Francis marion biography revolution

New York: University Publishing Company, Lossing, Benson J. The Pictorial Field Book of the Revolution. New York: Harper and Brothers, Rankin, Hugh F. Francis Marion : The Swamp Fox. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Company, Cite this article Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography. January 8, Retrieved January 08, from Encyclopedia.

Then, copy and paste the text into your bibliography or works cited list. Because each style has its own formatting nuances that evolve over time and not all information is available for every reference entry or article, Encyclopedia. Francis Marion , one of the great partisan leaders of the American Revolutionary War, was known as the "Swamp Fox" because of his craftiness in eluding pursuers in the Carolina swamps and his brilliant guerrilla operations.

Francis Marion was born in Berkeley County, S. He had little education and remained semiliterate to the end of his life. As a boy of 15, he went to sea for a year. After that, he turned to farming on the family land. In he took part in the war against the Cherokee Indians as a lieutenant of militia. He made something of a reputation by leading a successful attack against a strong Indian position.

More importantly, he became familiar with the very special tactics of guerrilla warfare —using small forces, hitting and running, dispersing troops in one place and reforming them in another, and employing the element of surprise. When the campaign ended, he returned to farming, at first on leased land and then, in , on a plantation of his own, Pond Bluff, near Eutaw Springs, S.

Two years later he was elected to the provincial legislature and also accepted appointment as a captain in the second of two infantry regiments South Carolina raised at the outbreak of the Revolutionary War. In the first several years of the war, Marion saw service in and around Charleston, S. In September he led his company in capturing the forts in Charleston harbor from the British.

In the summer of the next year he joined in repulsing the English attempt to retake Charleston. Meanwhile he had been promoted to major in February and to lieutenant colonel in November. He spent the next two years skirmishing in the Charleston area and drilling militia troops. In November he took command of the 2nd Regiment; in November he led the regiment in an unsuccessful attack on Savannah.

The following year was a disastrous one for the colonial cause. Horatio Gates at the battle of Camden. This ended organized resistance by the Americans in South Carolina.

Francis marion biography revolution

Marion now took to the swamps and to guerrilla warfare. With a small mobile force of 20 to 70 men, he embarked upon harassing operations, hitting British supply lines and cutting communications between their posts. In August he rescued American prisoners being transported by the British; in September he scattered a force of Tories; in December he shot up a column of British replacements.

Every effort to capture him failed. In the fall of Lt. Banastre Tarleton, one of England's ablest cavalrymen, pursued Marion relentlessly but could not catch him. After a 7-hour chase through 26 miles of swamp he said, "But as for this damn old fox, the devil himself could not catch him. John W. Watson, who searched for Marion in March , explained his failure by concluding that Marion "would not fight like a gentleman or a Christian.

In December Marion, having been made a brigadier general of militia by the governor of South Carolina, began recruiting a brigade and establishing a base at Snow's Island at the confluence of the Peedee and Lynches rivers not far from the North Carolina border. From this place he operated in support of Gen. Nathanael Greene , who had come south to replace Gates in October and to restore American supremacy in the Carolinas.

Marion took part in several operations in the summer of while continuing his guerrilla action. That September he reached the peak of his career at the battle of Eutaw Springs. In this fight, which ended with the British forces in retreat to North Carolina , Marion commanded the American right wing; this was the largest number of troops he ever commanded.

His men, whom he had trained, fought superbly, and he led them with courage and coolness. To Congress, Greene reported, "the militia gained much honor by their firmness. After Eutaw Springs, Marion went to the South Carolina Legislature as an elected representative in the session of He was reelected in and Between times, he returned to his brigade, leading it in several engagements.

After the war, he served in the South Carolina Assembly. He entered politics and was elected to the South Carolina Provincial Congress, and in June , he was commissioned as a Captain in the 2nd South Carolina Regiment, under the command of William Moultrie. In September American and French forces, under the command of General Benjamin Lincoln , failed to take Savannah from the British and fell back to Charleston.

In , the British laid siege to Charleston , and Lincoln was forced to surrender. Roughly 5, American troops were taken prisoner, but Marion was not among them. He was recovering from a broken ankle and was not there. Gates sent Marion on a mission to gather intelligence, and he was not present at the Battle of Camden , the disastrous defeat of Gates in the South.

Tarleton chased after him, but Marion escaped through a swamp. In January , he was elected to the South Carolina Assembly and left the army. Siege of Charleston [ edit ]. Guerrilla campaigns [ edit ]. Engagements with Tarleton [ edit ]. End of the war [ edit ]. Later life and death [ edit ]. Legacy [ edit ]. Landmarks [ edit ]. Main article: List of places named for Francis Marion.

Gallery [ edit ]. See also [ edit ]. Citations [ edit ]. Retrieved May 23, Retrieved September 9, American Battlefield Trust. Retrieved May 2, Cambridge University Press. National Park Service. The Road to Guilford Courthouse. ISBN American History Central. Eutaw Springs. Berkeley County Government. Archived from the original on October 7, Retrieved October 23, Archived from the original on March 28, Retrieved March 7, The Army Historical Foundation.

Retrieved October 14, The New York Times. The Patriot, ". Evening Standard. The Guardian. June 15, Knock Mel all you want, but leave Francis alone". National Review. Shortly before his 25th birthday, he was recruited to the military to fight in the French and Indian War. He worked hard in the military and rose through the ranks. His time in service during The French and Indian War gave Marion a lot of battle experience and also inspired his later actions.

About 20 years later, he would remember these ambushes and use them to his own advantage against the British. He was elected to the South Carolina Provincial Congress which commissioned Marion as captain of his own regiment after battles of Lexington and Concord. His first assignment was building Fort Sullivan in Charleston, SC where he and his regiment were posted.

During a dinner party, Marion, who was not a heavy drinker, felt the drinking was getting out of control, and to get away, jumped out of a second story window, breaking his ankle. He had to leave town for medical attention. In the spring of while Marion was still gone getting his ankle tended to, the British invaded and overthrew Charleston. Although his injury left him unable to even walk, Francis Marion formed a unit of 50 men who opposed the British in the city of Charlestown and attacked an encampment.