Cowpens Remembrance January 15, 2026
Daniel Morgan portrayed by K. Ken Johnston
In describing Daniel Morgan many words come to mind: ambitious, pugnacious, enterprising, cantankerous (but affable!) – and specifically in the context of the American War for Independence one could assign the qualities of endurance and genius. All of these characteristics are intermixed in the man, sometimes co-mingling, sometimes with one trait coming to the fore, as one would expect in a life when in youth he leaves home after an angry fight with his father, prospers on a rough and tumble frontier, in wartime endures hardships in defeat and orchestrates a brilliant victory. Such is Daniel Morgan, in life and memory. This untutored son of the frontier was the only general in the American Revolution, on either side, to produce a significant original tactical thought - his brilliant disposition at Cowpens of Militia, Continental Regulars, and Light Cavalry arranged perfectly to terrain and the prejudices of his enemy. Seldom has a battle, in which greater numbers were not engaged, been so important in its consequences as that of the Battle of Cowpens; Cowpens leads to Guilford Courthouse, Guilford Courthouse leads to Yorktown – and Yorktown leads to victory in the War for Independence.
K. Ken Johnston (member of SAG-AFTRA) graduated with degrees in Theatre and English from LaGrange College where he received the Ingrid Bergman Scholarship and the Irene Arnett Drama Award. He is certified in Historic Character Interpretation by the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation.
As the Director of History Now, he interprets, among others, the historic characters of Patrick Henry, Thomas Jefferson, Benedict Arnold, the Marquis de la Fayette, George Washington, and Abraham Lincoln. Additionally, he conducts workshops on the use of Historical European Martial Arts (HEMA) in stage combat, character development, and physicality for the actor - with an emphasis on using HEMA in Shakespearean productions.
Ken has starred in Emmy Award winning productions Founders or Traitors? as Admiral Lord Howe and Freedom Bound as Scottish Indentured Servant James Selkrig, both produced by Colonial Williamsburg and airing on PBS, and as George Washington in The Real George Washington on the National Geographic Channel. He can also be seen in For My Man, Found, Stranger Things, and as Rick in Adult Swim’s April Fool’s Day episode of Rick and Morty. He has performed in Shakespearean plays, children’s theatre, improv comedy, full contact jousting, indie movies, and toured North America/Europe in a rock band.