Command Briefing -  The Burwood-Morgan Mill, Millwood, Va.  After the Battle at Cowpens, Brigadier General Daniel Morgan took a leave of absence due to ill health.  He went home to Virginia where in 1782 he built a home he named "Saratoga" after his successes in New York.  He also became co-owner of a mill with Lt. Col. Nathaniel Burwood, a building which is still standing and has recently been restored as a museum. (Original photographs, with captions, provided by Jim Gillgam, Alamance Battleground Chapter, NCSSAR)

Opposing Views

"I desire you would pass Broad river, with the legion and the first battalion of the 71st, as soon as possible. If Morgan is still at Williams', or anywhere within your reach, I should wish you push him to the utmost"




    Letter from Major General Charles, the Earl Cornwallis to Banastre Tarleton, early 1781		 "Boys , get up! Benny's coming!"

"I was desirous to have a stroke at Tarleton .......... & I have given him a devil of a whipping."



   Daniel Morgan, Cowpens, Jan. 17, 1781
 
   Daniel Morgan to his friend, William Snickers, 26 January 1781, 9 days after the Battle at Cowpens

                         Active Roster   Patriot Index
      John Thornhill, the current State Historian for the NCSSAR, joined the SAR at the behest of his mother - she wanted somone in his generation to document the bloodline so that future generations could use his application as a record copy for their applications.

      John joined the George Rogers Clark Chapter of the Indiana Society, but later transferred to the Harry S. Truman Chapter in Independence Missouri as a Charter Member.  Years later, when he'd moved to North Carolina, John transferred his membership to the Lower Cape Fear Chapter in Wilmington, NC. Within 3 years of his arrival, he was elected Chapter President, the first office he'd ever held while a member of the SAR.

    John became active in the State Society after he'd been elected Chapter President and began attending the NC State conventions.  It was there that he met Nat Clark who'd been elected State President of the NCSSAR.  Nat had been the Editor of the State's newsletter, The Old North State, but needed someone to take over for him because of other pressing duties.  He asked John if he would accept the responsibility, and John agreed.  Under his guidance (a period that lasted 7 years),  The Old North State won 2 awards from the National Society.  During that period also, John was awarded the Patriot Medal (highest honor bestowed by a State Society), and recognized as a George Washington Fellow.  He said that his proudest moment while a member of the SAR was the day he received the Patriot Medal, mainly because it was so unexpected.  He went on to say  "None of the awards I have received would have been possible without the assistance of other members of the Society.  For this assistance, I thank everyone who was involved in making the newsletter a success."  

     Since the year 2000 when he was elected State Historian, John has been active in sorting, weeding-out, arranging, and preserving archival documents for the North Carolina Society of the SAR.  He's been helped in this effort by Nat Clark and Harry Goodman.  From a disorganized box of materials, they have transformed these records into date-sorted, museum-preserved and acid-free document albums.  In the process, these records have become much easier to maintain.
  
    Captain William Jenning of Fauquier County, Virginia, first enlisted in the Virginia Navy in 1777, under the command of Captain Richard Barron on the ship Patriot.  He served on this vessel until a short time before the siege of York.  Thereafter,  he was assigned as Pilot  on the French Ship  Nor  Thumberland from which he was discharged at Martinique.  While returning home on the schooner Sally he was taken prisoner by the British ship Chatham and placed on the prison ship Jersey at New York.   He was released after four months and returned to his old command, the Patriot, which  was still commanded by Captain Barron.  He served thereon until peace was declared.

      For his service, Williams Jenning was promoted to a Captain  of the Navy and given a land grant in Virginia.
Bloodlines



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