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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