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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