Albert Louis Zambone
A nuanced and engrossing look at the life of the soldier and colonial politician Daniel Morgan. Zambone traces the arc of his subject’s life to show how Morgan successfully “fought his way upward through the social hierarchy” from laborer to congressman. As a teenager, he worked for a farmer, then became an overseer and eventually an entrepreneur, county militia captain, and member of the gentry. He commanded a company of riflemen accompanying Benedict Arnold on the march to Quebec in 1775, assuming command after Arnold was shot. Morgan’s skill as a military man and his innovative tactics led to more military responsibilities.
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Daniel Morgan was the action hero of the American Revolution. In this biography—the first to appear in over fifty years—historian Albert Louis Zambone depicts an ordinary man who became extraordinary. Morgan was a homeless, illiterate teenage laborer who, with burning ambition, dogged determination, and a great deal of luck, became a landowner and congressmen during the early years of the republic, and one of America’s greatest battlefield commanders. The author provides a rich portrait of Morgan’s life and context, creating an engrossing portrait of a forgotten American original in the age of American revolutions—a common man in uncommon times.
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[Recorded on July 28, 2022.]