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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