At this he turned and gestured for me to come forward. I grasped my Henry rifle, told Casey to “Stay!” and jumped from the porch onto the wagon to stand beside Captain Morgan. I must confess my first thought was Thank You, Lord, that Father urged me to wear hunting garb to this occasion and not my “Williamsburg finery.”

The captain put his arm on my shoulder and continued, “This is Nathanael Newman. Many of you know his father, my friend, James, who was twice wounded serving with great courage as an officer in our militia.

“Nathanael’s brother Joshua was among those killed by his Royal Majesty’s Redcoats last Wednesday in Massachusetts Bay Colony. Nathanael is here because he has vowed to avenge his brother’s murder!”

At this there were several “huzzahs”3 from the men in the crowd. But as I nodded my head, some of the womenfolk in the crowd who were at church on Sunday, gasped. One of them said, loud enough to be heard, “Oh dear, no!”

The captain motioned for me to resume my place with the three men on the porch and as I did, he said quietly to the women, “Don’t worry about this lad, dear ladies. He will be with me. This ‘Old Wagoneer’ always brings his soldiers home.”

After a brief pause Captain Morgan resumed his stentorian tone: “The King of England is no longer our protector. The British Crown many of us fought for in battles against the French and the bloodthirsty Indians is now waging war against us. It’s not just in Boston or New York. His agents, the Royal Governors, including our own Lord Dunmore, are showing their true colors.

“Just last year, Major McDonald, Captain Wood, and I, and a good number of you, marched all the way to the Ohio to fight the savage Shawnee for Lord Dunmore. But now the Royal Governor has turned against us.

“Last month his Lordship locked the members of our House of Burgesses out of their hall in Williamsburg. They convened anyway at St. John’s Church in Richmond, where our Patriot friend, Mr. Patrick Henry, introduced a measure putting all of Virginia ‘in a state of defense’ and directing every county to form companies for military service.

“In urging the Burgesses to vote in favor of the motion, Mr. Henry pledged, ‘Give me liberty or give me death.’ Well, I believe we deserve liberty and life!”

This prompted another round of “huzzahs” from the crowd. Several men in the back began to shout, “Liberty and Life!” In a matter of seconds, others picked up the chant and soon nearly every man in the meadow was shouting the slogan.

Never before had I witnessed the power of oratory to raise the passions of a large group of people. It was suddenly clear to me why the men beside me on the porch chose Daniel Morgan to deliver this message.