Daniel Morgan, born in New Hampton, Hunterdon County, in 1736, grew up on the New Jersey frontier where his father worked for the Union Iron Furnace, left home in 1751, worked as a wagoner in Pittstown, New Jersey, and migrated to Virginia at 17. In 1756 he became a wagoner for the British Army in the French and Indian War, but after being flogged for striking a British officer, he lost all love for the British Army. When the Revolutionary War began in 1775, he accepted a captain's commission of a Virginia rifle company in the Continental Army. Known as Morgan's Rifle Corps, these sharpshooters could hit targets out to 200 yards. In 1777 he was promoted to colonel of the Virginia regiment of riflemen and played major roles in the American victories at Saratoga, New York, in 1777 and Cowpens, South Carolina, in 1781. At the First Battle of Saratoga, Morgan's regiment moved in advance of the infantry, made initial contact with the largest body of British infantry, then fell back to support the Continental infantry as his riflemen fired from the trees at long range while the infantry fired at short range, a tactic that helped defeat the British. In the second Battle of Saratoga, Morgan's riflemen again supported the infantry, and after General Benedict Arnold, taking command from General Learned, ordered Morgan to kill British General Fraser, one of Morgan's riflemen climbed a tree and shot Fraser off his horse, killing him. These contributions to the American victory at Saratoga brought Morgan great praise, but after being passed over for promotion to brigadier general, he resigned from the Continental Army in 1779. Recalled in 1780 with the rank of brigadier general, Morgan confronted British Lieutenant Colonel Tarleton at Cowpens with his riflemen, militia, and regular Continental Army troops. He placed his militia and riflemen in front of the regulars, ordered the riflemen and militia to fall back behind a knoll after firing two volleys, and had the regular infantry fall back to the top of the knoll. Believing the Americans were routed, Tarleton's troops charged forward and were enveloped by the militia and Colonel William Washington's reserves, and Tarleton was thoroughly defeated in what was considered the tactical masterpiece of the Revolutionary War.