  We report the first beam-target double-polarization asymmetries in the
$\gamma + n(p) \rightarrow \pi^- + p(p)$ reaction spanning the nucleon
resonance region from invariant mass $W$= $1500$ to $2300$ MeV. Circularly
polarized photons and longitudinally polarized deuterons in $H\!D$ have been
used with the CLAS detector at Jefferson Lab. The exclusive final state has
been extracted using three very different analyses that show excellent
agreement, and these have been used to deduce the {\it{E}} polarization
observable for an effective neutron target. These results have been
incorporated into new partial wave analyses, and have led to significant
revisions for several $\gamma nN^*$ resonance photo-couplings.

Nuclear Experiment