James Morgan
MSA SC 3520-18189
Biography:
James Morgan was the son of John and Sarah Morgan of Caroline County. He had a brother named Daniel and a sister named Rebecca. [1] James enlisted in the Fourth Independent Company of Maryland troops on January 20, 1776 as a sergeant. [2] The Fourth Independent was placed at Oxford in Talbot County under the command of Captain James Hindman. [3] In his first few months as a sergeant, Morgan managed to impress his commanding officer. James Hindman wrote to Gustavus Scott, Somerset County’s delegate to the Maryland Convention, on June 19, 1776 recommending that Morgan be made an ensign with his own commission. [4] Valuable social connections could also have been a catalyst for this recommendation.
Within the next month, the Fourth was ordered to march to New York to reinforce the Continental Army against a looming British offensive. Just a few weeks after their arrival, on August 27, 1776, the Americans and British clashed in the first major engagement of the Revolutionary War, the Battle of Brooklyn.
The battle was a disaster for the Continental Army. It was quickly outflanked in the course of the battle and soldiers were forced to retreat by swimming through Gowanus Creek under heavy fire. The Continental Army and George Washington himself faced annihilation as a result. They were saved, however, by the courage of a group of soldiers who came to be known as the Maryland 400. In the midst of the frenzied retreat, the Maryland 400 launched a daring counterattack and held off the British long enough for Washington and his army to escape. Two hundred and fifty-six Maryland soldiers were either killed or captured as a result of their bravery.
Morgan survived the rout at Brooklyn and continued to cover the Continental Army’s retreat at the Battle of White Plains. Morgan validated Hindman’s confidence in him during these battles. On October 12, 1776, Hindman wrote to Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer, the President of the Maryland Council of Safety, begging “the favor of [his] notice and attention to James Morgan, first Sergeant in [his] company, for promotion.” Hindman was “satisfied he will merit any favor that may be shewn him in that way, and have no doubt of his making a good officer. He has acted as such ever since he has been with me.” [5]
Morgan fought again at the battles of Trenton and Princeton in the winter of 1776-1777. At the beginning of 1777, the issue of expiring enlistments came to call. Despite his military skill and potential, Morgan decided not to reenlist in the Continental Army. Although we do not know for certain, Morgan was most likely never offered a commission.
After his military service, Morgan returned to Maryland, eventually settling in Cecil County. He had eight children named Ann, Sarah, Abigail, Araminta, Elizabeth, James, William, and Rebecca. [6]
Morgan acquired a considerable amount of land in Cecil County and a slave named Joseph by the time of his death in September 1823. [7]
Jillian Curran, Explore America Research Intern, 2019
Notes:
[1] Will of John Morgan, 1803, Caroline County Register of Wills, Wills, Liber JR C, p. 194 [MSA C577-5, 1/3/1/9].
[3] Mark Andrew Tacyn, “‘To the End:’ The First Maryland Regiment and the American Revolution” (PhD diss., University of Maryland College Park, 1999), 34.
[4] James Hindman to Gustavus Scott, 19 June 1776, Maryland State Papers, MdHR 6636-1-73 [MSA S1004-1-625, 1/7/3/25].
[6] Will of James Morgan, 1823, Cecil County Register of Wills, Wills, Liber A 8, p. 120 [MSA C646-7, 1/11/14/14].
[7] Morgan Will.
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