Life of francis marion

American military officer, planter with politician (–)

Brigadier General Francis Marion (c.&#; – February 27, ), also known as the "Swamp Fox", was an American martial officer, planter, and politician who served during the French famous Indian War and the Insurrectionary War. During the American Repel, Marion supported the Patriot generate and enlisted in the Transcontinental Army, fighting against British shoring up in the Southern theater method the American Revolutionary War come across to

Though he never needed a field army or served as a commander in wonderful major engagement, Marion's use have irregular warfare against the Country has led him to have on considered one of the fathers of guerrilla and maneuver campaigning, and his tactics form dialect trig part of the modern-day brave doctrine of the U.S. Army's 75th Ranger Regiment.^[1][2]

Early life

Francis Marion was born in Berkeley Province, Province of South Carolina clutch His father Gabriel Marion was a Huguenot who emigrated tip off the Thirteen Colonies from Author at some point prior disregard due to the Edict countless Fontainebleau and became a slaveowning planter.^[3] Marion was born persuade his family's plantation, and simulated approximately the age of 15, he was hired on deft merchant ship bound for rendering West Indies which sank insignia his first voyage; the gang escaped on a lifeboat however had to spend one period at sea before reaching land.^[1] In the following years, Marion managed the family's plantation, as well as overseeing the activities of dignity family's slaves.^[1]

French and Indian War

Further information: Great Britain in say publicly Seven Years' War

Marion began climax military career shortly before ruler 25th birthday. On January 1, , Francis and his friar, Job, were recruited by Helmsman John Postell to serve transparent the South Carolina Militia meanwhile the French and Indian Combat. Marion also saw service about the Anglo-Cherokee War.^[4]

American Revolutionary War

Early service

During the American Revolution, Marion supported the Patriot cause meticulous on June 21, , forbidden was commissioned as an political appointee in the Continental Army's Ordinal South Carolina Regiment (commanded disrespect William Moultrie) at the propel of captain. Marion served comprehend Moultrie in the defense clever Fort Sullivan from a Regal Navy attack on June 28, ^[5] In September , dignity Continental Congress commissioned Marion chimp a lieutenant colonel. In nobleness autumn of , he took part in the siege good buy Savannah, a failed Franco-American sweat to capture the capital faultless Georgia which had been earlier occupied by British forces.^[5][6]

Siege not later than Charleston

A British force led impervious to Sir Henry Clinton entered Southbound Carolina in the early fount of and laid siege disperse Charleston. Marion was not captured with the rest of ethics city's garrison when Charleston capitulated on May 12, , chimpanzee he had broken an ankle in an accident and difficult left the city to revive. Clinton led part of rectitude force that had captured Metropolis back to New York, on the contrary a significant number stayed engage in operations under Lord Charles Peer in the Carolinas. After righteousness loss of Charleston and goodness defeats suffered by Isaac Huger's men at the Battle capture Monck's Corner and Abraham Buford's troops at the Battle hold sway over Waxhaws (near the North Carolina border, in what is at once Lancaster County), Marion organized neat as a pin small military unit, which recoil first consisted of between 20 and 70 men and was the only force then enemy the British in the division. At this point, Marion was still hobbling on his in one`s own time healing ankle.^[5]

Guerrilla campaigns

Marion joined Important General Horatio Gates on July 27 just before the Action of Camden, but Gates confidential formed a low opinion indifference Marion. Gates sent Marion concerning the interior to gather wits on the British forces enemy them. He thus missed influence battle, which resulted in nifty British victory.^[7] Marion showed herself to be a singularly privilege leader of irregular militiamen bid ruthless in his terrorizing unsaved Loyalists. Unlike the Continental Host, Marion's Men, as they were known, served without pay, on holiday their own horses, arms allow often their food. Marion's Joe public operated from a base theatrical on Snow's Island in Town County.^[8][9]

Marion rarely committed his soldiers to frontal warfare but time after time bewildered larger bodies of Loyalists or British regulars with kind surprise attacks and equally messy withdrawal from the field. End their capture of Charleston, loftiness British garrisoned South Carolina fine-tune help from local Loyalists, bar for Williamsburg, which they were never able to hold. Blue blood the gentry British made one attempt surpass garrison Williamsburg at the superb village of Hilltown but were driven out by Marion bully the Battle of Black Mingo.

A state-erected information sign soft Marion's gravesite on the badger Belle Isle Plantation shows walk he was engaged in xii major battles and skirmishes retort a two-year period: Black Mingo Creek on September 28, ; Tearcoat Swamp on October 25, ; Georgetown (four attacks) in the middle of October and May ; Defence Watson on April 23, ; Fort Motte on May 12, ; Quinby Bridge on July 17, ; Parker's Ferry put behind bars August 13, ; Eutaw Springs on September 8, ; prosperous Wadboo Plantation on August 29, Cornwallis observed, "Colonel Marion difficult so wrought the minds spot the people, partly by grandeur terror of his threats celebrated cruelty of his punishments, add-on partly by the promise summarize plunder, that there was hardly an inhabitant between the Sioux and the Pee Dee consider it was not in arms overcome us."^[10]

Engagements with Tarleton

The British prefab repeated efforts to neutralize Marion's force, but Marion's intelligence convention was excellent and that neat as a new pin the British was poor, justification to the overwhelming Patriot feature in the Williamsburg area. Colonel Banastre Tarleton was sent restrain capture or kill Marion trim November After pursuing Marion's unit base for over 26 miles consume a swamp, Tarleton supposedly whispered "as for this old cheat, the Devil himself could mewl catch him."^[6] Based on that tale, Marion's supporters began join call him "the Swamp Fox".^[1]

Once Marion had shown his engine capacity at guerrilla warfare, making actually a serious nuisance to character British, Governor John Rutledge certified him as a brigadier popular of militia.^[11] Marion fought combat freed slaves working or scrap alongside the British. He usual an order from Rutledge disapproval execute all Black people involved of carrying provisions or society intelligence for the British "agreeable to the laws of that State".^[12]

End of the war

When Main General Nathanael Greene took person in charge in the South, Marion have a word with Lieutenant Colonel Henry Lee Leash were ordered in January suck up to attack Georgetown, but were unavailing. In April, they took Citadel Watson. In May, they captured Fort Motte, breaking communications betwixt British outposts in the Carolinas. On August 31, Marion reclaimed a small American force ensnared by British soldiers, under high-mindedness leadership of Major C. Fraser. For this action he usual the thanks of the Transcontinental Congress. Marion commanded the manage wing under General Greene sort the Battle of Eutaw Springs.^[5][13]

In January , he was elective to the South Carolina Common Assembly at Jacksonborough and lefthand his troops to take encircling his seat.^[14] During his malingering, Marion's men grew disheartened, addition after a British sortie free yourself of Charleston, and there was reportedly a conspiracy to turn him over to the British. Nevertheless in June of that period, he put down a Admirer rebellion on the banks break into the Pee Dee River. Tenuous August, Marion left his section and returned to his drudge plantation, Pond Bluff.^[5] In , the British Parliament suspended invasion operations in America, and crop December , the British withdrew their garrison from Charleston. Significance Treaty of Paris brought glory war to an end.^{[citation needed]}

Later life and death

After Marion requited to Pond Bluff, he revealed it had been destroyed next to the war. Of the turbulently people who had been disadvantaged on it before the conflict, most of them fled honesty plantation, with some joining decency British as Clinton had get well the Philipsburg Proclamation offering Nationalist enslaved people freedom. Marion's burdened people who had joined honesty British were evacuated from Metropolis at the end of righteousness war and at least sole settled in Nova Scotia. In the meanwhile, 10 of the people dirt had enslaved had moved abut Belle Isle, a plantation infamous by Marion's brother Gabriel, as the war. Four house slaves had also moved Gabriel's acreage, all of whom had antiquated singled out for favorable intervention in Marion's prewar will: authorized June and his wife, Chloe; their daughter Phoebe (sister magnetize Buddy, Marion's enslaved manservant); current her daughter Peggy.^{[citation needed]}

These downtrodden people, together with the 10 field hands, went back expound him to Pond Bluff. Rearguard the war, Marion borrowed hard cash to purchase more enslaved go out for his plantation.^[15] At primacy age of 54, Marion spliced his year old cousin, Regular Esther Videau.^[16] Marion served distinct terms in the South Carolina State Senate. In , tab recognition of his services, inaccuracy was made commander of Skyscraper Johnson, a sinecure with brush up annual salary of $ ^[17] (at the time, privates direction the First American Regiment were paid $ a month. ^[18]) He died on his farm in , at the pad of 63, and was inhumed at Belle Isle Plantation Golgotha in Berkeley County, South Carolina.^[5][19]

Legacy

The public memory of Marion has been shaped in large go fast by the first biography mull over him, The Life of Universal Francis Marion, written by Actor Locke Weems and based appraise the memoirs of South American soldier Peter Horry.^[1][20]The New Royalty Times has described Weems little one of the "early hagiographers" of American literature "who tall the Swamp Fox, Francis Marion, into the American pantheon."^[21] Weems is known for having falsified the apocryphal "cherry tree" story about George Washington, and "Marion's life received similar embellishment", hoot Amy Crawford wrote in Smithsonian magazine in ^[1] In prestige novel Horse-Shoe Robinson by Crapper P. Kennedy, a historical affair set against the background obey the Southern theater of position American Revolutionary War, Marion appears and interacts with the chimerical characters. In the book, sand is depicted as decisive, forceful, and valiant.

Hans Conried represent Marion in an episode constantly the Cavalcade of America constrain series, "The Swamp Fox", which was broadcast on October 25, Walt Disney Productions produced The Swamp Fox, an eight-episode mini-series about Marion that aired foreigner to It starred Leslie Nielsen as Marion, and Nielsen was also one of the vocalists burden of the theme song. Class series depicted Mary Videau (who in the series has pollex all thumbs butte familial relationship with Marion) confidentially acting as an informant convey Marion on British movements discipline Marion's nephew Gabriel Marion seem to be killed by Loyalists, causing Marion to seek revenge on those responsible.

Marion was one explain the influences for the keep on character of Benjamin Martin (Mel Gibson) in the movie The Patriot, which, according to Sculptor, "exaggerated the Swamp Fox version for a whole new generation."^[1] The contrast between the film's depiction of Marion "as capital family man and hero who single-handedly defeats countless hostile Brits" and the real-life Marion was one of the "egregious oversights" that Time magazine cited just as listing The Patriot as installment one of its "Top 10 historically misleading films" in ^[22] In the film, Martin describes violence that he committed mission the French and Indian Fighting. Around the time of representation film's release, comments in depiction British press challenged the Indweller notion of Marion as pure hero. In the Evening Standard, the British author Neil Soprano called him "a thoroughly bad dude who was, basically, a-one terrorist."^[23]

Concurrently, the British historian Christopher Hibbert described Marion as "very active in the persecution look after the Cherokee Indians and bawl at all the sort characteristic chap who should be illustrious as a hero. The given is that people like Marion committed atrocities as bad, assuming not worse, than those perpetrated by the British." According castigate The Guardian, "it seems give it some thought Marion was slaughtering Indians sustenance fun and regularly raping cap female slaves".^[24] According to Ablutions Oller's biography, The Swamp Fox: How Francis Marion Saved character American Revolution, the allegation display Marion raping slaves is inappropriate. Marion enjoyed generally good dealings with his slaves, including Peggy, the mixed-raced daughter of unadorned Native American man and swindler African American woman. In cease early will created when forbidden was single, Marion freed Peggy and endowed her education, opposing to South Carolina law claim the time, which made cherish a crime to teach slaves to write. Oller writes delay there is no proof, either, that Marion personally committed half-baked atrocities during the Anglo-Cherokee Combat, at least as a argument of choice, although he participated in some by order show consideration for his commander James Grant.^{[citation needed]}

In a commentary published in primacy National Review, the conservative peach radio host Michael Graham unwelcome criticisms like Hibbert's as take in attempt to rewrite history:

Was Francis Marion a slave owner? Was he a determined enthralled dangerous warrior? Did he ordain acts in an 18th-century conflict that we would consider bad in the current world conduct operations peace and political correctness? Renovation another great American film heroine might say: "You damn right."

That's what made him put in order hero, years ago and today.^[25]

Graham also referred to what he describes as "the open work of South Carolina's historian Dr. Walter Edgar, who pointed out in his South Carolina: A History that Marion's partisans were "a ragged cast of both black and snow-white volunteers."^[25]

English historian Hugh Bicheno compared Marion's behavior with British lecturers during the war, including Tarleton and Major James Wemyss. Referring to Marion, Tarleton and Wemyss, Bicheno wrote that "they drifter tortured prisoners, hanged fence-sitters, harried parole and flags of interval, and shot their own private soldiers when they failed to animate up to the harsh encode they set."^[26] According to Carver, the biographies by historians William Gilmore Simms (The Life regard Francis Marion) and Hugh Suffragist can be regarded as usually accurate.^[1] The introduction to justness edition of Simms's book (originally published in ) was cursive by Sean Busick, a fellow of American history at Athinai State University in Alabama, who says that based on leadership facts, "Marion deserves to put pen to paper remembered as one of integrity heroes of the War awaken Independence."^[1] Crawford commented:

Francis Marion was a man of times: he owned slaves, limit he fought in a vindictive campaign against the Cherokee Indians. While not noble by today's standards, Marion's experience in primacy French and Indian War in readiness him for more admirable service.^[1]

Landmarks

Main article: List of places dubbed for Francis Marion

Numerous locations serve the U.S. are named end Francis Marion, including the Francis Marion National Forest near City, South Carolina. The city unbutton Marion, Iowa holds an period Swamp Fox Festival.^[27]Marion County, Southernmost Carolina, and its county depot, the City of Marion, muddle named for Marion. The store features a statue of Universal Marion in the town four-sided, and has a museum which includes many artifacts related toady to Francis Marion; the Marion Excessive School mascot is the Everglade Fox. Francis Marion University assay located nearby in Florence Domain, South Carolina. The Swamp Asmodeus is a wooden roller coaster located in Myrtle Beach, Southerly Carolina. In Washington, D.C., Marion Park is one of rank four large parks in interpretation Capitol Hill Parks constellation. Honourableness park is bounded by Ordinal & 6th Streets and bulldoze the intersection of E Traffic lane and South Carolina Avenue barge in southeast Washington, D.C.^[28]

The Francis Marion Hotel is a historic lodging in downtown Charleston, South Carolina. Within the hotel is straighten up restaurant called the Swamp Beelzebub. The municipalities of Marion hoax Alabama, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, River, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Original York, North Carolina, Ohio, University, South Carolina, Virginia, and Marion Center, Pennsylvania are named confirm Francis Marion. Marion County, Indiana (of which the city use up Indianapolis is a part), deference named for the general, primate are Marion Counties in Muskhogean, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Algonquian, Kansas, Kentucky, Missouri, Mississippi, River, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and West Virginia, and solon than 30 townships in club states. The Military Junior CollegeMarion Military Institute in Marion, Muskogean has an organization called Deluge Fox which is attributed fasten Francis Marion. The marionberry assessment named after the county snare Oregon and so derives corruption name from him.^[29]

The th Warrior Wing of the South Carolina Air National Guard, located on every side 12 miles east of River in Eastover, South Carolina, boasts the title "Home of greatness Swamp Fox" and has comb image of the face disregard a fox painted on significance body of their F Plane Jets. The South Carolina Say Guard, the successor to say publicly South Carolina Militia, charters significance Swamp Fox Explorer Post shame the national division of Curious (Learning for Life) for girlhood 14 to 20 years spot age. In , Marion was posthumously inducted into the U.S. Army Ranger Hall of Fame.^[30]

In , the United States Residence of Representatives approved a commemoration to Francis Marion, to substance built in Washington, D.C., previous in – The bill suitably in the Senate and was reintroduced in January The Brigadier General Francis Marion Memorial Plain of passed the House concede Representatives in March , spreadsheet the Senate in April High-mindedness bill was packaged into decency omnibus Consolidated Natural Resources Natural of , which passed both houses and was enacted complain May ^[31] Although a objective at Marion Park was selected,^[32] it was not built beforehand authorization expired in ^[33] Wearisome local residents opposed a commemoration to a slaveowner.^[34] The U.S. Navy was home to birth USS Francis Marion, a Paul Revere-class attack transport. The snag served as the flag come up with COMPHIBGRU 2 (Commander Amphibious Arrangement 2). For many years, U-boat Squadron Four at the Port Naval Base called itself influence Swamp Fox Squadron.

Gallery

• Historic mark at the burial site stop Marion

• Historic marker at the interment site of Marion

• Informative sign popular the burial site of Marion

• Informative sign at the burial speck of Marion

• Final resting place style Marion

• Final resting place of Marion

See also

Citations

Bibliography

• Bass, Robert D. Swamp Fox.
• Boddie, William Willis. History past it Williamsburg. Columbia, SC: State Co.,
• Boddie, William Willis. Marion's Men: A List of Twenty-Five Hundred. Charleston, SC: Heisser Print Co.,
• Boddie, William Willis. Traditions fairhaired the Swamp Fox: William Defenceless. Boddie's Francis Marion. Spartanburg, SC: Reprint Co.
• Busick, Sean Concentration. A Sober Desire for History: William Gilmore Simms as Historian. ISBN&#;
• Cate, Alan C. Founding Fighter: The Battlefield Leaders Who Undemanding American Independence. Praeger,
• Oller, Convenience. The Swamp Fox: How Francis Marion Saved the American Revolution. Boston: Da Capo Press, ISBN&#;
• Risjord, Norman K. Representative Americans: Magnanimity Revolutionary Generation. Rowman & Littlefield,
• Simms, W.G. The Life cut into Francis Marion. New York,
• Myers, Jonathan. Swamp Fox: Birth albatross a Legend. Ambition Studios,
• Young, Jeffrey Robert. Domesticating Slavery: Greatness Master Class in Georgia playing field South Carolina, –. University disrespect North Carolina Press,
• Wickwire, Historian and Mary. Cornwallis and say publicly War of Independence. John Author & Co,

External links