The Swamp Fox (Recap 11B)

So now we enter the time in late 1780 where we find the newly promoted Thomas Sumter out-of commission and the entire burden of leading opposition to the British/Tory influence in SC is up to Francis Marion.

At the same time Sumter was heading for a collision with a mix of British Regulars and Tory militia, Marion had taken the initiative towards taking possession of Georgetown, the coastal seaport that the British used along with Charleston to keep the British effort in SC supplied. Apparently, word (intel) came that indicated that the seaport was guarded by only 50 mainly invalid soldiers. Tempting was the stores present in this coastal town like ammunition, clothing and even salt for meat preservation (note to self for when the SHTF). Unknown to Marion was that while he was out-foxing Tarleton, the British had actually moved 200 Tory militia into Georgetown .

1) Marion's recon parties ran into these Tories and it became evident that the fortifications were too strong to take without significant casualties. There was a silver lining in the expedition as on November 13th a Tory captain was killed and Jesse Barefield, the Tory militia leader, was severely wounded. On the flip side, Marion lost his nephew Gabriel, a Lt. who had just turned 21. He was captured and then shot at point blank range when the Tories found out his identity. Francis' favorite nephew from his brother Gabriel (who passed away shortly after the start of the war) who had helped him financially over the years. Gabriel Marion had just made out a will just three weeks before his death. Francis mourned Gabriel's death like a father.

2) Marion's correspondence with Gen. Gates on November 21st lamented his difficult state, 200 Hessians with Tory militia were positioned at Kingtree, another loyalist provincial unit was also on its way there disrupting the countryside again with provisions being destroyed and livestock being driven off. No doubt this was a British attempt to have Marion come out of the swamp and protect the locals. Marion not only asked for a surgeon, but also for militia reinforcements .. and primarily wanted to know if ever the American Continental Army was going to return to SC as morale from the locals was fading.

3) Psychologically, Marion underestimated his recent successes and the impact it had on the British. Marion's numbers were routinely over estimated and even the British presence at Kingtree had the leader Robert McLeroth very, very nervous that Marion's men would swoop in at anytime. Tory reinforcements from Georgetown never showed up so McLeroth left for Nelson's Ferry where reinforcements brought his unit up to 400 men. What McLeroth, a Scotsman, did not do was lay waste to the countryside where many of his Scotch-Irish kinsman lived .. and Cornwallis was not happy. Marion remained hidden from plain view until early in December when he decided to strike out after he learned that Whigs had burnt the Tory houses belonging to brothers of a prominent Tory bandit Major John Harrison. Blowback would ensue and the see-saw of public opinion would boost the Tories. This needed to be checked, so Marion moved out of hiding and ended up picking up quote a few volunteers since harvest time was done and men were once again ready to defend their region.

4) Marion sent Peter Horry and some men to present a show of force in the High Hills .. that action alone scared off the Tory encampment as they retreated to Camden where their leader, Tynes begged to resign. Simultaneously, the British had McLeroth go to Charleston to escort 200 raw recruits back to Cornwallis' army in Winnsboro as he had eyes again on moving into NC now that SC was under control.

5) Marion's force was now at 300 as he learned of the British plans so he intercepted McLeroth, the 64th Foot and the 200 recruits. Riflemen took aim at the pickets which melted back to the main column and then Marion's mounted troops swung around and attacked the enemy's flank and front. McLeroth had no cavalry and panicked, placing his men behind a rail fence in open field. Here it became a standoff. Then, McLeroth under a flag of truce protested the shooting of pickets, and dared Marion to "come outand fight like a gentleman in open field" .. Marion replied that the British practice of burning houses was worse than the shooting of pickets ... and as long as houses were burnt, pickets would be shot. Finally, Marion came up with a practice that dates to Biblical times which involved both sides to supply twenty duelists on open ground which would decide how the contest would end. So, as indicated in the last snippet 11A, Major John Vanderhorst led a group of 20 marksmen to facilitate this duel. The major was a poor judge of distances and so he asked Captain Gavin Witherspoon what distance he would choose for firing the opening buckshot round of the duel. Fifty years was the response and the major then asked the captain to tap him on the shoulder when the enemy was 50 yards away. So two lines of men were over 100 yards apart when they started marching at each other .. when the distance was 100 yards the British shouldered their muskets, turned around and retreated back to the main force. (Psyche!) Marion's men let out a cheer, claimed a moral victory and retired for the evening. McLeroth used the night to keep the campfires lit and leaving supply wagons and heavy baggage behind slipped away 15 miles north before Marion realized it ... he was out-foxed. Singleton's Mills was where McLeroth was reinforced with 130 infantry so Marion backed off. McLeroth and his force then went back to Camden where he resigned and returned to Charleston.

6) McLeroth was in fact the most humane of the British officers, and his light-handed treatment of civilians was noticed, too late, by the British leadership. Marion once again had control the the critical Nelson Ferry crossing on the Santee which upset Cornwallis even more. By mid-December 1780, Cornwallis was tired of hearing Marion's name and wrote his subordinate Rawdon that he wanted Marion "disposed of".

FACTOID: Psychology is very important in warfare!

The Swamp Fox (Recap #11A)

1780 Mid-November in the Carolinas has:

1) Tarleton (Brit officer) chasing Francis Marion in SC

2) Thomas Sumter had gone to Hillsboro, NC during Kings Mountain, where the SC governor Rutledge was in exile ... where he is trying to get a promotion (Brig Gen) .. and he gets one and then recruits/gathers a force to get back into the fray in SC. Unlike Marion, the Gamecock uses the promise of private plunder to be able to get more men to fight with him.

3) Cornwallis in Winnsboro, SC in winter quarters and Wemyss was on patrol near there while Tarleton was away chasing the fox.

Wemyss learns that Sumter is within 30 miles of him and requests from Cornwallis to engage. Cornwallis prefers Tarleton but agrees with the restriction of no night attacks. Wemyss plans a dawn raid and also recruits an assassination squad for locating Sumter. They arrive only to find that Sumter had moved to Fish Dam Road five more miles downriver from where he expected ... and in a strategic error, ordered a post-midnight attack in which the Tories were repulsed by the militia force and Wemyss was shot through the arm and knee maiming him for life. He was captured and then paroled and never took the field again. He was remembered only as the burner of churches that were "sedition shops". The assassination squad caught Sumter sleeping in his tent BUT he escaped barely clothed and hung bareback on a horse all night for warmth.

After this event Sumter bragged that his force now grew from 300 to 1000 overnight. This news caused Tarleton (w/ 300-400 Tories) to quit hunting the fox and go back after Sumter and on November 20th at Blackstock's Plantation he attacked Sumter before his 250 man Scottish bag-playing foot soldiers and an artillery unit could assist. As a result, 60% of his force was killed/wounded and gave Thomas Sumter his biggest win. (Although Sumter himself took five buckshot to the chest and was out of commission for three months) Sumter's militia fought from covered positions and even turned back a bayonet charge by the British 63rd Foot regulars.

[This is a huge chapter - going to split it up .. next up will be Snippet 11B .. and that one will include a Major John Vanderhorst as one of Francis Marion's leaders of a duel team to settle the conflict .. 20 men on each side march 50 yards and turn (distance then was 100 yards) .. you will not believe what happened]

The Swamp Fox map

See 1780 map for reference

The Swamp Fox (Recap #4)

Recap #4 of the book:

The Swamp Fox - How Francis Marion Saved the American

On the heels of the awesome victory that saw Fort Sullivan rename Fort Moultrie in Charleston Harbor .. Francis Marion was no longer a farmer but was now a professional soldier with infantry, cavalry, artillery, coastal engineering and amphibious operational experience.

1) Nov 1776 he becomes Lt. Col of the 2nd Regiment and took an oath to "renounce, refuse and abjure any allegiance and obedience" to the King of England .. no turning back. As the fight shifted to the North, the boredom meant dealing with recruitment and disciple issues ... drunkenness, theft, and even "runnin with one another intirely naked" about the town. Punishment meant 50-100 lashes on the back (Continental Congress had raised the limit from 39 to 100 lashes at a time .. still lower than the British max). One repeat offender received 749 lashes over his time in the militia.

2) Marion's military thought processes were British-based as he had been trained as an officer in the British regular service. He emphasized appearance and hygiene and had a regimental barber ensure hair was short or braided/tied. He lamented that his soldiers (he would lose 1/2 of his men in the next two years Dec 1776 - Dec 1778 to attrition) were more like wild savages than soldiers. These guys even "did their Occasions in and near the fort" which "made a disagreeable smell in garrison".

3) Marion had total leadership of the 2nd Regiment by Dec 1778 as Lt. Col. Commandant (kept from full colonel due to exchange of prisoner equivalency w/ British) with next promised promotion being Brigadier General. Personally, he had 3 of his four older brothers die in these two years and the last one would die in the next three. While serving he also ensured the nephews and nieces were taken care of .. he put two of his nephews through University of Pennsylvania (one went on to be a US Representative to Congress from SC).

4) The fall of Savannah on Dec 29, 1778 with hardly a shot fired left Charleston the next logical step for the British. By May 1779 the British general Augustine Prevost (a Huguenot like Marion) almost by accident approached Charleston and brazenly demanded a surrender of the city. The civic leadership (pissed because the North never offered them real support to be defended) actually offered the city up IF it could remain neutral the balance of the conflict. The general said no way and prepared to lay siege, however, he had to go back to Georgia when a patriot force commanded by Major General Benjamin Lincoln brought his troops back into the area. On the way back to Georgia this general enraged the locals by killing unarmed prisoners and burning/pillaging homes .. bad PR that would come back to bite the British.

5) As a result, the people of SC saw this as a close call and John Laurens (24, son of a prominent aide-de-camp for George Washington Henry Laurens) offered to personally lead 3000 slaves against the Brits (they would be given freedom after the war). The balance of the SC leadership said "not so fast". Militarily, General Lincoln felt the best way to assure Charleston's safety was to take back Savannah from the Brits with the help of the French navy (Admiral d'Estaing), who just had a big victory over the British in a naval battle in the West Indies in Aug 1779. The French Navy offered to show up in Savannah only for Sept/Oct joined by 4000 French and 500 free blacks from Haiti to add to the 3000 Americans. The trouble started when the French arrived early in mid-September and demanded the city submit to "the arms of the King of France". The Brit general stalled for time (which the French admiral allowed) and he received reinforcements. Now this became a siege .. but with the French leaving in a few weeks they chose to attack .. of 600 SC militia that charged, 250 men did not return .. a total of 1500 killed (70% of them French) whereas the Brits lost 50-100.

6) With Savannah in British control, General Lincoln brought what was left of his army back to Charleston and left Marian and the 2nd Regiment near Beaufort, SC for the winter of 1779 to guard against another British effort against SC. A cold winter for men without shoes, blankets and marginal clothing the men passed the time by growing mustaches. By February 1780 Marion moved his men back to Charleston as word of another British armada coming south from NYC. His regiment moved to Dorchester/Bacon's Bridge area where his 200 men started complaining about the lack of rum (in the US Navy they said "a bitching sailor is a happy sailor") Before the Brits arrived, Marion left an all-night drinking party on March 19th 1780 at a home on 106 Tradd St via the 2nd story window and shattered his ankle. By April 12th General Lincoln ordered all officers without assignments and all men unfit for duty to the countryside. By April 14 the Brit Banastre Tarleton cut off Charleston from the countryside .. this doomed the remaining 5000 of the army in Charleston. By May 7th Sullivan's Island was invaded by the British and then began the bombardment of Charleston with the siege. On May 11th the white flag went up in Charleston as the richest town in America surrendered. The backcountry Whigs started accepting parole including Andrew Pickens .. William Moultrie became a prisoner of war in Charleston, Christopher Gadsden placed in solitary confinement in St. Augustine, FL and Gen. Benjamin Lincoln retired to his farm in New England. It would have been easy for Marion to limp back into Charleston and accept British protection and go back to his Pond Bluff Plantation .. BUT he instead offered his services to General Gates who sent him to lead the Williamsburg militia ... and the start of some "freedom fighting" :)

Chap 6 p54 will start snippet #5 . and the good stuff :)

dad

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The Swamp Fox (Recap #1)

Recap #1 of the book:

The Swamp Fox - How Francis Marion Saved the American Revolution

As promised ... here is the 1st of several snippets that will give you a flavor of the caliber of this book.

1) I can't believe how much the SC part of the revolutionary conflict was a war among themselves ... Whigs (patriots) could change into a Tory (loyalist) overnight IF they were done wrong ... and I thought the Israelites were fickle .. even some of the early patriots faded away in 1780 when the British humiliated the American forces in Charleston that May.

2) The character in the movie The Patriot is a combination of Francis Marion (Swamp Fox) in eastern SC, Thomas Sumter in central SC and Andrew Pickens in the northwest mountainous part of SC dealing with the indians (Cherokees sided with British, other tribes with patriots)

3) August 16, 1780 was SC's darkest hour as former hero of Saratoga in the north (Gen Gates) fled like a pansy after he went head-to-head with the British in open field .. turns out the 5'2" 110 pound Francis (physique of a 13 yo) [NOTE: never called the Swamp Fox in his lifetime ] got lucky 2x .. the 1st time when he injured his ankle getting out of that officer's house in Charleston and therefore avoided capture in May 1780, he also was sent on a mission by Gates on August 15, 1780 to assist the patriots in the Williamsburg, SC area .. Scotch-Irish Presbyterians are fiercely independent and dislike external authority.

4) Francis was a French Huguenot .. but his grandfather came across with that background but by 1780 Francis was an Anglican. He was the youngest in his family .. tried being a sailor but the ship to the West Indies capsized and he was adrift for days and returned to SC. Eventually his oldest brother Gabriel sold him land adjacent to his own and Francis did the rice/indigo thing (pre-cotton) and did pretty good. He never married until he was in his mid-50s after the war.

5) August 18, 1780, Thomas Sumter's partisan band of 800 were surprised by Banastre Tarleton's force of 160 on horses and he like Gates escaped to North Carolina ..

It was in this pit that Francis Sumter became SC's freedom fighter ... on his own. He tried to communicate with Gen Gates (Continental Army Southern Command) but he rarely got a reply much less any support. Over the next two years SC would be the hotspot .. and at the end of the day, 20% of the Revolutionary War deaths would be in SC

Does that set the scene or what? :)

dad

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The Swamp Fox (Recap #2)

Recap #2 of the book;

The Swamp Fox - How Francis Marion Saved the American Revolution

So the first few years of the war left the South alone for the most part ... but when the North produced a stalemate situation in the summer of '78, Sir Henry Clinton and King George decided to rollup behind Washington from the South .. starting in the weakest colony for independence, Georgia, they would gain more and more American loyalists to be in the fight (Brits reasoned it was cheaper and spared Brit lives to "Americanize" the war) as they rolled up SC, NC, Virginia and beyond .. or so they thought.

1) Blowback is real: While the Brits had an easy time with Savannah, GA in Dec 1778 .. and made Charleston capitulate in May 12th 1780 ... there was a wave of brown-nosers that gave Clinton and the Brit Admiral a congratulatory address thanking them in restoring SC politically to Great Britain. So confident was Clinton by June 4, 1780 that SC people are "either prisoners or in-arms with us" .. so Clinton made plans to return to NYC while giving Cornwallis cleanup duty .. BUT before he left he announced that prior paroles were null and void and those previously on parole woul dhave their rights restored AND were expected to actively assist the British government ... so anyone not signing an oath of allegiance to Britian by June 20th would be considered enemies of the king. Neutrality was no longer an option .. you are either with us or against us. With British raiders already burning houses, pillaging property, etc ... the countryside was awakened .. a hornet's nest of rebel sentiment was born. Blowback caused a very uncivil war in SC .. Whigs and Tories, Carolina backcountry grudge scars were reopened, religious affiliations split communities (Presbyterian and Baptist vs Anglican (which was tax-supported) .. but again, these were not fixed affiliations .. a Whig steals your horse and you become a Tory, etc. There was a cycle of retribution and revenge that would take its toll for the whole war .. 1775 to 1782.

2) Brits did not use the blacks or the indians to a large degree like they could have to leverage suppression of the colonies

3) Francis Marion's character became legend .. while a freedom fighter, he could easily have advocated barbarism .. instead his friend Peter Horry (pronounced OR-ree) said "Of all men who ever drew the sword, Marion was the most humane". "The question becomes, how did he get this way .. (BTW, the myth about Marion being involved with Indian slaughter is not true ... it may have been Sumter or Pickens) .. As with any cipher, one must begin by searching clues from his past. It reveals a man of moderation, equally covetous of liberty and order, in between the extremes of violence and passivity, neither a Charleston aristocrat nor a backcountry bumpkin, and ruthless in battle but averse to the shedding of needless blood, whether that of friend or foe. It begins with his ancestors who whethered persecution in the old world and sought freedom in a new one." (i.e. French Huguenots )

4) Francis (the only of his siblings without a Biblical name) was a pre-term baby "not larger than a New England lobster" according to Parson Weems (author of a 1808 book about Marion that mixed fact with myth .. same author that claimed GW cut down a cheery tree).  Francis' father passed land on down to the oldest three sons Gabriel, Issac and Benjamin .. but money ran out by the time Job and Francis were of age (therefore Francis trying the West Indies naval experience). Gabriel had a bankruptcy (but recovered enough to eventually help Francis get land later in 1759) and Francis lost his dad when he was in his teens.

5) Francis Marion served with the British when putting down Indian (Cherokee) uprisings in 1759 (when he was 27) and again in 1761 ... Francis picked up both the arrogance of British officers and the fickle nature of colonial militias. It was the 1761 effort that involved 5000 Indian women and children being driven up to the mountains to starve .. no evidence that Francis was part of this. What Francis learned was this cycle of vengeance that needed to be broken some how, some way.

6) Eventually Francis was able to build a plantation of his own and in 1773 made out a will (even though he had no kids and was not married and over 40 years old) The will included: #2 Negroes not sold until his godson (Gabriel'son) turned 21 #3 bequeath to my niece Charlotte (daughter of Gabriel) one negro wench named Venus and her child Rachel and their increase to her and her heirs forever.  Freedom for my faithful negro man June and old nurse Willoughby. I will also free my mustee (in this case 1/2 indian and 1/2 negro) girl Peggy and give June twenty pounds sterling annually .. etc. Interesting that he frees June (negro) but not his wife, nor their son ...

More later in snippet #3 ... this should do for now .. we are at only chapter 4 .. page 33 so far in this 248 page book LOL

dad

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The Swamp Fox (Recap #3)

Recap #3 of the book:

The Swamp Fox - How Francis Marion Saved the American Revolution

So in Jan 1775 the SC Provincial Congress (British civil govt had left) met 1st in a tavern in Charleston. Banning most British imports was 1st on the agenda to make their point. On April 21, 1775 (two days after Lexington and Concord, BUT before they heard the news) Charleston's rebels raided armories and British powder magazines to seize all guns and ammo they could. By June 1st SC voted to raise three regiments, two infantry and one calvary .. had its citizens sign a pledge of loyalty or be considered an enemy of the state. Already at this time Francis Marion was pretty popular, running 3rd in a statewide ballot for military captains and was placed in the 2nd regiment and had his mentor, William Moultrie as the colonel. Blue cloth coats lined/cuffed with scarlet and a black hat with the silver crescent became the ideal standard for officers. Recruiting followed and Marion came back with 60 men from the Pee Dee and Santee area of SC and by September they (regiment of 150) were good to go.

1) Fort Johnson occupied by the British was targeted, but as the three prong attack arrived, the fort was wide open as the British retreated to their ships in the harbor. At this time the blue flag with a crescent moon and the word LIBERTY was raised above the fort .. the first time any non-British flag flew .. it was the 1st American flag.

2) Nov/Dec 1755 saw the Revolution's first land battle in the back country at a place called Ninety-Six where 900 Tories beseiged a patriot fort .. there was two killed at that battle, followed by a truce that did not hold then 5000 were sent back there just before Christmas .. labeled the Snow Campaign because of the 30 inch snowfall that hit that Dec 1775. This ended the tug-of-war internally to SC and placed the patriots in control.

3) By spring 1776 Marion had yet to experience any of the war himself .. whereas Sumter and Pickens (non-native SC people) had. March 1st the 2nd Regiment was ordered to construct a fort on Sullivan's Island because the British ships were coming to Charleston. William Campbell, former royal governor of SC talked the British into a mini-Southern effort .. decided not to target Cape Fear NC due to strong Whig presence but setup a base on Sullivan's Island without invading Charleston (although no one knew) .. by June with the British armada in view it was only 1/2 finished because the white guys would not work alongside slaves. Palmetto logs and sand made up the walls .. Major Gen Charles Lee, defender of Charleston itself claimed it would not work, Colonel Moultrie insisted it could and John Rutledge, chief executor of SC agreed. 400 men were in that fort when the attack began on June 28th 1776 ... grog (rum and water) was served to deal with the heat and the battle .. two Brit ships hit each other, two more ran aground and several were hit by 18 pounders from the fort .. no damage to the fort itself ... so the British infantry of 2200 remain stranded on another island .. guess intelligence reports said the marsh between the islands was 18" deep .. it was 7' .. at the end of the day 200 Brits were killed and 10 Americans .. this victory helped SC be unified in the cause for liberty.

4) The same day as this attack, June 28th 1776, Thomas Jefferson presented a draft of the Declaration of Independence to the Continental Congress in Philadelphia

Snippet 4 will be tomorrow ... later son

dad

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The Swamp Fox (Recap #5)

Recap #5 of the book:

The Swamp Fox - How Francis Marion Saved the American Revolution

In this next installment .. between the Camden failure of the Continental Army on August 16th, 1780 and the surprise route of the 800 under Pickens on August 18th ... Marion wasted no time from his base in Williamsburg County, SC and with 70 of his men (most others were busy targeting flat boats along the Santee to frustrate the Brits) set out to drive off the British guard at Murray's Ferry (the main road between Charleston and Camden) on August 23rd and settled his force upstream at Nelson's Ferry (currently underwater in Lake Marion) See this link for the area.

See attached for a 1780 map of the region that Francis Marion influenced as a freedom fighter.

1) There were few bridges in Marion's day across the rivers like the Santee ... there were flat boats (either state sponsored or private) that facilitated the crossings .. these were critical points of control .. Marion knew that and he knew the region very well

NOTE: Provincials were Americans that were loyal to the British and recruited into units led by British trained officers .. one source says there were more Provincials than there were in the Continental Army 

2) One day after removing the British guard from Murray's Ferry a Tory dissenter walked into camp with news that fear of smallpox among the prisoners from teh Camden debacle were being marched in groups of 150 to Charleston .. with one group just six miles from them at the abandoned plantation home of Thomas Sumter at Great Savannah guarded by 60 British soldiers .. so Marion waited until the middle of the night to rouse his men for this short ride and split his group with 16 to secure the bridge over Horse Creek at daybreak and the rest came right up the plantation's main entrance .. the Brits were caught off guard as all their muskets were on the front porch of the plantation house .. in minutes two Brits were killed, 5 wounded and 25 taken prisoner .. Marion's 70 had just two wounded and 0 killed. The freed prisoners were the same ones that laughed at the militia earlier in the month when Marion was in their camp at Camden. Most of these Continentals would not fight with Marion .. they were sick of it having marched south earlier in the year from NJ, experienced the humid summer and were abandoned by a pansy Gen Gates. Only 3 of the 147 prisoners accepted the invite to join Marion. Over 80 decided to walk to Charleston and another 60 walked to NC to be with their pansy general.

3) As a result, this was the first time Cornwallis mentioned Marion by name and demanded an explanation from Major James Wemyss (pronounced Weems - another character that the movie the Patriot merged with along with Banastre Tarleton) ... and since Clinton had told Cornwallis not to move to NC until SC was secure .. so on August 28th Cornwallis instructed Wemyss to sweep the area between the Santee and PeeDee rivers of all rebel forces and to disarm in the most rigid manner and to punish concealment of arms/ammo with total destruction of plantations .. execution of all rebels by hanging ... just short of "total war" that Gen Sherman would wage 84 years later.

With no script ... Marion found himself the fox being chased by the hound .. as will be seen in the next two years, this role will reverse from time to time :)

His #1 goal ... stay alive!

dad
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The Swamp Fox (Recap #6)

Recap #6 of the book:

The Swamp Fox - How Francis Marion Saved the American Revolution

The only tactic to preserve the effort was to hit and run .. and so when the effort formed on Aug 17th, 1780 .. and struck 1st on Aug 25th with less than half of the men (appox 70 out of 150 or so) ... the men melted back into the country side on the way back towards Witherspoon's Ferry to a narrow place between two rivers guarded by swamps and forests. About 50 men now remained as this was harvest time .. Marion didn't like it but he acquiesced understanding already the ebb and flow of the militia men volunteers.

1) Isolated from any chain of command with no logistical support from anywhere he starts writing Gen. Gates to the tune of "Where is the army?" while getting pressure from Major Weymss who is attempting to rid the colony of SC, specifically between the Santee and PeeDee rivers (Williamsburg district) of all rebel activity and then swing back and northeast on the way back to Camden to recruit from a Tory population in the Cheraws area. Not only the British 63rd Foot was after Marion, but Tory militia (250 on horses plus some foot soldiers) headed by Major Micajah Ganey, former patriot who served under Marion in the 2nd SC Regiment but switched sides after Whigs stole his horses.

2) Strategy: Outnumbered 5 - 1 .. strike first .. the element of surprise .. to his militia as well, to prevent leaks he would wake his men up and head out in a particular direction .. the target only he would have in mind. On Sep 4th 1780 he headed out north .. his men started wearing white feathers in their hat as militias did not have the luxury of similar color uniforms. Marion's 50 came up on 45 of Ganey's horsemen who were out foraging and killed and wounded all but 15 ... and then proceeded north once more and engaged the Tory foot soldiers who remained in their ranks and got off one volley that did little damage while Marion's men killed or wounded another 15 and from the edge of swamps then gave the foot soldiers verbal insults while the Tory force cowered in fear. Marion's force had four wounded and two dead horses.

3) Strategy: Regroup and allow your reputation to bring more resources ... Col. Hugh Giles militia force of 60 then joins Marion at Britton's Neck and they proceed to build a small fort on the shores of the PeeDee to guard the crossing at Port's Ferry with two old iron artillery pieces the other militia had brought. By this time a group of 150 British regulars and Tories were burning homes in the Williamsburg district of the men who had joined Marion and so Giles was dispatched to harass them. Marion then took 100 men with himself leaving 50 at the base camp and headed out toward Kingstree (the strongest Whig area in SC) and received intel from a Tory straggler via another militia leader, Major James, that a Brit force of 400 under Weymss was only 20 miles away about to embark on another effort to eliminate the rebel effort in that area. He also learned that another force of 200 was on the coast in Georgetown (two day's ride) preparing to do the same.

4) Strategy: When multiple larger forces appear to focus on your small unit ... withdraw and disperse ... so with two forces attempting to hem in his militia, he was considering falling back to camp, but he engaged his team and had dialog about the pros and cons. When it was decided to withdrawal, there was an audible groan from the men who knew their homes would be targeted by the Brits .. so when Marion left, he allowed a contingent of men to remain under Major James to gather intel and comfort the distressed. Back at camp on Sep 8th he heard that that a third force under Giles was also another "hound" looking for the "fox" ..  so being squeezed on three sides his force moves north toward the NC border and dumps the two artillery pieces in the swamp. Eventually Marion's men were 30 miles past the border and he informed Gates that he would remain there until he heard something from him. In the mean time, the Brits and Tories under Weymss started their pillaging and burning .. burning the Presbyterian church in Indiantown on Sep 7th (Weymss himself was a Presbyterian but called it a "sedition shop") .. he burned the home of Major James after his wife refused to tell the Brits his location, a local ferryman was hanged in front of his wife and kids, and when a local doctor tried to intercede, his house was burnt down as well. Weymss forces cut a path 70 miles long and 5 miles wide through the area destroying over 50 homes and plantations as well as mills and blacksmith shops PLUS killing cows and sheep that the Brits themselves did not steal. (preview of Sherman's total war strategy) Blowback was inevitable. Weymss then wrote Cornwallis that he had tried to subdue the region and had chased the rebel militia out of the colony but that the Tory spirit in the area was weak and the Tory forces could not be counted on without Brit regulars as the Tories were scared of the rebel militia possibly burning their houses and distressing the locals .. how ironic! Although some rebels did resort to the Brit tactics, this was largely a Brit/Tory attribute that would haunt them the rest of the war. Marion would distance himself from those rebels who would go rogue and use severe tactics in the area. Two of Marion's officers would leave Marion's militia over this issue as they wanted house burning to be included in their strategy. Marion would have none of that as he believed it would hurt their cause. Marion sent a letter to Gates admitting this issue along with his attempts to attempt to reign them in whereas Cornwallis was totally silent on his Weymss' tactic of choice.

5) Waiting: The Great White Swamp area where Marion's force took refuge in NC meant little food and still plenty of mosquitoes .. but in spite of this, those who followed Marion saw an unwavering character regardless of the situation at hand .. his demeanor was quiet and subdued .. malaria was soon and issue and Marion was looking for an excuse to get back into SC ... he was about to get his wish ...

dad

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The Swamp Fox (Recap #8)

Recap #8 of the book:

The Swamp Fox - How Francis Marion Saved the American Revolution

[The last snippet I stopped before the end of the chapter .. keeping a train of thought overnight is tough ... for an old guy LOL .. especially when it involves watching '13 Hours' ... yeah, no way I could have got back into the Swamp Fox last night after watching that .. was too ticked at how our government uses our "patriotic nation worshiping" men as pawns and cannon fodder .. it continues to be a very sick joke while Bushes, Clintons and such reap the rewards as well as those with ties to the deep-state and MIC .. but I digress ..]

When I left off with snippet 7, Marion had just dispersed Ball and acquired a steed for himself ... so to continue:

5) (I think) Immediately after Black Mingo Marion wanted to target Wigfall and his group of Tories (Wigfall had served w/ Marion but was publicly identified as have not been up to his standard in his service at that time early in the war .. no surprise when this man of little principle switched to the Tories later). This was a force of 50 that was located at Salem Black River Pres. Church BUT due to Marion's men wanting to get home to rebuild their burnt out homes before winter, he had to back off that plan. As it turned out, Wigfall was too scared of Marion to venture out anyway .. so it was just as well.

6) While the rebel effort stalled Cornwallis' attempt to proceed toward VA, he was now located in Charlotte, NC and had Weymss still in Camden to make one more sweep of the Williamsburg district to finally take care of the rebel efforts in SC so he could join Cornwallis. On the same day Cornwallis gave the order for Weymss to go after Marion, King Mountain happened .. 1000 rebel mountain-men (NC/TN mountain-men with some militia from VA, GA, NC and SC) whipped 1000 loyalists at this SC mountain location near the NC border. 30% of the loyalists were killed/wounded and 600 were captured. The only non-American participant, the loyalists' leader Brit commander Patrick Ferguson had six rifle balls in him and his foot got caught in his stirrup so the horse dragged his body and broke many of his bones .. he was then was stripped naked as the men called for Tarleton's Revenge and were even shooting the wounded and surrendering loyalists until rebel leaders got control of their men. 36 loyalists were tried and convicted or treason and 6 were hanged before the balance were reprieved.

7) King Mountain made Corwallis' left flank exposed .. Marions' actions meant his right flank was exposed. Cornwallis actually feared Marion the most and so he withdrew from Charlotte (where he was harassed by locals) to Winnsboro (30 miles west of Camden, SC) for winter camp and promptly came down with a fever/cold so bad he could not hold a pen.  His 2nd in command, Irish born head of the Volunteers of Ireland loyalist regiment Francis Rawdon (age 25) was now temporarily in charge. Weymss was told to stay in Camden instead of going after Marion.

dad

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The Swamp Fox (Recap #7)

Recap #7 of the book:

The Swamp Fox - How Francis Marion Saved the American Revolution

So news of the destruction in the WIlliamsburg SC area was communicated by Major James with details on house burnings, church burnings and turning churches into British army depots.

1) Sep 24th 1780 after two weeks in the swamp, Marion heads back into SC traveling 60 miles in two days and finds much support as he arrives, even the Jenkins boys, locals from the PeeDee area guide the 60 man militia through three miles of swamp to avoid detection and with horses swim across the river so by Sep 27th they were positioned for another strike in the area. The next day they were on the move picking up units of 5,10,15 along the way finally arriving in the Black Mango area where word was that a force of Tories lead by a John Coming Ball (Marion had actually served as best man to John's half-brother Elias) was only 15 miles away ... the men were ready for a fight. Although he was being hunted by relatives and neighbors .. Marion took none of it personally. Amazing! He described the men of the Black Mango area as "men of family and fortune" and "good men" before this internal civil war broke out .. he had hoped to convert men like this but first would have to beat them.

2) Strategy: Keep your plans close-in .. leaning of the proximity of the enemy forces at twilight, Marion allowed his men to go to sleep and then wake them for a night attack arriving at midnight .. crossing a bridge they heard an alarm in the Tory camp and like at Nelson's Landing, they choose to go ahead and charge as soon as their attack was exposed. Three-prong attack .. dismounted cavalry at front of the Tavern where the Tories were HQ'd, another dismounted unit on the right flank and then cavalry in the rear for quick support as needed. Unlike in the movie The Patriot, because of his small size he commanded from a secure location almost every time. As it turned out, the commander Ball had moved his men onto open field in formation and shifted the center of the battle in the pitch black night. The two dismounted units used the flash from the Tory guns to focus their efforts and the 47 man Tory unit fled into the swamp after several volleys made it clear that they were taking hits from multiple sides. Marion's men totaled about 70 that night. Tories lost 3 men killed, 13 wounded/captured compared to Marion's 2 killed, 8 wounded. The real victory was the capture of all the guns, ammo and horses .. in fact, Marion took the Tory's commander's steed, named it "Ball" and rode it the rest of the war. Also gained was several captured who took an oath w/ Marion including the 2nd in command under the condition that Marion would not humiliate him ... there was an interview arranged, then Marion praised the bravery of the Tory unit that was under fire and then walked with the former Tory 2nd in command into camp in front of the rest of the men to squash bitterness toward this (now former) Tory neighbor. Also, Tory support in the region was at an all-time low after three straight Marion victories .. many refused to take up arms at this point. Those that still kept their arms actually moved off toward Georgia. In addition to this, the Tory militia losses also had the British officers saying "I told you so" as to the effectiveness of these militias, and part of the problem was that the loyalists leadership was sub-par to the patriot militia leadership (all property owners and people of character in the community).

3) Leadership: While there was common ground in the patriot leadership .. there were big differences as well .. Thomas Sumter (Gamecock) was combative, bold and rash in his approach whereas Francis Marion (Swamp Fox) was described as timid, cautious and would risk nothing YET Cornwallis would describe him as cautious and vigilant .. would not jeopardize his men's lives by relying on intel, careful planning and shrewd tactics.

4) Post-battle reflection: Twice now when Marion's men crossed bridges the enemy was alerted. THe early writer Weems in 1808 indicated that the horse hooves alerted the enemy yet comparing notes from those present it seems that Marion's militia would lay blankets on the wood before their horses crossed dispelling that myth. At least four pension applications indicate that this was indeed the case and that it was not an oversight. Turns out Ball (Tory leader) got intel on Marion's arrival .. a leak .. probably from Ball's half-brother Elias who had Marion as a best man at his wedding.

pg 74

dad

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The Swamp Fox (Recap #10)

Recap #10 of Chapter 10 of the book:

The Swamp Fox - How Francis Marion Saved the American Revolution

The Brit recipe to get Marion out of the SC Lowcountry was "Bloody Ban" Banistre Tarleton ... only 26, a gambler, womanizer and risk-taker.

Born into a wealthy slave-trading family in Liverpool, UK he quit the educational route and bought a commission in the Brit cavalry in 1775 and came to America. He was with Clinton in the unsuccessful attempt to take Charleston in 1776, gambled away his salary during the occupation of Philadelphia, and almost had a duel with an officer whose wife Ban had dallied ... in 1778 he was promoted by Cornwallis to Lt. Col. of the British legion, a loyalist provincial unit from NY/PA where all except Ban were Americans.

1) Ban had made a name for himself in sprint 1780 when his unit was able to isolate Charleston from the rest of SC at Monck's Corners .. and beyond that it was his (230 of his men plus 40 British dragoon) 54 hour / 150 mile pursuit of 350 Virginia Continentals who arrived too late to help at Charleston and had a TEN DAY head start. Ban caught up with the patriot force at Waxhaws near the NC border where he wrote "the slaughter commenced". The stats show British dead 5, wounded 14 while the Continentals had 70% casualty rate with 111 killed, 150 wounded, 53 captured. Called "Tarelton's Quarter" / "Buford's Massacre" this would inflame the backcountry. This battle would inspire the King's Mountain battle to be pay-back for this act. The truth is, in each of these battles it was mainly Americans slaughtering Americans. Banistre did have his horse shot out from under him so he claimed his men thought he was down and took things into their own hands.

2) Tarleton was in Winnsboro, NC when he received a request by Turnbull of Cornwallis' force west of Camden SC to meet him in Camden about how to "get" Marion .. Cornwallis had had it. By November 7th Ban arrived at the Richardson plantation where the widow of Brig Gen Richard Richardson, the Whig commander of the Snow Campaign in 1775 still lived. Marion and Ben were in a cat and mouse situation where Marion would lay a trap and Ban would move another way. Ban lit bonfires at the plantation to try and entice Marion to attack thinking that a patriot home had been set afire. Marion was met by Richard Richardson Jr. (the son) who told Marion that Ban was camped a few miles away with 100 cavalry and 300 dragoons, that Ban had two artillery pieces AND had a former Marion man who was serving as Ban's guide. With this intel, Marion moves his men nine miles away with an impenetrable swamp in between.

3) Frustrated by only 2-3 days of pursuit, Ban said ".. Come my boys, Let us go back and we will soon find the Gamecock [Thomas Sumter], but as for this damned old fox, the Devil himself could not catch him" Ban spun his failure to catch Marion in his comms with Cornwallis to say he split up the militia forces. Ban then took that frustration out on all the patriot houses in the area and went back to the Richardson plantation, beat the widow and burned her house down. Thirty plantations in all were set afire. Ban's strategy was now fire and sword with no sympathies to the women or children left in the homeless without provision or even blankets in the November weather. Tarleton claimed to Cornwallis that a superior force to Marion had prevailed and so Ban returned to Winnsboro.

4) Once Ban had departed, Marion came out of the shadows again and targeted Georgetown .. Cornwallis was not amused.

dad

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The Swamp Fox (Recap #9)

Series of Recaps on the book:

The Swamp Fox - How Francis Marion Saved the American Revolution

9th incremental recap - Chap 9

So from August to October 1780, Marion never had more than 70 men at one time to engage the enemy and at times had only a dozen.

It had been over a month since he received any communication from Gen. Gates whose forces were in NC ... even after multiple letters.

It was harvest time and Marion was frustrated by the militia who came and went as their families/farms needed them.

1) Marion asked for 100 troops from Gates to engage the coastal port of Georgetown where the Brits were entrenched. Not hearing a thing he decided to probe Georgetown with 40 men on horseback .. on Oct 9th he entered the city without an issue, demanded surrender of the Brit garrison but got the refusal he expected and saw the fortification too intense for his force, but to get the Brit's attention he made off with some of the enemy's horses and equipment as well as capturing several Tory military men (immediately paroled to their homes). This would help keep resources there to defend the 2nd largest city in SC.

2) A separate advance guard of Marion's men was able to kill Tory leaders Ganey's Lt. and also chased down Ganey himslef where one of the three prisoners rescued from Nelson's Ferry (3% - er) bayoneted him leaving the bayonet in him .. although Marion thought he was mortally wounded, he actually recovered after several months.

3) Marion finally hears from Gates to keep up the harassment of the Brits in the SC lowcountry. Marion then set his sights on a 100-man force up in the high hills of the Santee near Camden (where Cornwallis thought a 500-man unity could be raised). Led by Major John Harrison, who had assisted by ratting out patriot homes during the 70-mile Weymss "total war" sweep, needed to be chastised according to Marion. The volunteer militia did not respond well to that so an alternate target had to be sought out.

4) October 24th a patrol indicated that 200-man force was encamped near Tearcoat Swamp led by Colonel Samuel Tynes, a VAA born man of 30 yo. Tynes was a patriot until Charleston fell and he switch to be a Tory. This group had stocked up on guns, ammo and equipment and Marion accomplished another Black Mingo strategy .. let his force sleep until midnight, then wake his men up and surprise the enemy with a three prong attack. Marion used youths to scout the encampment first to ensure they were lax in manning the night guard duty. Eighty horses w/ bridles and saddles, muskets, ammo, food. Tory forces had 6 dead, 14 wounded and 23 captured (Marion lost no men and only two horses). Tynes got away but Marion sent a posse (led by Capt. William Clay Snipes) to track him down toward the man's home and they came back with Tynes, two other Tory officers and two justices of the peace in custody. Marion sent them to NC and settled into winter camp at Witherspoon's Ferry.

5) The Brits did not like this "gap" in their supply line, to sustain Cornwallis inland, they could not use the Santee .. and had to supply from Charleston or Georgetown mainly overland in a wide arc to avoid Marion's reach. Marion was bleeding the British to death by a thousand cuts.

Chap 9 finished ... 81 pages down ..

dad

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