WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.980 Picture a standard 18th century battlefield for 00:00:02.980 --> 00:00:07.360 a second. You have two massive armies dressed 00:00:07.360 --> 00:00:10.080 in bright red and blue. Right. Standing in rigid, 00:00:10.279 --> 00:00:12.279 perfectly straight lines. Exactly. Just out there 00:00:12.279 --> 00:00:14.980 in the middle of an open field, they raise these 00:00:14.980 --> 00:00:17.679 heavy cumbersome muskets, point them generally 00:00:17.679 --> 00:00:20.820 across the field, and trade these massive, wildly 00:00:20.820 --> 00:00:25.000 inaccurate volleys of fire through thick clouds 00:00:25.000 --> 00:00:27.620 of black powder smoke. It was chaotic. I mean, 00:00:27.739 --> 00:00:29.699 it was less about individual marksmanship and 00:00:29.699 --> 00:00:33.079 much more about Participating in a terrifying 00:00:33.079 --> 00:00:35.560 lottery of flying lead. Yeah, that is a great 00:00:35.560 --> 00:00:38.299 way to put it. A terrifying lottery. But what 00:00:38.299 --> 00:00:40.780 happens when one side suddenly decides that the 00:00:40.780 --> 00:00:43.439 established rules of war are completely optional? 00:00:43.560 --> 00:00:45.240 Well, that changes everything. It really does. 00:00:45.520 --> 00:00:47.899 Welcome to the Deep Dive. Today we are extracting 00:00:47.899 --> 00:00:50.320 the most fascinating insights from a single, 00:00:50.579 --> 00:00:53.020 deeply detailed source. We're looking at the 00:00:53.020 --> 00:00:55.560 Wikipedia article on Morgan's riflemen, which 00:00:55.560 --> 00:00:59.060 was this elite light infantry unit from the American 00:00:59.060 --> 00:01:01.850 Revolutionary War commanded by General Daniel 00:01:01.850 --> 00:01:05.560 Morgan. And our mission today. for you listening 00:01:05.560 --> 00:01:08.319 to this, is to really look past the standard 00:01:08.319 --> 00:01:11.840 historical dates and troop movements. Like, this 00:01:11.840 --> 00:01:14.739 isn't just a basic military history recap. Right, 00:01:14.819 --> 00:01:17.599 no textbook stuff here. Exactly. It is a master 00:01:17.599 --> 00:01:21.319 class in how adapting a very specific piece of 00:01:21.319 --> 00:01:24.959 technology and combining it with wildly unconventional 00:01:24.959 --> 00:01:28.459 tactics can completely alter the strategic landscape 00:01:28.459 --> 00:01:31.060 of an entire conflict. I mean, it's about disruption 00:01:31.060 --> 00:01:34.439 in its purest form, right? Right. a small group 00:01:34.439 --> 00:01:36.900 of people figured out how to break the geometry 00:01:36.900 --> 00:01:40.280 of 18th century warfare. Yes, breaking the geometry 00:01:40.280 --> 00:01:42.299 is the perfect way to frame it. Okay, let's unpack 00:01:42.299 --> 00:01:44.439 this because before we can even talk about General 00:01:44.439 --> 00:01:46.439 Daniel Morgan and the specific men he recruited, 00:01:46.799 --> 00:01:48.599 we really have to talk about the tool that made 00:01:48.599 --> 00:01:51.219 their entire tactical existence possible. The 00:01:51.219 --> 00:01:54.340 rifle. Right? There's a massive, almost unbelievable 00:01:54.340 --> 00:01:56.939 technological disparity at the heart of the story. 00:01:56.980 --> 00:01:59.299 You've got the standard weapon of the day, the 00:01:59.299 --> 00:02:02.019 British smoothbore musket. Which was basically 00:02:02.019 --> 00:02:04.290 what everyone used. Yeah, and the effective range 00:02:04.290 --> 00:02:07.620 on that is a mere 100 yards. But then you have 00:02:07.620 --> 00:02:10.479 the weapon carried by Morgan's men, the Pennsylvania 00:02:10.479 --> 00:02:14.159 long rifle. It's effective range 300 to 500 yards. 00:02:14.439 --> 00:02:16.780 It's a staggering difference. It really is. If 00:02:16.780 --> 00:02:18.900 we use a modern analogy, it's like an entire 00:02:18.900 --> 00:02:23.159 army showing up with clumsy short range shotguns. 00:02:23.159 --> 00:02:26.319 And suddenly they are facing down a specialized 00:02:26.319 --> 00:02:29.620 unit equipped with precision sniper rifles. What's 00:02:29.620 --> 00:02:31.539 fascinating here is the underlying mechanics 00:02:31.539 --> 00:02:34.960 of that technological leap, because it explains 00:02:34.960 --> 00:02:37.199 everything about how these men had to fight. 00:02:37.539 --> 00:02:40.560 So how did this massive 400 -yard range disparity 00:02:40.560 --> 00:02:43.340 actually change the terrifying math for a soldier 00:02:43.340 --> 00:02:45.699 standing on the battlefield? Well, a standard 00:02:45.699 --> 00:02:48.620 musket is basically a smooth tube. When you fire 00:02:48.620 --> 00:02:51.020 it, the lead ball actually bounces down the inside 00:02:51.020 --> 00:02:52.900 of the barrel. It's called windage. Windage, 00:02:52.900 --> 00:02:54.659 okay. That's the gap between the ball and the 00:02:54.659 --> 00:02:56.460 barrel. Exactly. So when the ball leaves the 00:02:56.460 --> 00:02:58.580 muzzle, it could be veering left, right, up, 00:02:58.599 --> 00:03:01.159 or down. That's why armies had to stand in lines 00:03:01.159 --> 00:03:03.060 and fire together. Because you couldn't hit anything 00:03:03.060 --> 00:03:05.620 on purpose. Right. You couldn't aim at a specific 00:03:05.620 --> 00:03:08.520 person, you just aimed at the general enemy formation. 00:03:09.180 --> 00:03:12.080 But the concept of rifling changes the physics 00:03:12.080 --> 00:03:15.280 entirely. By putting spiral grooves inside the 00:03:15.280 --> 00:03:18.139 barrel. Yes. Those grooves physically grip the 00:03:18.139 --> 00:03:20.960 projectile, forcing it to spin and stabilize 00:03:20.960 --> 00:03:23.560 in flight. It's much like a perfectly thrown 00:03:23.560 --> 00:03:26.139 football. Oh, that makes sense. But the article 00:03:26.139 --> 00:03:28.300 notes this wasn't an American invention, right? 00:03:28.759 --> 00:03:31.259 Rifling already existed in Europe. It did, yeah. 00:03:31.439 --> 00:03:34.199 German immigrant gunsmiths actually brought over 00:03:34.199 --> 00:03:36.879 the technology of the shorter Germanic Jaeger 00:03:36.879 --> 00:03:39.840 rifle. OK, so it started as a European design. 00:03:40.120 --> 00:03:42.240 Right. But the American backcountry demanded 00:03:42.240 --> 00:03:44.879 something different. Those gunsmiths modified 00:03:44.879 --> 00:03:47.520 it into a much longer style of flintlock that 00:03:47.520 --> 00:03:50.039 became popular in the colonies. I see. So it 00:03:50.039 --> 00:03:52.560 was adapted for the environment. Exactly. It 00:03:52.560 --> 00:03:55.580 was a tool born of frontier survival, hunting 00:03:55.580 --> 00:03:58.120 small game and navigating a vast unforgiving 00:03:58.120 --> 00:04:00.479 landscape where missing a shot meant your family 00:04:00.479 --> 00:04:04.830 might not eat. Wow. But if the rifle was so vastly 00:04:04.830 --> 00:04:07.870 superior, I mean, if it had a 400 yard advantage 00:04:07.870 --> 00:04:10.990 over the musket, it begs the obvious question. 00:04:11.810 --> 00:04:14.830 Why didn't George Washington just equip his entire 00:04:14.830 --> 00:04:17.589 Continental Army with Pennsylvania long rifles? 00:04:17.810 --> 00:04:20.089 Because of the massive tactical tradeoffs. It 00:04:20.089 --> 00:04:22.110 wasn't a perfect weapon. What do you mean? Well, 00:04:22.509 --> 00:04:24.870 to make those spiral grooves grip the lead ball, 00:04:25.569 --> 00:04:28.350 the ball has to fit incredibly tightly into the 00:04:28.350 --> 00:04:31.879 barrel. Riflemen had to wrap the ball in a greased 00:04:31.879 --> 00:04:35.100 patch of cloth and literally force it down the 00:04:35.100 --> 00:04:37.579 barrel with a ramrod. That sounds like it would 00:04:37.579 --> 00:04:40.720 take a lot of time. It did. A highly trained 00:04:40.720 --> 00:04:44.000 British regular could load and fire a smoothbore 00:04:44.000 --> 00:04:47.240 musket three or four times in a minute. A rifleman 00:04:47.240 --> 00:04:49.579 might take a full minute just to load one shot. 00:04:49.699 --> 00:04:52.459 Oh, wow. So you get range, but you sacrifice 00:04:52.459 --> 00:04:55.399 speed entirely. Exactly. Furthermore, the barrels 00:04:55.399 --> 00:04:57.800 of these long rifles were relatively thin and 00:04:57.800 --> 00:05:00.370 custom made. they couldn't be fitted with bayonets. 00:05:00.990 --> 00:05:03.569 Ah, so if a unit of cavalry charges you while 00:05:03.569 --> 00:05:06.069 you're spending 60 seconds trying to jam a tight 00:05:06.069 --> 00:05:09.170 lead ball down a barrel, you are completely defenseless. 00:05:09.709 --> 00:05:11.209 You don't even have a spear at the end of your 00:05:11.209 --> 00:05:14.329 gun to fend off a horse. Precisely. The weapon 00:05:14.329 --> 00:05:17.829 dictates the tactic. The traditional math of 00:05:17.829 --> 00:05:21.709 18th century combat relied on formations to mass 00:05:21.709 --> 00:05:24.870 inaccurate fire and tight physical squares of 00:05:24.870 --> 00:05:27.350 bayonets to repel cavalry charges. Right, the 00:05:27.350 --> 00:05:30.170 traditional geometry we talked about. Yes. So 00:05:30.170 --> 00:05:32.209 when you introduce the Pennsylvania long rifle, 00:05:32.670 --> 00:05:35.709 you introduce a massive zone of absolute vulnerability 00:05:35.709 --> 00:05:38.589 for the enemy, but you also carry a weapon that 00:05:38.589 --> 00:05:41.410 makes you incredibly vulnerable in close quarters 00:05:41.410 --> 00:05:44.540 combat. So a British soldier marching into a 00:05:44.540 --> 00:05:48.000 skirmish knew that for 300 yards they could be 00:05:48.000 --> 00:05:50.420 methodically picked off without any ability to 00:05:50.420 --> 00:05:52.360 return fire. Right, it strips away the safety 00:05:52.360 --> 00:05:54.519 of the formation. You aren't just a part of a 00:05:54.519 --> 00:05:57.060 unit anymore, you are an individual target. That 00:05:57.060 --> 00:05:59.560 is terrifying. But if those British soldiers 00:05:59.560 --> 00:06:02.199 close the distance, the riflemen are in deep 00:06:02.199 --> 00:06:04.399 trouble. Okay, that sets the stage perfectly. 00:06:04.660 --> 00:06:06.839 You have this revolutionary piece of technology 00:06:06.839 --> 00:06:08.959 with incredibly specific strengths and fatal 00:06:08.959 --> 00:06:11.439 weaknesses. Now you need the people who understand 00:06:11.439 --> 00:06:13.459 how to wield it. And that takes us to the men 00:06:13.459 --> 00:06:15.759 themselves. Right. Here's where the timeline 00:06:15.759 --> 00:06:20.279 shifts to 1775, when Daniel Morgan starts recruiting 00:06:20.279 --> 00:06:22.459 the men who would eventually become his famous 00:06:22.459 --> 00:06:25.319 unit. From Western Virginia. Exactly. Morgan 00:06:25.319 --> 00:06:28.800 recruits exactly 96 men from Western Virginia. 00:06:29.060 --> 00:06:33.220 That's 80 riflemen and 16 officers. And their 00:06:33.220 --> 00:06:35.860 first major act is something called the Beeline 00:06:35.860 --> 00:06:38.899 March to Boston. Which is an incredible physical 00:06:38.899 --> 00:06:42.839 feat. Oh, totally. They hyped 600 miles, arriving 00:06:42.839 --> 00:06:47.379 in Boston on August 6th, 1775. Just the physical 00:06:47.379 --> 00:06:50.360 endurance of a 600 -mile march through the 18th 00:06:50.360 --> 00:06:52.560 century American landscape in three weeks is 00:06:52.560 --> 00:06:54.339 staggering. And they were eager to show what 00:06:54.339 --> 00:06:56.480 they could do when they got there. Yes. Here's 00:06:56.480 --> 00:06:58.420 where it gets really interesting. There's this 00:06:58.420 --> 00:07:01.180 famous exhibition in Massachusetts. Right. Documented 00:07:01.180 --> 00:07:02.600 in the press. Yeah. There's an account from the 00:07:02.600 --> 00:07:05.420 Virginia Gazette published on September 9, 1775 00:07:05.420 --> 00:07:08.300 detailing an exhibition Morgan's men put on for 00:07:08.300 --> 00:07:11.459 the crowds. Picture this. A man is standing there 00:07:11.459 --> 00:07:14.040 holding a tiny wooden board between his knees. 00:07:14.279 --> 00:07:16.579 Between his knees. Just think about that. The 00:07:16.579 --> 00:07:19.639 board is five inches wide and seven inches long. 00:07:20.029 --> 00:07:23.889 In the middle of it is a paper bullseye the size 00:07:23.889 --> 00:07:26.970 of a dollar coin. Tiny target. Right. Another 00:07:26.970 --> 00:07:30.029 rifleman stands 60 yards away. He doesn't rest 00:07:30.029 --> 00:07:32.850 his rifle on a rock or a branch. He's just standing 00:07:32.850 --> 00:07:35.870 there holding this heavy long rifle offhand. 00:07:35.930 --> 00:07:38.750 Which takes immense strength and stability. And 00:07:38.750 --> 00:07:41.430 he proceeds to put eight bullets in succession 00:07:41.430 --> 00:07:43.949 straight through that dollar -sized bullseye. 00:07:44.120 --> 00:07:46.540 between another man's knees. It's just wild. 00:07:46.660 --> 00:07:48.839 Yeah. And they also did a moving drill, hitting 00:07:48.839 --> 00:07:52.319 seven -inch targets at 250 yards while on a quick 00:07:52.319 --> 00:07:55.120 advance. Which is a phenomenal display of marksmanship. 00:07:55.300 --> 00:07:57.579 I mean, entirely unheard of for the standard 00:07:57.579 --> 00:07:59.879 military units of the era. Right. The British 00:07:59.879 --> 00:08:02.139 musketry drills didn't even have a concept for 00:08:02.139 --> 00:08:04.500 hitting a seven -inch target at 250 yards. They 00:08:04.500 --> 00:08:06.860 wouldn't even try. I'm struggling with the intention 00:08:06.860 --> 00:08:09.540 behind this, though. Was this exhibition just 00:08:09.540 --> 00:08:11.680 frontier bravado? What do you mean? Well, a bunch 00:08:11.680 --> 00:08:14.170 of guys showing off their parlor tricks. Holding 00:08:14.170 --> 00:08:16.189 a target between your knees while your buddy 00:08:16.189 --> 00:08:19.069 shoots at it feels like the 18th century equivalent 00:08:19.069 --> 00:08:23.230 of You know a reckless internet stunt Or was 00:08:23.230 --> 00:08:25.850 there a deeper strategic purpose here? It was 00:08:25.850 --> 00:08:28.290 absolutely a calculated piece of psychological 00:08:28.290 --> 00:08:30.970 warfare. Really? Not just showing off? I mean, 00:08:31.110 --> 00:08:33.029 yes, there's an element of frontier swagger. 00:08:33.470 --> 00:08:36.450 The trust required to hold that board is immense. 00:08:37.110 --> 00:08:39.769 But as an exhibition deliberately published in 00:08:39.769 --> 00:08:42.289 the press, it was a broadcast of their elite 00:08:42.289 --> 00:08:44.570 capabilities. Ah, so they wanted people to read 00:08:44.570 --> 00:08:46.990 about it. Exactly. Information was a weapon. 00:08:47.629 --> 00:08:49.870 By performing this publicly, Morgan was sending 00:08:49.870 --> 00:08:52.980 a dual message. To the colonial forces, the message 00:08:52.980 --> 00:08:56.519 was, we possess a localized asymmetric advantage. 00:08:56.720 --> 00:08:59.059 We have something the enemy doesn't. Right. And 00:08:59.059 --> 00:09:01.159 to the British forces, the message was much darker. 00:09:01.340 --> 00:09:03.759 It was the old rules of engagement are dead. 00:09:04.059 --> 00:09:05.980 We can eliminate your officers with pinpoint 00:09:05.980 --> 00:09:08.600 precision from distances you can't fathom. Wow. 00:09:08.980 --> 00:09:11.179 So they were basically trying to terrify the 00:09:11.179 --> 00:09:13.840 leadership. Yes. It was designed to demoralize 00:09:13.840 --> 00:09:16.139 the British officer corps before a single shot 00:09:16.139 --> 00:09:18.909 was fired in a major battle. And it didn't take 00:09:18.909 --> 00:09:21.289 long for those deadly capabilities to be tested 00:09:21.289 --> 00:09:24.389 in the brutal chaos of actual war. They quickly 00:09:24.389 --> 00:09:27.309 moved from target practice to major engagements. 00:09:27.590 --> 00:09:29.090 Starting with the invasion of Canada? Right, 00:09:29.210 --> 00:09:32.409 and the Battle of Quebec. Now, the overall campaign 00:09:32.409 --> 00:09:35.250 under General Benedict Arnold was a massive failure. 00:09:35.750 --> 00:09:38.149 The assault on the city collapsed, and Morgan 00:09:38.149 --> 00:09:40.490 and his men were actually captured after pushing 00:09:40.490 --> 00:09:42.970 deep into the lower city. It was a very tough 00:09:42.970 --> 00:09:45.690 situation. But what stands out is that despite 00:09:45.690 --> 00:09:48.370 the failure of the broader mission, Morgan emerged 00:09:48.370 --> 00:09:51.070 from the ordeal viewed as a hero, which speaks 00:09:51.070 --> 00:09:53.730 volumes about his leadership and the outsized 00:09:53.730 --> 00:09:56.389 impact his specific unit had in the streets of 00:09:56.389 --> 00:09:58.710 Quebec, even though they lost the battle. Even 00:09:58.710 --> 00:10:01.649 in a losing effort, his men were doing exactly 00:10:01.649 --> 00:10:04.169 what they were designed to do, moving independently, 00:10:04.730 --> 00:10:07.409 laying down precise fire and operating outside 00:10:07.409 --> 00:10:10.019 the standard line infantry framework. So they 00:10:10.019 --> 00:10:12.399 proved the concept worked in combat. Exactly. 00:10:12.820 --> 00:10:15.379 They were so effective that Morgan's reputation 00:10:15.379 --> 00:10:18.600 easily survived the surrender. Right. And by 00:10:18.600 --> 00:10:22.480 early 1777, Morgan is freed from captivity through 00:10:22.480 --> 00:10:25.240 a prisoner exchange. He gets commissioned as 00:10:25.240 --> 00:10:27.620 a colonel and is assigned command of the 11th 00:10:27.620 --> 00:10:30.200 Virginia Regiment. But Washington had a special 00:10:30.200 --> 00:10:32.399 plan for him. Yeah. George Washington himself 00:10:32.399 --> 00:10:35.580 steps in with a very specific instruction. Washington 00:10:35.580 --> 00:10:38.399 tells Morgan to form a provisional rifle corps, 00:10:38.600 --> 00:10:41.240 pulling together 500 men highly skilled with 00:10:41.240 --> 00:10:43.700 the long rifle from his own and nearby regiments. 00:10:44.080 --> 00:10:46.659 A dedicated elite force. And their first big 00:10:46.659 --> 00:10:49.120 assignment is to harass British Colonel William 00:10:49.120 --> 00:10:51.659 Howe as his forces retreat through New Jersey. 00:10:52.440 --> 00:10:54.860 Morgan deployed his riflemen to constantly snipe 00:10:54.860 --> 00:10:57.179 at the enemy troops from the safety of the surrounding 00:10:57.179 --> 00:10:59.960 environment, using their superior range and then 00:10:59.960 --> 00:11:02.259 fading into the woods. That phrase sniping from 00:11:02.259 --> 00:11:04.789 safety is a massive pivot point. understanding 00:11:04.789 --> 00:11:07.149 the evolution of this war. And that's exactly 00:11:07.149 --> 00:11:09.809 what I want to dig into because the text specifically 00:11:09.809 --> 00:11:12.809 calls this an unusual tactic for that day. Very 00:11:12.809 --> 00:11:16.009 unusual. But to a modern ear, shooting from behind 00:11:16.009 --> 00:11:18.570 cover isn't an unusual tactic. It's just common 00:11:18.570 --> 00:11:21.429 sense. If your gun shoots three times further 00:11:21.429 --> 00:11:23.429 than the other guy's gun, of course you hide 00:11:23.429 --> 00:11:25.429 behind a tree and shoot him from a safe distance. 00:11:25.450 --> 00:11:28.750 Naturally. Were the British really so committed 00:11:28.750 --> 00:11:31.509 to military aesthetics that they viewed surviving 00:11:31.509 --> 00:11:34.860 as an unusual or dishonorable choice? This raises 00:11:34.860 --> 00:11:37.500 an important question about the rigid military 00:11:37.500 --> 00:11:40.139 doctrine of the era. You have to put yourself 00:11:40.139 --> 00:11:42.740 in the mindset of a European military officer 00:11:42.740 --> 00:11:46.179 in the 1700s. Okay, I'm trying. Warfare was highly 00:11:46.179 --> 00:11:49.720 formalized. It was viewed almost as a grand violent 00:11:49.720 --> 00:11:52.580 chessboard. But those polite rules of combat 00:11:52.580 --> 00:11:54.940 weren't just about honor, they were born out 00:11:54.940 --> 00:11:57.340 of mathematical necessity. Because of the smoothbore 00:11:57.340 --> 00:11:59.840 muskets. Right. Because smoothbore muskets were 00:11:59.840 --> 00:12:02.600 so wildly inaccurate, the only way to actually 00:12:02.600 --> 00:12:05.559 kill the enemy was to mass hundreds of men together 00:12:05.559 --> 00:12:08.059 and have them fire a wall of lead simultaneously. 00:12:08.179 --> 00:12:10.840 So the formation is the weapon. Yes. And the 00:12:10.840 --> 00:12:12.740 only way to keep hundreds of men standing in 00:12:12.740 --> 00:12:15.080 a field while a wall of lead flies back at them 00:12:15.080 --> 00:12:19.279 is immense rigid discipline. So the line formation 00:12:19.279 --> 00:12:21.500 isn't just about looking intimidating. It's the 00:12:21.500 --> 00:12:24.200 only physical way to make the weapon effective. 00:12:24.700 --> 00:12:27.320 Precisely. If soldiers broke formation to hide 00:12:27.320 --> 00:12:30.580 behind trees, the massed firepower evaporated, 00:12:30.940 --> 00:12:33.139 and the unit would be easily run down by cavalry. 00:12:33.379 --> 00:12:36.240 Oh, because they're disorganized. Right. So standard 00:12:36.240 --> 00:12:38.720 military doctrine dictated that maintaining a 00:12:38.720 --> 00:12:41.820 cohesive line was the paramount vuchu of a soldier. 00:12:42.080 --> 00:12:44.940 Hiding behind a rock and taking a pot shot at 00:12:44.940 --> 00:12:47.539 an officer wasn't just annoying to the British. 00:12:47.860 --> 00:12:51.600 It was viewed as fundamentally cowardly, ungentlemanly, 00:12:51.899 --> 00:12:54.240 and a violation of the established geometry of 00:12:54.240 --> 00:12:57.899 combat. Wow. So Morgan's men brought a pragmatic, 00:12:58.320 --> 00:13:01.360 results -oriented frontier survival tactic to 00:13:01.360 --> 00:13:03.879 a formalized battlefield. They completely ignored 00:13:03.879 --> 00:13:06.080 the geometry. They didn't care about the aesthetics 00:13:06.080 --> 00:13:08.320 of an honorable line. They cared about neutralizing 00:13:08.320 --> 00:13:10.679 the threat without taking casualties. And that 00:13:10.679 --> 00:13:13.039 pragmatic rule breaking directly shifted the 00:13:13.039 --> 00:13:15.220 tide of the war during some of its most critical 00:13:15.220 --> 00:13:17.279 turning points. Let's look at one of those turning 00:13:17.279 --> 00:13:19.860 points. The Battle of Saratoga in the fall of 00:13:19.860 --> 00:13:23.240 1777, where Morgan's riflemen joined General 00:13:23.240 --> 00:13:26.299 Horatio Gates's Northern Army. Saratoga is a 00:13:26.299 --> 00:13:29.059 fantastic example. The specific sequence of events 00:13:29.059 --> 00:13:32.840 here really highlights Morgan's genius. First, 00:13:32.960 --> 00:13:36.429 his men executed a series of quick, precise attacks 00:13:36.429 --> 00:13:39.370 to drive back the British Army's Native American 00:13:39.370 --> 00:13:42.169 allies. Which was a crucial strategic maneuver. 00:13:42.330 --> 00:13:45.590 Right, because the explicit goal was to interfere 00:13:45.590 --> 00:13:48.090 with British intelligence. They were basically 00:13:48.090 --> 00:13:50.809 blinding the enemy to the American troops movements. 00:13:51.269 --> 00:13:53.950 Exactly. The Native American allies were the 00:13:53.950 --> 00:13:55.970 reconnaissance engine for the British forces 00:13:55.970 --> 00:13:58.809 in that dense woodland terrain. So if you take 00:13:58.809 --> 00:14:02.129 them out. By neutralizing them first, Morgan 00:14:02.129 --> 00:14:04.750 effectively isolated the British command from 00:14:04.750 --> 00:14:06.490 the reality of the battlefield. They couldn't 00:14:06.490 --> 00:14:08.860 see what was coming. If we think about this like 00:14:08.860 --> 00:14:11.440 a modern heist movie, driving back the Native 00:14:11.440 --> 00:14:13.879 American scouts is exactly like the heist crew 00:14:13.879 --> 00:14:16.120 cutting the wires on the security cameras before 00:14:16.120 --> 00:14:17.940 they attack the vault. That's a great analogy. 00:14:18.200 --> 00:14:20.879 You blind system first. Then, once the British 00:14:20.879 --> 00:14:24.139 are blind, Morgan's riflemen drive back an advanced 00:14:24.139 --> 00:14:26.220 British unit all the way to the enemy's main 00:14:26.220 --> 00:14:28.179 forces. Pushing them right back into the main 00:14:28.179 --> 00:14:30.899 body. And finally, they helped turn the entire 00:14:30.899 --> 00:14:33.279 main battle by attacking from the right flank, 00:14:33.679 --> 00:14:36.200 which is credited with forcing the massive British 00:14:36.200 --> 00:14:39.460 retreat. It was a monumental victory. It really 00:14:39.460 --> 00:14:41.399 was. In fact, it was such a big deal that in 00:14:41.399 --> 00:14:43.980 John Trumbull's famous painting, Surrender of 00:14:43.980 --> 00:14:47.419 General Burgoyne, Colonel Morgan is featured 00:14:47.419 --> 00:14:49.940 prominently. He's painted in white, standing 00:14:49.940 --> 00:14:52.379 right of center. If we connect this to the bigger 00:14:52.379 --> 00:14:55.779 picture, the sequence at Saratoga, perfectly 00:14:55.779 --> 00:14:58.500 illustrates Daniel Morgan's evolution as a leader. 00:14:58.899 --> 00:15:02.039 How so? It proves he wasn't just a rogue skirmisher 00:15:02.039 --> 00:15:04.179 or a guy who was really good at aiming a rifle. 00:15:04.279 --> 00:15:07.279 He was a brilliant tactical commander who deeply 00:15:07.279 --> 00:15:09.659 understood battlefield control. Because he's 00:15:09.659 --> 00:15:11.580 controlling the flow of information and movement. 00:15:11.820 --> 00:15:14.759 Right. Blinding the enemy's reconnaissance, pushing 00:15:14.759 --> 00:15:17.659 back their vanguard, and then executing a flanking 00:15:17.659 --> 00:15:20.019 maneuver against a massive conventional force. 00:15:20.539 --> 00:15:23.659 That requires immense discipline and a deep understanding 00:15:23.659 --> 00:15:26.710 of timing. He scaled up frontier survival tactics 00:15:26.710 --> 00:15:29.610 into grand military strategy. He absolutely did. 00:15:29.950 --> 00:15:32.110 And his strategic masterpiece was still to come. 00:15:32.759 --> 00:15:36.220 After a brief involvement in the 1779 Sullivan's 00:15:36.220 --> 00:15:38.659 expedition into New York, we reached the ultimate 00:15:38.659 --> 00:15:42.259 climax in January of 1781. The Battle of Cowpens 00:15:42.259 --> 00:15:44.960 in South Carolina. Exactly. Morgan, who had left 00:15:44.960 --> 00:15:47.039 active service for a time, comes back and joins 00:15:47.039 --> 00:15:50.000 the Southern Army with Nathaniel Green. He's 00:15:50.000 --> 00:15:52.779 facing down the notoriously brutal British cavalry 00:15:52.779 --> 00:15:56.159 commander, Bannister Tarleton. Tarleton was aggressive, 00:15:56.740 --> 00:15:59.279 highly dangerous. And this is where Morgan solves 00:15:59.279 --> 00:16:01.480 the fatal flaw of the long rifle that we talked 00:16:01.480 --> 00:16:04.440 about earlier, the slow reload time and the lack 00:16:04.440 --> 00:16:07.860 of bayonets. Cowpens is studied in military academies 00:16:07.860 --> 00:16:10.500 to this day specifically because of how Morgan 00:16:10.500 --> 00:16:13.240 deployed his troops. What was the setup? Well, 00:16:13.460 --> 00:16:15.519 he knew Tarleton was aggressive, almost to the 00:16:15.519 --> 00:16:18.159 point of recklessness, and Morgan knew his own 00:16:18.159 --> 00:16:20.580 riflemen would be slaughtered by Tarleton's cavalry 00:16:20.580 --> 00:16:22.899 if they were caught reloading in the open. Right, 00:16:23.100 --> 00:16:26.120 sitting ducks. So Morgan sent a trap. He deployed 00:16:26.120 --> 00:16:28.919 his forces in three distinct lines. He put his 00:16:28.919 --> 00:16:31.460 sharpshooters right up front. Behind them were 00:16:31.460 --> 00:16:34.600 the militia. And at the very back, on the crest 00:16:34.600 --> 00:16:37.720 of a hill, were his disciplined continental regular 00:16:37.720 --> 00:16:41.500 troops, armed with muskets and bayonets. He essentially 00:16:41.500 --> 00:16:45.820 used his elite riflemen as bait. He did. Morgan 00:16:45.820 --> 00:16:48.720 gave his riflemen incredibly specific orders. 00:16:49.000 --> 00:16:51.559 He told them, give me two shots, pick off the 00:16:51.559 --> 00:16:53.779 officers, and then fall back behind the militia. 00:16:53.919 --> 00:16:56.879 Wow. It was brilliant because he weaponized the 00:16:56.879 --> 00:16:59.759 rifle's vulnerability. The riflemen fired their 00:16:59.759 --> 00:17:01.960 devastating shots, disrupting the British command 00:17:01.960 --> 00:17:04.240 structure, then knowing they couldn't reload 00:17:04.240 --> 00:17:06.859 in time to stop a charge. They turned and retreated. 00:17:07.000 --> 00:17:08.900 And Tarleton sees them retreating and assumes 00:17:08.900 --> 00:17:11.680 it's a route. He thinks he's won. Right. He thinks 00:17:11.680 --> 00:17:14.000 the Americans are breaking and running just like 00:17:14.000 --> 00:17:16.500 an undisciplined frontier militia naturally would 00:17:16.500 --> 00:17:19.640 in the face of British regulars. Exactly. Tarleton 00:17:19.640 --> 00:17:22.599 pushes his men forward aggressively, abandoning 00:17:22.599 --> 00:17:25.140 their own discipline formations to chase down 00:17:25.140 --> 00:17:27.200 the fleeing riflemen. Falling right into the 00:17:27.200 --> 00:17:29.400 trap. But the riflemen merely slipped behind 00:17:29.400 --> 00:17:31.819 the solid wall of Continental regulars waiting 00:17:31.819 --> 00:17:35.299 at the top of the hill. The British. completely 00:17:35.299 --> 00:17:38.359 disorganized from the chase, ran head first into 00:17:38.359 --> 00:17:41.420 a devastating volley of musket fire and a bayonet 00:17:41.420 --> 00:17:44.140 charge from the Continentals. That is just incredible 00:17:44.140 --> 00:17:47.019 timing. Morgan's forces then enveloped the British 00:17:47.019 --> 00:17:51.079 from both sides. It was a total crushing victory 00:17:51.079 --> 00:17:54.160 that nearly destroyed Tarleton's entire force. 00:17:54.940 --> 00:17:56.720 Morgan understood the strengths and weaknesses 00:17:56.720 --> 00:18:00.019 of his unique tools perfectly, blending unconventional 00:18:00.019 --> 00:18:02.779 sniping with conventional infantry tactics. It 00:18:02.779 --> 00:18:05.059 cemented Morgan's legacy shortly before he had 00:18:05.059 --> 00:18:07.539 to retire due to health issues. But Morgan's 00:18:07.539 --> 00:18:09.680 understanding of asymmetric warfare didn't just 00:18:09.680 --> 00:18:12.319 die with the 18th century. No, it echoes loudly 00:18:12.319 --> 00:18:14.859 today. That exact archetype of the pragmatic 00:18:14.859 --> 00:18:17.380 rule breaker has fundamentally embedded itself 00:18:17.380 --> 00:18:20.299 in our modern pop culture. I mean, Morgan's riflemen 00:18:20.299 --> 00:18:22.519 were the key model for the fictional militia 00:18:22.519 --> 00:18:24.940 unit led by Mel Gibson in the movie The Patriot. 00:18:25.079 --> 00:18:26.960 Right, a classic example. If you were a gamer, 00:18:27.140 --> 00:18:29.420 you might recognize Morgan's riflemen as a highly 00:18:29.420 --> 00:18:31.559 sought after downloadable content unit for the 00:18:31.559 --> 00:18:34.559 United states in the video game empire, total 00:18:34.559 --> 00:18:37.359 war. They're a fan favorite. And most recently, 00:18:37.599 --> 00:18:40.599 in season seven of the massively popular TV series 00:18:40.599 --> 00:18:43.720 Outlander, Daniel Morgan himself shows up as 00:18:43.720 --> 00:18:46.339 a character to recruit the main protagonist, 00:18:46.559 --> 00:18:49.299 Jamie Frazier, to join the riflemen. It's remarkable 00:18:49.299 --> 00:18:52.180 how persistent their image is. They have essentially 00:18:52.180 --> 00:18:54.819 become the definitive archetype of the American 00:18:54.819 --> 00:18:57.589 underdog in our cultural memory. So what does 00:18:57.589 --> 00:19:00.589 this all mean? Why does this specific unit from 00:19:00.589 --> 00:19:04.269 the 1770s still capture our imagination so thoroughly 00:19:04.269 --> 00:19:06.690 in modern movies, video games, and television? 00:19:06.849 --> 00:19:08.930 It's a great question. Is it just because we 00:19:08.930 --> 00:19:11.509 are naturally drawn to a good underdog story 00:19:11.509 --> 00:19:14.029 where the little guy beats the big empire? Or 00:19:14.029 --> 00:19:16.609 is there something deeper at play? Do we have 00:19:16.609 --> 00:19:18.990 a deep psychological appreciation for the rule 00:19:18.990 --> 00:19:21.230 breaker? The person who looks at a rigid, broken 00:19:21.230 --> 00:19:24.190 system refuses to play by its polite rules and 00:19:24.190 --> 00:19:26.930 outsmarts it instead. I think it's heavily the 00:19:26.930 --> 00:19:29.289 latter. Human beings are naturally drawn to the 00:19:29.289 --> 00:19:32.410 concept of a clever rogue. The British military 00:19:32.410 --> 00:19:35.609 machine represented the ultimate inflexible establishment. 00:19:35.750 --> 00:19:37.990 Right, playing by the old rules. It was power 00:19:37.990 --> 00:19:40.750 achieved through conformity and rigid adherence 00:19:40.750 --> 00:19:43.890 to doctrine. Morgan's riflemen represented the 00:19:43.890 --> 00:19:47.309 exact opposite. Power achieved through adaptation, 00:19:47.869 --> 00:19:50.549 localized skill, and individuality. So it's about 00:19:50.549 --> 00:19:53.970 being smart, not just strong. Exactly. The ultimate 00:19:53.970 --> 00:19:56.509 lesson we extract from Morgan's Rifleman isn't 00:19:56.509 --> 00:19:58.930 really about the ballistics of an 18th century 00:19:58.930 --> 00:20:02.190 firearm. It's about the incredible power of utilizing 00:20:02.190 --> 00:20:04.730 the right tool for the specific environment you 00:20:04.730 --> 00:20:07.390 find yourself in completely, regardless of what 00:20:07.390 --> 00:20:10.029 conventional wisdom dictates. Conventional wisdom 00:20:10.029 --> 00:20:12.470 versus reality. The British had conventional 00:20:12.470 --> 00:20:15.390 wisdom on their side, but Morgan had reality. 00:20:15.630 --> 00:20:18.369 It's a powerful, timeless reminder that critical 00:20:18.369 --> 00:20:21.369 thinking, breaking arbitrary rules, and adapting 00:20:21.369 --> 00:20:24.190 to your specific surroundings is a superpower. 00:20:24.470 --> 00:20:26.329 So it wasn't really the gun that defeated the 00:20:26.329 --> 00:20:28.930 British. It was the sheer refusal to play the 00:20:28.930 --> 00:20:31.529 game the way the British wanted it played. Precisely. 00:20:31.750 --> 00:20:33.369 That brings us to the end of our journey today. 00:20:33.509 --> 00:20:35.369 I want to thank you, our listener, for coming 00:20:35.369 --> 00:20:37.450 along on this deep dive into the technology, 00:20:37.650 --> 00:20:40.369 the staggering marksmanship, and the sheer tactical 00:20:40.369 --> 00:20:43.210 genius of Morgan's riflemen. It's been a fascinating 00:20:43.210 --> 00:20:46.140 look at history. We explored the physics of how 00:20:46.140 --> 00:20:48.640 a spiraled barrel changed the trajectory of a 00:20:48.640 --> 00:20:51.779 lead ball, how a tiny piece of wood held between 00:20:51.779 --> 00:20:54.819 a man's knees broadcast a threat to an empire, 00:20:54.880 --> 00:20:57.940 and how breaking the geometry of combat changed 00:20:57.940 --> 00:21:00.279 the world. A lot of ground covered today. But 00:21:00.279 --> 00:21:02.359 before we go, I want to leave you with a final 00:21:02.359 --> 00:21:04.519 thought to ponder on your own as you go about 00:21:04.519 --> 00:21:07.630 your day. We started this conversation by picturing 00:21:07.630 --> 00:21:10.569 two armies stubbornly standing in straight lines, 00:21:10.890 --> 00:21:13.029 trading inaccurate fire just because that was 00:21:13.029 --> 00:21:15.109 the accepted doctrine of how things were done, 00:21:15.470 --> 00:21:17.450 until a disruptor came along and exposed the 00:21:17.450 --> 00:21:20.150 flaws in that system. The disruptors always change 00:21:20.150 --> 00:21:22.339 the game. Look at your own life, look at your 00:21:22.339 --> 00:21:24.660 own industry, your workplace, or even just your 00:21:24.660 --> 00:21:27.880 daily habits and challenges. What is the outdated 00:21:27.880 --> 00:21:30.819 smoothbore musket you are still stubbornly using 00:21:30.819 --> 00:21:33.400 just because it's the standard rule? And more 00:21:33.400 --> 00:21:35.279 importantly, what would your Pennsylvania long 00:21:35.279 --> 00:21:37.460 rifle look like if you finally decided to break 00:21:37.460 --> 00:21:39.819 the rules and play to your own unique advantages?