear, by horse and foot, the American troops were overpowered and driven into the woods and swamps in all directions. Colonel Howard succeeded in keeping a few of his men together, and being occasionally joined by other officers and men, they reached Charlotte, a distance of sixty miles, in about three days: their only subsistence during that time was a few peaches. From this time, and until the arrival of General Greene in December, Colonel Howard was employed in equipping and forming into a battalion, four companies of light infantry, placed under his command, and then transferred to Greene. The next conspicuous act of our hero was at the celebrated battle of the Cowpens, 17th of January, 1781. We find from manuscript and printed documents of Colonel Howard himself, whose scrupulous accuracy places his authority beyond a doubt, that it was Howard, and not Morgan, who gave the order to the right company to change its front and protect his flank, and it was Howard also, who, on his own responsibility, ordered the charge with the bayonet. We give his own language:--“Seeing my right flank was exposed to the enemy, I attempted to change the front of Wallace’s company, (Virginia regulars;) in doing it, some confusion ensued, and first a part, and then the whole of the company commenced a retreat. The officers along the line seeing this, and supposing that orders had been given for a retreat, faced their men about and moved off. Morgan, who had mostly been with the militia, quickly rode up to me and expressed apprehensions of the event; but I soon removed his fears by pointing to the line, and observing that men were not beaten who retreated in that order. He then ordered me to keep with the men, until we came to the rising ground near Washington’s horse; and he rode forward to fix on the most proper place for us to halt and face about. In a minute we had a perfect line. The enemy were now very near us. Our men commenced a very destructive fire; which they little expected, and a few rounds occasioned great disorder in their ranks. While in this confusion I ordered a charge with the bayonet, which order was obeyed with great alacrity. As the line advanced, I observed their artillery a short distance in front, and called to Captain Ewing, who was near me, to take it. Captain Anderson, (now General Anderson, of Montgomery county, Maryland,) hearing the order, also pushed for the same object; and both being emulous for the prize, kept pace until near the first piece, when Anderson, by putting the end of his spontoon forward into the ground, made a long leap, which brought him upon the gun and gave him the honor of the prize. My attention was now drawn to an altercation of some of the men with an artillery man, who appeared to make it a point of honor not to surrender his match. The men, provoked by his obstinacy, would have bayoneted him on the spot, had I not interfered and desired them to spare the life of so brave a man. He then surrendered his match. In the pursuit I was led to the right, in among the seventy-first, who were broken into squads; and as I called to them to surrender, they laid down their arms, and the officers delivered up their swords. Captain Duncanson, of the seventy-first grenadiers, gave me his sword and stood by me. Upon getting on my horse, I found him pulling at my saddle, and he nearly unhorsed me. I expressed my displeasure, and asked what he was about. The explanation was, that they had orders to give no quarter, and they did not expect any; and as my men were coming up, he was afraid they would use him ill. I admitted his excuse and put him into the care of a sergeant. I had messages from him many years afterwards, expressing his obligation for my having saved his life.” At the time Colonel Howard was “among the seventy-first,” as he observes, he had in his hand at one time, seven swords of officers who had surrendered to him personally.
The moral effect of this celebrated battle was felt throughout the whole country. Congress voted a gold medal to Colonel Howard, (_See_ Plate I.,) descriptive of his gallant conduct at the Cowpens, which is described at the end of this sketch.
The battle of the Cowpens is the only one on record, in which the American troops fairly conquered the British with the bayonet in open field.
In the extreme danger incurred by the rear guard, in protecting the retreat of Greene, Colonel Howard bore his full share; in the battle of Guildford, which soon followed, we find his skill and bravery displayed in no common degree. In his own manuscript, he observes:--“My station being on the left of the first regiment, and next the cleared ground, Captain Gibson, deputy adjutant-general, rode up to me, and informed me that a party of the enemy inferior in number to us, were pushing through the cleared ground and into our rear, and that if we would face about and charge them, we might take them. I rode to Colonel Gunby and gave him the information. He did not hesitate to order the regiment to face about, and we were immediately engaged with the guards. Our men gave them some well directed fires, and we then advanced and continued firing. At this time Gunby’s horse was shot, and falling upon him, injured him, but not severely. Major Anderson was killed about this time. As we advanced, I observed Washington’s horse, and as their movements were quicker than ours, they first charged and broke the enemy. My men followed very quickly, and we pressed through the guards, many of whom had been knocked down by the horse without being much hurt. We took some prisoners, and the whole were in our power.
“After passing through the guards, as before stated, I found myself in the cleared ground, and saw the seventy-first regiment near the court-house, and other columns of the enemy appearing in different directions.
“Washington’s horse having gone off, I found it necessary to retire, which I did leisurely; but many of the guards who were lying on the ground, and who we supposed were wounded, got up and fired at us as we retired.”