Father: William Wood Jacobs
Mother: Elizabeth *****
Spouse: Millian Ann Carter
m: 24/Jan/1774 - Winchester, Frederick Co., VA
Child-1: Laura - m: 6/Jul/1799 - Daniel Pate - Montgomery
Co., VA
2: Nancy
3: Theodocia
4: Betty
- m: ***** Hankins - Montgomery Co., VA
5: Louise
- d: Carter Co., KY
m: Lewis Bryan - Montgomery Co., VA
6: Carter
Henry
Biographical Details:
Roley Jacobs was born in Virginia and it is likely that his given name was actually "Roland" or "Rowland". However, he seems to have been known as "Roley" or "Rowley" throughout his life. It is believed that he was the son of William Wood and Elizabeth Jacobs, but the maiden name of his mother remains unknown. Moreover, his age, given as sixty-five in an affidavit made in Floyd County, Kentucky, on October 19, 1818, in application for a pension, implies a probable birth year of 1753 although 1752 is also possible.1 It is thought that Roley Jacobs and Millian Ann Carter were married on January 24, 1774, in Frederick County, Virginia. If this is correct, then according to his subsequent pension affidavit it would appear that he enlisted in the colonial militia at Winchester, Virginia, immediately after his marriage, perhaps, the very next day. At this time Frederick County was on the Appalachian frontier and militia units were commonly organized for protection from Indian attack and general prevention of disorder. Roley further stated that he served under the command of Daniel Morgan. This would imply that he probably served with Morgan in Lord Dunmore's War in 1774. Lord Dunmore, the Royal Governor of Virginia, along with others instigated the conflict to dispossess Indian tribes and secure lands for settlement in Kentucky and the Ohio Valley.2 This was at least in part an attempt to defuse the growing rebelliousness of the English colonists by allowing westward expansion, which had been restricted by a Royal Proclamation of George III issued in 1763.3 (It is possible that Roley did not serve in Lord Dunmore's War since a strict enlistment period of one year would imply that he did not join the militia until the end of 1774 or the beginning of 1775; however, his enlistment period probably should not be taken too literally within this context.) Nevertheless, by the following year the Revolution had begun in earnest and after the Battle of Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775, the Continental Congress called for the formation of military units to oppose coercion of the colonies by the British Government. On June 22nd, Captain Daniel Morgan was chosen to lead one of the two rifle regiments raised by the Virginia colony. He enlisted ninety-six men in ten days, set out from Winchester on July 15th, and arrived in the vicinity of Boston after a march of only three weeks, i.e., in early August of 1775.4 At this time after the Battle of Bunker Hill, which had occurred in June, the British occupied the city and the Continental Army, such as it was, was encamped in the surrounding countryside. There is some confusion among researchers as to the origin of Morgan's regiment. In particular, it is sometimes stated that Morgan enlisted his men in western Pennsylvania. However, there has never been any doubt that Morgan's regiment was a Virginia unit of the Continental Army. This is not as strange as it might seem. First of all, prior to the Revolutionary War, Virginia and Pennsylvania both claimed the area around Fort Pitt (later Pittsburg). In addition, this area along with regions further west was precisely the location of Lord Dunmore's War. Furthermore, the reputation of Morgan's Virginia Riflemen was precisely that of backwoods Indian fighters and sharpshooters. Therefore, it is plausible that some of them were in western Pennsylvania in June of 1775 when they received word of the rebellion and either rapidly came to Winchester or met the regiment as it marched overland toward New England. Subsequently, the Continental Congress authorized an invasion of Canada and Morgan's regiment was one of three rifle companies chosen to accompany Colonel Benedict Arnold on this expedition. They began their march on September 25th and arrived on the bank of the St. Lawrence River opposite the City of Quebec on November 10, 1775. Because, enlistments expired the following January 1st, the Continental forces attacked the city in a snowstorm in the early morning of December 31st, but due to a series of unfortunate circumstances they were defeated. The colonials were taken prisoner and apparently were held at Quebec until the following September after which they were paroled. Clearly, these details, obtained from published historical accounts of Morgan's Virginia Riflemen, accord well with the pension affidavit made by Roley Jacobs later in Floyd County. Indeed, he cites January 1, 1776, as the end of his first period of service, which agrees precisely with the expiration of enlistments cited above. Moreover, it is quite reasonable that he received no written discharge for this service since his unit, including commanding officers, had been captured by the British. Likewise, he stated that he remained a prisoner for nine months, which is consistent with the parole of Morgan in September of 1776. It is likely that Roley Jacobs returned to Virginia after his release. Even so, he re-enlisted under the command of Captain Charles Porterfield on January 21, 1777, for a period of three years, and was, again, attached to Morgan's Virginia Riflemen. This unit served at Saratoga and various skirmishes and battles in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.5 Porterfield himself was killed at the Battle of Camden in 1780.6 According to Roley Jacobs' affidavit, he was discharged from the Continental Army on February 9, 1780. Clearly, this is in agreement with his stated enlistment period of three years. Nevertheless, his grandson, Joseph Gordon Jacobs, said in 1904 that his grandfather had fought at the Battle of Cowpens, which occured on January 17, 1781.7 Perhaps, this later account is in error; however, it is possible that he was present at the battle as an irregular spy or scout. Indeed, this is plausible because Brigadier General Daniel Morgan had been recalled in the summer of 1780 after a furlough of about one year and was in command at the Battle of Cowpens.8 In consideration of his previous service under Morgan's command, it seems likely that Roley might have once again served with Morgan, perhaps out of personal loyalty irrespective of whether he was officially enlisted or not.Source Notes and Citations:It seems clear that sometime after the Revolutionary War, Roley and Millian Carter Jacobs settled in Montgomery County, Virginia. This is further supported by two land grants given by the Virginia Land Office on September 29 and December 30, 1796, respectively, for sixty-five and one hundred acre parcels of land both lying in Montgomery County.9 For the smaller parcel, the stated grantee was Roland Jacobs and for the larger parcel, Rowland Jacobs. In all probability these both can be identified with Roley Jacobs. Moreover, the land was obtained in exchange for two Land Office Treasury Warrants, Nos. 13101 and 18405, issued August 3, 1782, and August 6, 1783, respectively. Both of these warrants were probably given by the government of Virginia in return for military service during the Revolutionary War. The household of Rowley Jacobs also appeared in 1810 US Census for Montgomery County and, at that time consisted of a male child of less than ten years of age, a male child or adolescent between ten and sixteen, a young female between sixteen and twenty-six, two adult females between twenty-six and forty-five, and an older male and female both above forty-five years of age. If the older couple is identified as Roley and Millian Carter Jacobs, then the three adult females probably were their daughters, and the older male child their son, Carter Henry. Moreover, according to later family tradition, Roley and Millian Carter had five surviving daughters and only one son. Two of their daughters had married in a double wedding in 1809, but the identity of the young male child is not clear. It is possible that he was a son that did not survive to adulthood; however, it is also possible that he was a grandson, cousin, or even an unrelated individual. By 1820, Roley and Millian Jacobs had migrated to Floyd County, Kentucky. Indeed, the population schedule of the 1820 US Census for Floyd County included households of Rowley, William, Claudius, John, and Carter Jacobs. William Jacobs was almost certainly the younger brother of Roley and in all likelihood, John Jacobs was another brother. Similarly, Carter Jacobs was almost certainly the son of Roley and Millian Jacobs; however, Claudius Jacobs remains unidentified although it is likely that he was a relative. Roley Jacobs died in Floyd County on February 19, 1825. Again, according to Joseph Gordon Jacobs, he was buried near the mouth of Stone Coal, a small stream that entered into Beaver Creek near Joel Martin's Mill. Indeed, there are three small streams in Floyd County named Stonecoal Branch, one that empties into Dewey Lake, which is a recent impoundment of Johns Creek, one that empties into the Right Fork of Beaver Creek at the town of Garrett, and one that empties into the Left Fork about one mile north of the town of Drift. Clearly, the second two of these both satisfy the description given above and, moreover, they are separated only by about four miles. However, a stream called Martin Branch also empties into the Left Fork of Beaver Creek a few hundred yards downstream from Stonecoal Branch. Within this context, it is likely that Martin Branch was named for an early association with Joel Martin's Mill, and therefore, this is probably the location described by Joseph Gordon Jacobs. This is further supported by the existence of a cemetery near the mouth of Stonecoal Branch, just as described. This area of Kentucky is quite mountainous with only narrow creek and river bottoms suitable for any kind of agriculture. However, in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, it would have been covered by an almost unbroken forest filled with game. At this time, hardy frontier families such as the Jacobs family, were attracted to such regions. Sadly, after 1850 Floyd County in particular and eastern Kentucky in general came to be dominated by coal mining, which has seriously marred the landscape from its original beauty.
1. Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Application Files, National Archives, Washington DC: Roley Jacobs S36617, (microfilm: roll M805_466; imgs. 366-78).COMMONWEALTH OF KENTUCKY, Floyd County, Sct:
On the 19th day of October 1818, before me the subscriber, one of the Judges for the Circuit Court, in and for the same aforesaid, personally appeared, R. Jacobs aged sixty five years; who being first duly sworn according to law, doth on his oath, make the following statement and declaration, in order to obtain the provision made by the late law of Congress entitled, "an Act to provide for certain persons engaged in the Land and Naval service of the United States in the revolutionary war;" that he is a citizen of the state of Kentucky, and a resident of the County of Floyd and that he was enlisted for one year at Winchester in the state of Virginia on or about the twenty first day of January 1774 and served in the company commanded by Captain Daniel Morgan afterwards Genl. Morgan, and was attached to Rifle regiment at Boston commanded by Colo Arnold & from there marched to Quebec where he was taken prisoner, in which condition he remained nine months that he continued to serve in the said corps, or in the service of the United States, in the continental army, against the common enemy, until about the first day of January -- 1776 & owing to his captivity he never received a discharge from that enlistment. That on Jany. 21, 1777 he enlisted again for three years and was commanded by Capt. Charles Porterfield and was attached to the rifle regiment commanded by Colo D. Morgan. The last enlistment took place at Winchester Virginia, and he served till the 9 Feby 1780 and was honorably discharged by Colo. B. Ball, which discharge he sent to the War Office & has not seen it since and that he is in reduced circumstances and stands in need of assistance of his country for support; & that he -- has no evidence in his power, of his services and discharge; other than that which is here transmitted.
Sworn and declared before me the day and year aforesaid.William Jacobs sworn at the same time and place deposes that he is the brother of the aforesaid Roley Jacobs was to his knowledge enlisted under Capt. Morgan and that he started for Quebec & staid (sic. - stayed) upwards of one year. That he recollects his enlisting again for three years under Capt. Porterfield as above detailed, and he recollects of his serving till the year 1780 when he was discharged, which he recollects to have seen. That his brother is poor and that all his property in the opinion of the witness which he holds would not exceed one hundred dollars in value & that he really, owing to his age and infirmity, needs the aid of his country.
I, B. Mills Judge, &c. as aforesaid, do certify that it appears to my satisfaction, that the said Roley Jacobs did serve in the revolutionary war, as stated in the preceding declaration, against the common enemy, for a term of nine months and upwards, on the continental establishment; and I now transmit the proceedings and testimony taken and had before me to the Secretary of the department of war, pursuant to the directions of the aforementioned act of Congress; and it further appears to my satisfaction, that the said applicant is in such indigent and reduced circumstances, as to require the aid of his country, pursuant to the above recited act. Given under my hand this 19 October 1818 /s/Benjamin Mills
Original Cert Recorded in book B vol 10 page 50 (Floyd Co., KY)
Kentucky Floyd County} Sct Roley Jacobs a Revolutionary pentioner (sic. - pensioner) late a private in the Army of the Revolution, and inscribed on the pension list roll of the Kentucky Agency, at the rate of eight dollars per month to Commence on the nineteenth day of October 1818 which Certificate issued 6th September 1820 renders the following schedule to wit, One horse least value Twenty four dollars one yearling bull at five dollars one Sow and thirteen pigs at Six dollars one Small feather bed and furniture at eight dollars and 2 hoes at One dollar and two old axes at three dollars and one hand ax one dollar witness my hand this 16 Oct 1820 /s/Roley Jacobs
witness Thos F Platt(?) a citizen of Floyd County
back to bio.2. Archibald Henderson, The Conquest of the Old Southwest, Chap. XIII, Century Co., New York, 1920: pass. ( (Jeffrey Weaver (tr), New River Notes, www.newrivernotes.com/index.htm, 2015.)
"A significiant, secretly conducted movement, of which historians have taken but little account, was now in progress under the manipulation of Virginia's royal governor. As early as 1770 Dr. John Connolly proposed the establishment of an extensive colony south of the Ohio; and the design of securing such territory from the Indians found lodgment in the mind of Lord Dunmore. But this design was for the moment thwarted when on October 28, 1768, an order was issued from the Privy Council chamber in Whitehall granting an immense territory, including all of the present West Virginia and the land alienated to Virginia by Donelson's agreement with the Cherokees (1772), to a company including Thomas Walpole, Samuel Wharton, Benjamin Franklin, and others. This new colony, to be named 'Vandalia,' seemed assured. A clash betweeen Dunmore and the royal authorities was imminent; for Virginia under her sea-to-sea charter claimed the vast middle region of the continent, extending without known limit to west, and northwest. Moreover, Dunmore was interested in great land speculations on his own account; and while overtly vindicating Virginia's claim to the trans-Alleghany by despatching parties of surveyors to the western wilderness to locate and survey lands covered by military grants, he with the collusion of certain members of the 'Honourable Board,' his council, as charged by Washington, was more than 'lukewarm,' secretly restricting as rigorously as he dared the extent and number of the soldiers' allotments. According to the famous Virginia Remonstrance, he was in league with 'men of great influence in some of the neighboring states' to secure, under cover of purchases from the Indians, large tracts of country between the Ohio and the Mississippi. In shaping his plans Dunmore had the shrewd legal counsel of Patrick Henry, who was equally intent upon making for himself a private purchase from the Cherokees. It was Henry's legal opinion that the Indiana purchase from the Six Nations by the Pennsylvania traders at Fort Stanwix (November 5, 1768) was valid; and that purchase by private individuals from the Indians gave full and ample title. In consequence of these facts, William Murray, in behalf of himself and his associates of the Illinois Land Company, and on the strength of the Camden-Yorke decision, purchased two large tracts, on the Illinois and Ohio respectively, from the Illinois Indians (July 5, 1773); and in order to win the support of Dunmore, who ambitious to make a fortune in land speculation, organized a second company, the Wabash (Ouabache) Land Company, with the governor as the chief share-holder. In response to Murray's petition on behalf of the Illinois Land Company, Dunmore (May, 1774) recommended it to Lord Dartmouth, Secretary of State for the Colonies, and urged that it be granted; and in a later letter he disingenuously disclaimed any personal interest in the Illinois speculation.
The party of surveyors sent out under the direction of Colonel William Preston, on the request of Washington and other leading eastern men, in 1774 located lands covered by military grants on the Ohio and in the Kentucky area for prominent Virginians, including Washington, Patrick Henry, William Byrd, William Preston, Arthur Campbell, William Fleming, and Andrew Lewis, among others, and also a large tract for Dr. Connolly. Certain of these grants fell within the Vandalia area; and in his reply (September 10, 1774) to Dunmore's letter, Lord Dartmouth sternly censured Dunmore for allowing these grants, and accused the white settlers of having brought on, by such unwarrantable aggressions, the war then raging with the Indians. This charge lay at the door of Dunmore himself; and there is strong evidence that Dunmore personally fomented the war, ostensibly in support of Virginia's rights, but actually in order to further his own speculative designs. Dunmore's agent, Dr. Connolly, heading a party posing as Virginia militia, fired without provocation upon a delegation of Shawanoe chiefs assembled at Fort Pitt (January, 1774). Taking advantages of the alarming situation created by the conflict of the claims of Virginia and Pennsyvlania, Connolly, inspired by Dunmore without doubt, then issued an incendiary circular (April 21, 1774), declaring a state of war to exist. Just two weeks before the Battle of the Great Kanawha, Patrick Henry categorically stated, in conversation with Thomas Wharton: that he was at Williamsburg with Ld. D., when Dr. Conolly first came there, that Conolly is a chatty, sensible man, and informed Ld. Dunmore of the extreme richness of the lands which lay on both sides of the Ohio; that the prohibitory orders which had been sent him relative to the land on the hither side (or Vandalia) had caused him to turn his thoughts to the opposite shore, and that as his Lordship was determined to settle his family in America he was really pursueing this war, in order to obtain by purchase or treaty from the native a tract of territory on that side; he then told me that he was convinced from every authority that the law knew, that a purchase from the natives was as full and ample a title as could be obtained, that they had Lord Camden and Mr. York's opinion on that head, which opinion with some others that Ld. Dunmore had consulted, and with the knowledge Conolly had given him of the quality of the country and his determined resolution to settle his family on this continent, were the real motives or springs of the present expedition. At this very time, Patrick Henry, in conjunction with William Byrd 3rd and others, was negotiating for a private purchase of lands from the Cherokees; and when Wharton, after answering Henry's inquiry as to where he might buy Indian goods, remarked: 'It's not possible you mean to enter the Indian trade at this period,' Henry laughingly replied: 'The wish-world is my hobby horse.' 'From I conclude,' adds Wharton, 'he has some prospect of making a purchase of the natives but where I know not.'
The war, thus promulgated, we believe, at Dunmore's secret instigation and heralded by a series of ghastly atrocities, came on apace. After the inhuman murder of the family of Logan, the Indian chieftain, by one Greathouse and his drunken companions (April 30th), Logan, who contrary to romantic views was a black-hearted and vengeful savage, harried the Tennessee and Virginia borders, burning and slaughtering. Unable to arouse the Cherokees, owing to the opposition of Atta-kulla-kulla, Logan as late as July 21st said in a letter to the whites: 'The Indians are not angry, only myself,' and not until then did Dunmore begin to give full execution to his warlike plans. The best woodsmen of the border Daniel Boone and the German scout Michael Stoner, having been despatched on July 27th by Colonel William Preston to warn the surveyors of the trans-Alleghany; made a remarkable journey on foot of eight hundred miles in sixty-one days. Harrod's company at Harrodsburg, a company of surveyors at Fontainebleau, Floyd's party on the Kentucky, and the surveyors at Mann's Lick, thus warned, hurried in to the settlements and were saved. Meanwhile, Dunmore, in command of the Virginia forces, invaded territory guaranteed to the Indians by the royal proclamation of 1763 and recently (1774) added to the province of Quebec, a fact of which he was not aware, conducted a vigorous campaign, and fortified Camp Charlotte, near Old Chillocothe. Andrew Lewis, however, in charge of the other division of Dunmore's army, was the one destined to bear the real brunt and burden of the campaign. His division, recruited from the very flower of the pioneers of the Old Southwest, was the most representative body of borderers of this region that up to this time had assembled to measure strength with the red men. It was an army of the true stalwarts of the frontier, with fringed leggings and hunting-capes and powder-horns, hunting-knives and tomahawks.
The Battle of the Great Kanawha, at Point Pleasant was fought on October 10, 1774, between Lewis's force, eleven hundred strong, and the Indians, under Cornstalk, somewhat inferior in numbers. It was a desultory action, over a greatly extended front and in very brushy country between Crooked Creek and the Ohio. Throughout the day, the Indians fought with rare craft and stubborn bravery--loudly cursing the white men, cleverly picking off their leaders, and derisively inquiring in regard to the absense of the fifes; 'Where are your whistles now?' Slowly retreating, they sought to draw the whites into an ambuscade and at a favorable moment to 'drive the Long Knives like bullocks into the river.' No marked success was achieved on either side until near sunset, when a flank movement directed by young Isaac Shelby alarmed the Indians, who mistook this party for the expected reinforcement under Christian, and retired across the Ohio. In the morning the whites were amazed to discover that the Indians, who the preceding day so splendidly heeded the echoing call of Cornstalk, 'Be strong! Be strong!' had quit the battle-field and left the victory with the whites.
The peace negotiated by Dunmore was durable. The governor had accomplished his purpose, defied the authority of the crown, and vindicated the claim of Virginia, to the enthusiastic satisfaction of the backwoodsmen. While tendering their thanks to him and avowing their allegiance to George III, at the close of the campaign, the borderers proclaimed their resolution to exert all their powers 'for the defense of American liberty, and for the support of her just rights and privileges, not in any precipitous, riotous or tumultuous manner, but when regularly called forth by the unanimous voice of our countrymen.' Dunmore's War is epochal, in that it procured for the nonce a state of peace with the Indians, which made possible the advance of Judge Henderson over the Transylvania Trail in 1775, and through his establishment of the Transylvania Fort at Boonesborough, the ultimate acquisition by the American Confederation of the imperial domain of the trans-Alleghany."
back to bio.3. And whereas it is just and reasonable, and essential to our Interest, and the Security of our Colonies, that the several Nations or Tribes of Indians with whom We are connected, and who live under our Protection, should not be molested or disturbed in the Possession of such Parts of Our Dominions and Territories as, not having been ceded to or purchased by Us, are reserved to them. or any of them, as their Hunting Grounds.--We do therefore, with the Advice of our Privy Council, declare it to be our Royal Will and Pleasure. that no Governor or Commander in Chief in any of our Colonies of Quebec, East Florida. or West Florida, do presume, upon any Pretence whatever, to grant Warrants of Survey, or pass any Patents for Lands beyond the Bounds of their respective Governments. as described in their Commissions: as also that no Governor or Commander in Chief in any of our other Colonies or Plantations in America do presume for the present, and until our further Pleasure be known, to grant Warrants of Survey, or pass Patents for any Lands beyond the Heads or Sources of any of the Rivers which fall into the Atlantic Ocean from the West and North West, or upon any Lands whatever, which, not having been ceded to or purchased by Us as aforesaid, are reserved to the said Indians, or any of them.
And We do further declare it to be Our Royal Will and Pleasure, for the present as aforesaid, to reserve under our Sovereignty, Protection, and Dominion, for the use of the said Indians, all the Lands and Territories not included within the Limits of Our said Three new Governments, or within the Limits of the Territory granted to the Hudson's Bay Company, as also all the Lands and Territories lying to the Westward of the Sources of the Rivers which fall into the Sea from the West and North West as aforesaid.
And We do hereby strictly forbid, on Pain of our Displeasure, all our loving Subjects from making any Purchases or Settlements whatever, or taking Possession of any of the Lands above reserved. without our especial leave and Licence for that Purpose first obtained.
And We do further strictly enjoin and require all Persons whatever who have either wilfully or inadvertently seated themselves upon any Lands within the Countries above described. or upon any other Lands which, not having been ceded to or purchased by Us, are still reserved to the said Indians as aforesaid, forthwith to remove themselves from such Settlements.
Excerpted from The Royal Proclamation by George III Rex, October 7, 1763. (Willian F. Maton, The Solon Law Archive, www.solon.org/Constitutions/Canada/English/PreConfederation/rp_1763.html, 1994-2001.)
back to bio.4a. "Following Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775, the Continental Congress authorized the raising of ten rifle companies from Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia in June. Virginia raised two companies. Captain Daniel Morgan was chosen to lead one of the companies on June 22, 1775. He raised ninety-six men in ten days. On July 15, Morgan and his company set out from Winchester, Virginia and arrived in Boston on August 6, 1775.
When Congress decided to invade Canada, it was decided that three rifle companies would accompany Colonel Benedict Arnold on the expedition. Captain Morgan's company won one of the selections by lots. Arnold then named Morgan commander of all three rifle companies for the duration of the expedition. As the expedition set out from Maine, Morgan was chosen to lead the advance party after he and the other rifle companies refused to serve under militia Lt. Colonel Christopher Greene, a distant relative of Nathanael Greene.
The expedition left Fort Western on September 25 and arrived at Point Levis across the St. Lawrence River from Quebec City on November 10, 1775. On November 13, Colonel Arnold crossed the river. Captain Morgan sent out a scouting party that reported no British sentries. Morgan favored an immediate attack and Arnold agreed. But a carelessly lit campfire drew a British patrol boat and the Americans were discovered. On November 15, Captain Morgan and Colonel Arnold almost came to blows over daily rations for the men. Morgan felt that a pint of flour per man was not enough. The two men had tempers and the exchange grew heated. Even so, the men respected one another and would later work well together at the Battle of Saratoga in 1777. Even after Arnold's treason, Morgan continued to speak fondly of him.
With the element of surprise ... gone, Colonel Arnold withdrew about twenty miles from Quebec and waited for Maj. General Richard Montgomery to arrive from Montreal. On December 3, Montgomery arrived with only 350 men. On December 5, they attempted a siege that Lt. General Guy Carleton easily rebuffed. Because their enlistments ran out on December 31, Montgomery and Arnold had to act soon. They devised a plan to attack under the cover of a snowstorm. After a near miss on December 27, that snowstorm arrived on the night of December 30. At 2:00 A.M. on December 31, 1775, Montgomery gave the signal to launch the attack on Quebec. While he attacked from the northeastern side of the city, Arnold attacked from the southwestern side. They planned to overwhelm Lower Town, meet and attack Upper Town, which was well fortified and where Carleton's British troops were concentrated.
When they encountered a rough barricade during their attack on Quebec, Colonel Benedict Arnold was forced into frontal assault because his cannon had been lost in a snowdrift. Leading the charge, Arnold was shot through the leg. Unable to continue, he was carried from the fight. Though he was not the highest ranking field officer present, Captain Morgan took command when the others failed to do so, rallied the men and overran the barricade on the second attempt. They continued to advance with little resistance through the streets of Lower Town. French militia eagerly surrendered to the advancing American force. By 4 A.M., the force encountered another barricade, which was unmanned. Morgan wanted to push on, but was now pursuaded by the same officers to wait for General Montgomery.
Maj. General Richard Montgomery would never arrive because he had been killed shortly after he launched his assault on the north side of the city. The Americans' delay allowed the Maj. General Guy Carleton and his forces to recover and take positions. By dawn, Captain Daniel Morgan grew impatient and continued the assault, but the wait had allowed the British to take positions. Morgan and the Americans were now under constant fire from the surrounding houses. By afternoon, Morgan had to turn back, but the once abandoned barricade was now manned and the Americans were trapped in the streets of Quebec. Having been strung out along the streets, they were forced to surrender in pockets. Morgan himself refused to surrender to the British, daring them to shoot him, but his men pleaded with him. He finally handed his sword over to a French priest.
Daniel Morgan remained a prisoner in Quebec City until September, when he was paroled. In January 1777, Morgan was finally exchanged for a British prisoner and could rejoin the war effort. He found that he had been promoted to Colonel on November 12, 1776, because of his actions at Quebec." (Scott Cummings, "Daniel Morgan", www.patriotresource.com/people/morgan/page3.html, 2001-2.)b. "On August 2, 1775, Daniel Morgan and his contingent of Virginia riflemen arrived in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the second of the rifle units authorized by congress to report to the Continental Army. Morgan was an unusually talented leader who was later to play important roles as a major in 1777 at Saratoga and as a brigadier general in 1781 at the Battle of Cowpens. He had raised his company of ninety-six men within ten days from the western parts of Pennsylvania. His unit and the First Maryland Rifles of Michael Cresap, a veteran Indian fighter who had arrived earlier, contained expert marksmen but were an unruly lot who rejected regulations and work assignments. Washington was attempting to develop some discipline among the Continental troops, and these were backwoodsmen, mostly Scots and Irishmen, who wore round woolen hats and hunting shirts. They caused him nothing but difficulty, but were an addition to his regulars because of the accuracy of their rifles. These riflemen, together with Gen. John Sullivan's fatigue unit of 1,200 men accompanied by a guard of 2,400 were to fortify Ploughed Hill, and provide a position commanding the Mystic River as well as offer a clear shot at the British forces on Bunker Hill. Events moved slowly during the month, mostly because Washington was awaiting sufficient ammunition to proceed. By August 24th, he had received 184 barrels of powder from Philadelphia, enough for only 25 rounds per man. At daylight on the August 27th, two floating British batteries and one on Bunker Hill begin a daylong shelling of the Americans. Sullivan had only one nine pound cannon in place, but sank one of the floating batteries, incapacitated the other, and put a sloop out of commission. No battle ensued, although minor firing continued for several days. The Americans lost only four men, two of them were killed while trying to stop a cannon ball bouncing along the ground." (The Connecticut Society of the Sons of the American Revolution, Inc., "August 1775", www.ctssar.org/monthly_history/y1775august.htm, 2002.)
back to bio.5. "In April 1777, he (Daniel Morgan) joined General George Washington's main army and raised 500 riflemen. On June 13, 1777, General Washington officially placed Morgan in command of the special 500-man light infantry unit that included Morgan's Virginia riflemen. His corps engaged and ravaged Maj. General William Howe's rear guard in New Jersey.
In August 1777, Washington reluctantly agreed to send Morgan and his corps to New York. On August 30, 1777, Morgan joined the Northern Army under Maj. General Horatio Gates during Gates' campaign against Maj. General John Burgoyne. Even before the main battles of Saratoga began, Colonel Morgan's riflemen drove General Burgoyne's Indian allies behind the British main line, so that Burgoyne had little intelligence about General Gates' movements. In the meantime, Morgan and his men informed Gates of Burgoyne's movements.
At the First Battle of Saratoga (Freeman's Farm) on September 19, 1777, Morgan's riflemen were the advance that engaged the British. They actually advanced too far and were exposed to a British bayonet counterattack, but Morgan rallied them. They engaged Burgoyne's center column and by keeping their distance, they inflicted steady fire and heavy casualties. Only German reinforcements and low ammunition saved the British from defeat that day. By October 7, General Burgoyne could not afford to wait for reinforcements because of low supplies.
Maj. General John Burgoyne attacked Maj. General Horatio Gates' fortifications at the Second Battle of Saratoga (Bemis Heights) on October 7, 1777. Gates countered by ordering Colonel Morgan's riflemen and Dearborn's light infantry to cross through the woods to flank Burgoyne's force. Fierce fighting drove the British back to their own fortifications and only darkness saved them from being overrun by the Americans.
After General Burgoyne's surrender on October 17, 1777, Morgan's friendship with General Gates was strained for a time when he refused to support Gates in his efforts to supplant General George Washington as Commander-in-Chief. Morgan rejoined Washington's main army on November 18th. Morgan skirmished and scouted for Washington throughout New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Colonel Morgan missed the Battle of Monmouth Courthouse, New Jersey on June 28, 1778, because Maj. General Charles Lee failed to keep him informed of the main army's movements. He then took temporary command of the ill General William Woodford's Virginia brigade.
Following his first taste of command, Morgan soon learned that a new light infantry brigade was being formed. He longed for the command, but it called for a brigadier general and Morgan was only a colonel. Brig. General Anthony Wayne was without command and looked to be in line for the brigade, but Wayne had not yet to prove himself in the field and Morgan felt that he was more qualified for the command.
General Wayne did receive the command and the Continental Congress passed over Colonel Daniel Morgan for promotion. The standing policy was that a state could only have as many brigadier generals as units supplied by the state and Virginia already had its quota. Morgan offered his resignation from the Army on July 18, 1779, dissatisfied with this Congressional policy. Congress refused his resignation and instead granted a furlough, so he went home." (Scott Cummings, "Daniel Morgan", www.patriotresource.com/people/morgan/page4.html, 2001-2.)
back to bio.6. "The President remarked that there was no old soldier present, but this morning a near kinsman of Col. Charles Porterfield, who fell fighting at Camden, had handed him the journal kept by that gallant officer in that trying time. 'I hold it in my hand it is a venerable looking record--among other matters frequently noted in it is his intimacy with, and good opinion of Gen. Morgan, in honor of whom the handsome company, now our guests, have named themselves 'the Morgan Continental Guards.'
Major Washington, Commander of the Morgan Continental Guards, proposed Col. Charles Porterfield. He entered the war a private in Capt. Daniel Morgan's company of volunteers from Frederick County, in 1775--he fell at Camden in August 1780, all honor to his memory and justice from his country." (news item: The Vindicator, pg. 2, col. 4, Staunton, VA, July 15, 1859.)
back to bio.7. "Roley Jacobs, the father of Carter Henry Jacobs. He, Roley Jacobs, was a Revolutionary Soldier under George Washington and was in all the hard fought battles and particularly the Battle of Cowpens. He married a Carter in the state of Virginia. As to his age, I know nothing about. Records being distroyed (sic - destroyed). He and his wife, named Matilda (Millian Ann) if I recollect right. Both died in Floyd Co., Kentucky, and were buried near the mouth of Stone Coal, a small stream that entered into Beaver Creek near Joel Martin's Mill." (Joseph Gordon Jacobs, "Jacobs Family History", 1904, unpublished. (donated to the Knott County Historical Society by Larry Jacobs, Hamden, OH; April 2, 1998) (Tim Mattingly, "Mattingly/Chapman Ancesters", www.gencircles.com/users/gurney3/1/data/620, 2002.))
back to bio.8. "After he (Daniel Morgan) learned that General Gates had been defeated at the Battle of Camden, South Carolina on August 16, 1780, Morgan put aside his personal feelings and set out for Hillsborough, North Carolina. He arrived in September and on October 2, Gates gave him command of a light infantry corps. On October 13, 1780, Congress finally promoted Morgan to brigadier general. From October to December, Morgan's order from Gates was to scout and campaign between Camden, South Carolina and Charlotte, North Carolina.
On December 3, 1780, Brig. General Daniel Morgan rode into Charlotte, North Carolina and greeted his new commander, Maj. General Nathanael Greene, who had replaced Maj. General Horatio Gates as Southern Department Commander. Greene had only arrived the day before. At first, Greene did not change Morgan's task and Morgan resumed his campaigning. Greene spent two weeks surveying his army and its supplies and found them lacking.
General Greene decided to divide his army to buy time to rebuild the force so that it would be strong enough to face Lt. General Charles Cornwallis. Greene selected Morgan to command the smaller, more mobile portion of the army with orders 'to give protection to that part of the country, spirit up the people, to annoy the enemy in that quarter, collect provisions and forage.' However Morgan was to also avoid direct engagement with the British. Morgan left Charlotte on December 21st in command of 600 men. Cornwallis recognized Greene's strategy and immediately ordered Lt. Colonel Banastre Tarleton to pursue Morgan. Morgan played cat and mouse with Tarleton for three weeks.
Morgan learned of Lt. Colonel Tarleton's tendancy for a quick frontal charge from his officers who were experienced in fighting Tarleton. He also knew of the low expectations that the British had for Patriot militia. After choosing Cowpens, North Carolina as his battleground because of the hills in its geography, he formulated a plan that made use of both tendancies. He had spent the night before going around his camp, encouraging his men and especially the militia to give him two shots.
When Lt. Colonel Tarleton arrived at Cowpens, he found Morgan had placed the militia under the command of Andrew Pickens on the front line. Tarleton quickly ordered for his veteran troops to advance. The militia fired two rounds and retreated. Tarleton saw the retreat as the beginning of a rout similar to what had happened at Camden in August when the militia had fled and left the Continental forces vastly outnumbered. Tarleton ordered a bayonet charge, but soon found himself double-flanked and Tarleton himself barely escaped the field. Cowpens was the worst defeat for the British since Saratoga.
Morgan did not bask in his victory, but quickly moved north to join with General Greene in a retreat from the pursuing General Cornwallis across North Carolina in what has become known as the Race to the Dan River. But the cold and rainy weather brought on his sciatica and soon it was too painful for him to sit on a horse. On February 10, 1781, Morgan retired to his home in Virginia, missing the Battle of Guilford Courthouse, North Carolina on March 15, 1781."Works Cited by Cummings:
1. Mark Mayo Boatner, Encyclopedia of the American Revolution, Stackpole Books, Mechanicsburg, PA, Reprint ed., Aug. 1994.
2. John Buchanan, The Road to Guilford Courthouse, John Wiley & Sons, New York, NY, 1997.
3. Dan L. Morrill, Southern Campaigns of the American Revolution, Nautical & Aviation Pub. Co. of Amer., Inc., Baltimore, MD, 1993.
4. James L. Stokesbury, A Short History of the American Revolution, Quill Pub., New York, NY, Reprint ed., Jan. 1993.
(Scott Cummings, "Daniel Morgan", www.patriotresource.com/people/morgan/page5.html, 2001-2.)
back to bio.9a. Robert Brooke Esquire Governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia, To all To Whom these presents shall come, Greeting: Know ye, That by virtue of a Land Office Treasury Warrant, Number thirteen thousand one hundred and one issued the third day of August one thousand seven hundred and eighty two, there is granted by the said Commonwealth unto Roland Jacobs Assignee of Soloman Akers a Certain Tract or parcel of Land containing Sixty five Acres by Survey bearing date the twentieth day of September, One thousand seven hundred and eighty three, lying and being in the County of Montgomery on the head Waters of Meadow Creek the Waters of new River and bounded as followeth to Wit Beginning at three white oak saplings Corner to Harris's Survey and with the same, North fifteen degrees West thirty poles crossing the old road, South fifty degrees East one hundred & Six poles to two black oaks and a spanish oak on a ridge, North fifty five degrees West thirty eight poles to a large black oak West one hundred and forty eight poles to between two black oaks in a hollow, North forty two and a half degrees East eighty seven poles to the Beginning. With its appurtenances; to the said Roland Jacobs, and his Heirs forever. In Witness whereof the said Robert Brooke Esquire, Governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia, hath hereunto set his Hand and Caused the lesser Seal of the said Commonwealth to be Affixed at Richmond on the twenty ninth Day of September in the Year of our Lord on thousand seven hundred and ninety Six and of the Commonwealth the twenty first. /s/Robert Brooke. (Land Office Grants, Bk. 36, pgs. 181-2, Library of Virginia, Richmond, VA, (microfilm: roll - Land Office Grants and Patents #102).)
b. James Wood Esquire Governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia, To all To Whom these presents shall come, Greeting: Know ye, That by virtue of a Land Office Treasury Warrant, Number eighteen Thousand, four hundred and five, issued the sixth day of August, one thousand seven hundred and eighty three, there is granted by the said Commonwealth unto Rowland Jacobs a Certain Tract or parcel of Land Containing One hundred Acres, by Survey bearing date the ninth day of November, One thousand seven hundred and ninety one, lying and being in the County of Montgomery On the Waters of the little River, the Waters of the new River and bounded as followeth to Wit Beginning at a white oak and two pines, on the side of a ridge, and running thence North seventy seven degrees West fifty poles to a hickory, black oak and Service on the Side of a ridge and running, thence North twenty seven degrees West fifty poles to a Hickory black oak and Service on the side of a ridge, North eighty six degrees West sixty two poles to three pines near Elizabeth Dobbin's line, thence South eight degrees West eighty six poles to four pines, South fifty seven degrees West one hundred poles to a white oak on a ridge, North seventy Seven degrees West fifty two poles to a Spanish oak and Chestnut, on the North West side of a ridge, South thirty five degrees West, fifty eight poles to three black oaks on a Stony ridge near a path South Seventy five degrees East fifty six poles to a stake, North eighty seven degrees West, one hundred poles to two pines & a white oak sapling North thirty nine degrees East one hundred and seventy six poles to the Beginning. With its appurtenances; To have and To hold the said Tract or parcel of Land with its appurtenances to the said Rowland Jacobs and his Heirs forever. In Witness whereof the said James Wood Esquire Governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia, hath hereunto set his Hand and Caused the lesser Seal of the said Commonwealth to be Affixed at Richmond on the thirtieth day of December, in the year of Our Lord one thousand seven hundred and ninety six and of the Commonwealth the twenty first. /s/James Wood (Land Office Grants, Bk. 36, pgs. 241, Library of Virginia, Richmond, VA, (microfilm: roll - Land Office Grants and Patents #102).)
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Additional Citations:
10. 1810 US Census Population Schedule for Montgomery County, Virginia, National Archives, Washington DC: pg. 629, (microfilm: roll M252_70; img. 73).11. 1820 US Census Population Schedule for Floyd County, Kentucky, National Archives, Washington DC: pg. 41, (microfilm: roll M33_22; img. 50).
12. William Waller Edwards, "Morgan and His Riflemen", William and Mary Quarterly, 1.23(2), Oct. 1914: pgs. 73-105.
13. Constance L. Skinner, Pioneers of the Old Southwest; a chronicle, Yale University Press, New Haven, CT, 1919; also Clarence W. Alvord, The Mississippi Valley in British Politics, Vol. II, The Arthur H. Clark Co., Glendale, CA, 1917: pgs. 191-4.
14. Ancestral File: 1D4M-LSX, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City, UT, continuously updated.