"The Mom Factor" (Recap #2b) - Rebuilding Your Connection

In the last chapter we covered the impact of having a "Phantom Mom" can have on a child and an adult child later in life. In this chapter the authors discuss steps to get well from our "mothering problem" in this broken world.

The authors stress that we have to recognize that the SYMPTOM is not the PROBLEM. In other words, the alarm-bells signal something is not quite right in our lives, but we compensate by taking more vacation time, we change friends, we switch jobs all to no avail. Basically, if a week of true R&R does not solve the "tired" problem, it is more than a "tired" problem.

One may even turn to professional counseling to deal with the symptoms so we can feel good again, but the truth is that we aren't right, and that is why things don't feel right. Pain is a sign of a deeper problem like fever is of an infection. Issues of trust and attachment can't be solved just by trying harder or to medicate the pain. We have to in our own time choose to address the root of the issue.

However, to embark on this journey of repair and healing is not usually achievable in isolation. Most helpful is having a safe context to be able to get the real RELATIONSHIP support so attachment needs get met. Mothering injuries are heart felt relationship injuries, and so the trust factor is usually very low in seeking out other relationships that can actually HELP us get repaired.

Most people who have been detached from mom and very autonomous and independent to compensate. In this environment, finding others to depend on during your recovery and healing is scary stuff. With the internet and Amazon books available, all this data is tempting for the independent person to feel that they can do this on their own.

In this chapter, it is about finding a new home for the lost part of your soul as it is a part of us that was never finished. Further development can occur whether we are 20 or 40 or 60 or older. Jesus Himself redefined "family" as having more to do with spiritual and relational ties than biological/blood ties in this broken world.

Who is My Family

It is common for people who grew up with warm bodies around them each day to believe they should have had what they needed but as we know, other may be present but connection and relationships may still be absent. People can have a full social calendar and never talk about "their insides".

To heal and recover, friends that connect JUST for connecting is essential. These might not be existing friends, but it is interesting how fast one can become good friends when each shares of themselves at a personal level and can empathize with each other. Sometimes this can happen in families, an aunt or a cousin but sometimes this requires support groups or a healthy church. Basically people are needed so we can learn to connect with others .. intimacy is not a means to the end BUT the end in itself. Intimacy is the goal.

What Do I Look For?

Healthy mother-types are supportive people with several characteristics. Gender is not necessarily an issue here as it is an oversimplification to assume that women help women and men help men. It has more to do with these people's characteristics and character. Men can have mothering / nurturing parts and women can have fathering / challenging parts. Basically one should be looking for warmth, empathy, non-intrusiveness, mutual dependency and honesty. Warmth/empathy builds trust as a bridge to our souls for the long run and is foundational for this process. Non-intrusive nature implies that there is no force to be applied without invitation so time is not an issue and in patience they can sense the rhythm of their friends unique journey toward recovery. In warmth, interest and genuineness there is a communication level that can be trusted as there is no agenda for their love. Critically there also needs to be a mutual dependency as this is not a "solutions-based" approach but a mutual friendship that will help the healing process. Comfort and grace without judgement is key. Lastly, honesty is the bottom line during the ebb and flow of this relationship. These friends have to be able to tell the truth about themselves AND about you/us. Without this information (good, bad, ugly) you can't expect progress. You don't need a 'yes-man/yes-woman' in this life enhancing growth track .. you need real people to help you/us be real as well.

Connection Tasks:

One needs to commit to this endeavor in a serious effort towards growth and towards truthfulness in these relationships. Commit just means "bring together" .. two things in the same place BUT you can't make it happen. It takes two working towards the same goal. This is not a lifetime process but it means that you promise to engage along the way the best you can. You will have to be vulnerable even as that goes against everything your heart and mind might say at the time. You must also take the initiative and give the process time! Dependent feelings may emerge and you will have to embrace that even if it feels unnatural. God designed us for true/real community and with this risk comes much reward. You will have to be aware of your own defensiveness so our own blind-spots can be exposed for our own good.

Momwork:

As the process unfolds and as we begin to be repaired there might be an occasion to address any repair work we might be ready for with mom. Forgiveness is a starting point that involves only ourselves in "going there" to unpack the wrong and let her off the hook in our own ability. No longer must she pay for all those lost years as we assume responsibility for our attachment issues and they are our problems and not mom's. When it works there may be a point of invitation towards another effort at relationship, not to parent her but opening the door towards dialog that may allow some confrontation down the road. Basically, you will be using the love you received in your own re-mothering process to love on mom .. once you have been loved and know you are loved .. you will be able to love better. Going towards a sometimes toxic and destructive mom is a complex decision that may require months and years to get to. You will also have to set limits and boundaries with your mom in this process as this is in fact love at its root. Reconciliation is the hope and only one of the goals but again this takes two. Your re-mothering process is NOT a failure if there is no reconciliation. The bottom line is an acceptance of reality is essential so that your wishes are balanced by the fact we live in a broken world with broken people.

The New Me and The Old Mom

While it is possible that mom may have grown during the years since you were a child so you might be able to have a deep meaningful relationship with your mother going forward. If this is the case you will need to make sure that you and your mother maintain "separate families" in both spiritual and emotional aspects as she will not be entering your family to continue her repair process or to be the mom you missed as a child in your current family.It is likely though that your mom has yet to see this process of growth as a priority yet. You can still touch her world by maybe reflecting on her past and the hardships she might have faced in her youth and young married life. The focus would then be off the part of mothering she failed to provide you but still allow a connection for future possibilities. How will you respond to your mother? It is your choice.

"The Mom Factor" (Recap #2) - The Phantom Mom

The word mom prompts us to ideally think of: nurture, care, cookies and trust .. for most people it encompasses a "caring connection". For some people however, nurture and trust were not there at all and in its place is an emptiness and a void.

(Example) Keith reflects on his life growing up, a big house in which he felt so small in, there was a darkness to it and when he pictures it in his mind .. he doesn't see anyone else there but him, He knows his mother was there a lot but he just does not remember interacting with her. He sees her reading or working in the kitchen but there was rarely if any dialog. He also pictures her in bed a lot, for hours, and his dad would say "just leave your mother alone" that she was not feeling well. She would come home from work and be irritated about the day although not at him, but she remained unapproachable. As Keith got older he just spent more time away from home as there was not warm feelings there and she seemed to be so emotionally empty. Keith asked if this might be why he struggles with relationships .. and the authors just nodded in agreement.

Keith was gifted academically and socially .. most found him warm and engaging and he had a lot of friends. But his girlfriends all felt that he did not need them and with those broken relationships he fell into a deep depression.

Keith had experienced a Phantom Mom, a mother who was detached and absent. Keith never learned how to connect or be intimate with others. Some Phantom Moms also abuse their children but Keith did not experience that. Here are some variations:

• overt abuse that makes connection impossible
• control issues that block true connection
• perfectionistic demands that leave the real self alone
• abandonment that makes trust too dangerous
• difficulties in the mother's life that takes her away from her child
• reactive mothers with whom the child can't freely share without upsetting her

The result is a child that never develops their relational capabilities. Five basic needs that mothers provide are:

1. Safety - to a baby this comes to them from a person who is reliable, predictable, stable and danger-free. Without a mother like this a child remains in a panicked state unable to love or to learn.
2. Nurture - fuel for the soul, good mother pour care into their children that is like sunlight for plants. Without this nurture we wither and fail to thrive. Institutionalized babies have died from maternal depravation - a lack of nurture.
3. Basic trust - is a learned thing and takes time with enables one to invest in a relationship .. allowing us to depend and need others without fear.
4. Belonging and invitation - to something bigger than ourselves towards a healthy community where we feel wanted and needed in time as well when we bring something of ourselves to a family. Mothers who help their children feel wanted allow them to mature easier into other relationships as they get older never feeling like they do not belong.
5. Someone to Love - as an object for the child to safely care for their mother as they mature from just being loved to loving their moms in return. This is essential for healthy development of children.

The results of a Phantom Mom: (Relational Problems)

• Shallowness in relationships
• Aloofness
• Withdrawal
• Mistrust, aggression and hostility
• Overvaluation of relationship
• Negative relationships

The results of a Phantom Mom: (Functional Problems)

• Risk avoidance
• Devastated by failure
• Unable to accept criticism
• Suffer from devastating guilt
• Feel estranged from our talents

Emotional problems like depression, feelings of emptiness, addictions, thinking problems, hopelessness and meaningless ..

At this point it is normal to ask out loud :Why Me?"

People with mothering problems will ask this at some point of their journey of recovery. Here are a few things that might have been the case for your mother that don't have anything to do with you:

• She lack connection and nurture she needed as a child
• She was abandoned or hurt in the past and was unable to attach to anyone later in life, even her child
• She was emotionally empty
• She feared intimacy - knowing and being known
• She was depressed and did not have the emotional energy to give
• She had marital pain and was being torn apart
• She was ill or had other difficulties

Like the proverb that states not having walked in other people's shoes, we really may not know what they are dealing with.

Another possibility is that your mother chose the selfish path, the path that worked best for her. "Not-good-enough" mothers are rarely evil, just caught up in themselves at the exclusion of those around her. Children in these instances are only used by the mother for her own needs. What may have been done to your mother in combination with how she responded to what was done to her can move us towards compassion and then possibly forgiveness. The bottom line is that her lack of love had more to do with her than you.

At this point it is necessary to enter the present, what does it look like now as an adult child with an adult "Phantom Mom"

• Please Love Me - the adult child attempts to perform well to get their mother's attention, trying to show mom what has been accomplished in their life so mom will be proud and possibly engage in needed dialog ..
• Where Did The Family Go? - the adult child just gives up the attempts to connect with mom/family since he or she has found others that they can connect well with, but as we will see in later chapters this "disconnected time" can be a time of great growth
• I Hate You, Don't Leave Me - picking petty fights, quarreling and bickering is a misdirected attempt at correcting the connection issue

So .. where do we go from here? That is what the next chapter "Rebuilding Your Connection" is all about. There is hope, a bit of work but healing can come a little further in our life's journey.

"The Mom Factor" (Recap #1b)

Question: Does it have to be this way?
Answer: Just as God's plan for us to learn relating from our mothers can end up wreaking havoc in our adult lives, so can his plan of repair bring change and even growth!

Many people suffer under the delusion that their mother is the real problem. Many pop psychology promotes the following:

• blaming the parents for all their client's problems
• focusing only on dredging up "pain from the past" and "getting the pain out" .. basically thinking that catharsis actually cures
• identifying the client as the victim and commiserating with how "bad" mom or someone was
• excusing behavior, lack of performance and failure in love or work because of what mom failed to provide
• encouraging the client to live more in the past than in the present
• arranging sessions with mom, thinking that reconciliation with mom or having mom "own all the bad" will actually fix the client's heart

Working out one's relationship with one's mom is important in the growth process but it is not the whole picture. What must also be observed is the the process of "mothering"in the present as well.

1. Your Mom - when we say "dealing with the past" we do not mean go back to the 1960s/1970s/1980s/1990s but to deal with how mom lives lives with you in the present .. so there is a. feelings we have for our mother, injuries we may have felt from her and needs she did not meet. b. dynamics and patterns of relating we learned in our relationship with our mom

• Leftover feelings (example) Jim and Debbie are preparing for a trip. Debbie suddenly remembers that it was time to change the oil in the car and says "Jim, did you get the oil changed" Jim's response was heated "Will you get off my back? What do you think I am an idiot? Of course I got the oil changed, I told you I would take care of the car, don't you believe anything I say?" Debbie not ever knowing what to do when Jim reacts this way went to her room and cried. What happened? 1) Debbie was very different than Jim's mother who was a very controlling and domineering woman and never trusted Jim to accomplish anything. He grew up trying to please her but never could so ended up resenting her. 2) Jim fell for Debbie because she was so unlike his mother, was warm and lacked being the domineering type. At first all was well but as Jim got closer to Debbie those old unresolved feelings started to emerge and he was treating Debbie as if she was his mother even though Debbie had not changed at all. Psychologists call this transference, where feelings are directed to people in our present instead of being directed to the people in our past. The unresolved feelings were at the root of this .. and for Jim to deal with it is a process called forgiveness (not reconciliation, yet anyway). The process involves looking honestly at the problems, facing them, letting them go and grieving the loses. The goal is to get to the place where we are "finished with mother" and then be ready to see and treat people in the present as they really are.
• Patterns of relating (example) Dave's pattern learned in his relationship with his mother was now being the template he used with his wife. When he became intimate, he would fear being smothered and overwhelmed and losing himself in the process and he would withdrawal. This pattern will continue until he takes responsibility and ownership of those patterns and work through them and needs insight to help him get there. This is beyond forgiveness of mom, this is what happens when we as children internalize the ways of our parents and find that some of these ways have to be "un-wired" from our hard-wiring of our youth.

1. Process of Mothering - (example) Jordan was a busy mother of two and loved her children very much but soon because aware of her outbursts that would create anxiety in her children as they were very disorganized which rubbed mom the wrong way. Jordan tried confiding with some other moms but all they shared was the good things their kids did. One mom Susan was different as she also allowed Jordan to share of her struggles. The more Jordan shared with Susan over time the more she was less bothered by what her children did. She was changing by the mothering process that happened in a way that did not happen with her own mother. For us to be comfortable with ourselves we need someone with whom we can be real with toward acceptance and understanding. She becomes comfortable with her child's imperfections and the child can now take her comfort into their own personality.

• So what we did not receive from our own mother, we must get from others for our lives to work better in the long run.
• We must be open to receive and respond to this mothering from others to make progress. Each person will have a different path in this transition but until this corner is turned, things will stay the same

1. Assumptions of the authors:

• 1st - there is no such thing as a "good child" and a "bad mom". While mothers do fail and sometimes fail big, adult children have to shoulder the responsibility to move beyond this point. As you begin to do your part in identifying the missing elements in the mothering you received your responsibility will be to grieve and then forgive in time. In the process you start to gain control of your side of the problem and be able to start to change the areas of your life that has not worked so well. Forgiveness and responsibility can lead to unlimited growth.
• 2nd - there are preordained tasks of mothering and responses to mothering. We will outline the universal and predictable process all children go through and then help you understand how the process relates to you, your history with your mother and your current life. The importance of making emotional connections, leaving your mother and cleaving to your spouse.
• 3rd - you needed love and limits in each and every step, your mother needed to be loving for you to bond well with others, your mother needed to set limits so that you shouldered your own responsibilities. If either of these areas were not provided, you will need to find a way to complete what was missing

In Recap #2 we will address the "Phantom Mom" chapter and Recap #2b we will address "Rebuilding Your Connection" ... these are intense chapters and I will not be able to cover it to the depth that some may need.

"The Mom Factor" (Recap #1)

"You know we would love to see you .. but this vacation we really wanted to see the Grand Canyon"

Mother trouble: The fact is, most people desire a comfortable, mutually satisfying friendship with that very significant person in our life - our mother. But the reality falls short of the ideal.

• unable to communicate with her
• her lack of respect for your choices and values
• her refusal to accept your own family and friends
• a lack of freedom to have a separate life without losing her love
• disconnected from her and misunderstood by her
• difficulty in saying no and confronting her
• you have to hide your real self and be perfect
• responsible to make her think that she is perfect
• guilt when you don't take care of her as she wants you to
• disillusionment and conflict over her interactions with your spouse
• guilt over not living up to her expectations and wishes
• sorrow that she can't seem to understand your pain
• childlike in her presence
• frustration in her seemingly self-absorption
• like cringing when she treats your children in familiar hurtful ways
• discouraged that this list is so long

Basically, not only does the quality of your relationship with your mother dictate how things go between the two of you, it also drastically impacts all areas of your life.
This factors into our "Emotional IQ" that determines how successful we might be at love or work.
Two realities determine our emotional development:

1. How we were mothered
2. How we have responded to that mothering

This book called "The Mom Factor"can help people discover how to:

• Transform the effects of the past
• Say "No" to your mom without feeling guilty
• Build a healthy relationship with your mom
• Improve all your relationships

Authored by Dr. Henry Cloud and Dr. John Townsend (authors of "Boundaries"), this book unpacks six "mom types" in a chapter that describes the problem and the needs that may not have been met followed by a chapter on steps to meet those unmet needs and repairing whatever was broken.

• Phantom Mom
• China Doll Mom
• Controlling Mom
• Trophy Mom
• Still-The-Boss Mom
• American Express Mom

This book outlines steps toward forgiveness and if possible, reconciliation. Much latitude is give to those who face abusive mothers where distance and boundaries is essential to protect one's self and his/er own family.
Essentially, God gave us mothers to protect, nurture and mature you. She takes on part of His loving nature in this role. However, bring a very broken world, "mom" also can mean conflicts or problems.
This is not a negative book as it does seek to "honor your mother and your father" but it also encourages us to tell the truth, be honest, take responsibility, heal, forgive and grieve at the same time.
These snippets or recaps can serve as a bridge to those who might want to venture into these waters at some point in the future. I as well as the authors hope you learn some things about yourself, mom and God in the reading about this book.

The Swamp Fox (Final Recap #26)

Post War Stuggles

With the British no longer in the SC colony, the state militia was disbanded and Marion was free to do as he pleased, almost.

1) Returning to Pond Bluff he found desolation as there were no furniture, no livestock, no clothing, no household goods, no provisions and not enough money to buy cattle and horses. Everything was overgrown and there was a lot of work to do for this 50-year old. He had some money from inheritances but he would have to go into debt to make this plantation viable. Rice growing had depleted the soil and with the British no longer a trading partner all he could do was subsistence farming. Cotton would not be introduced in the region for a few more years and so the future did not look all that good. Half of his twenty slaves had left for parts as far away as Nova Scotia. The other ten had been working his deceased brother's plantation Belle Isle in Pineville. His pre-war overseer June and his wife Chloe and their daughter Phoebe and her daughter Peggy plus ten field hands were available.

2) The November 1782 election meant that Marion had to leave Pond Bluff yet again for the January 6,1783 legislative session. Writing from there on January 18th he shared the inequalities that tainted his excitement about the future of the colony as well of the federation of states. It seems that the Rhode Islander Greene was awarded 10,000 guineas from SC toward the purchase of a SC plantation and quoted an old saying "that kissed goes by favor". The correspondence he had with Greene stopped abruptly as the hostilities stopped in December 1782. Marion had hoped that Congress would follow through on the promise of a lifetime of half-pay for officers but it would be 50 years before that practice would finally start. He lamented that "idle spectators of war" were in charge now. Yet, he still loved his country and his principles.

3) Early in 1783 the SC legislature did vote Marion a commendation complete with a gold medal but there is doubt if that was ever delivered. In 1785 he would receive a 300 acre land grant but for unknown reasons he never applied for the 500 acre land bounty granted by Congress to Continental officers. Marion was promoted but only to full colonel and he suspected it was due in part to his leniency toward Tories as the war wound down.

4) March 1784 saw Marion received a position at Fort Johnson in Charleston Harbor of basically a port collector paying him 500 British pound sterling per year but required him to be at the fort most of the time. He was not keen on Charleston life and the upper class that emerged again there. Four years later with budget cuts this position was reduced to 20% of the previous pay so he resigned. Another legislative piece that Marion wanted no part of was protection from lawsuits due to wartime decisions and actions (like plunder). Marion was confident that his actions were proper during the whole course of the war. No lawsuits were ever filed against him.

5) Marion found himself with a secret admirer, a spinster and first cousin Mary Ester Videau who was in her late 40s. She had inherited a considerable fortune over the years in money and land. It was Marion's niece Charlotte Ashby (daughter of his brother Gabriel) and her fiance Theodore Marion (son of his brother Job) that prodded uncle Francis to call on Mary. At 54, Francis and Mary married on April 20, 1786 in a double wedding that featured the two cousins that got them together. They traveled, camped and fished together while also "adopting" a son and daughter in the extended family. The son was to take Marion's last name if he was to see his substantial inheritance at age 21 so that the Marion family name through Francis would live on, except that this adopted son would have 8 daughters and no sons.

6) Marion now focused on expanding the wealth with cattle and hogs mainly as well as rice when the economy improved. Marion could be considered upper-middle class at this point in SC. His post-war terms as state senator are unremarkable and even attended the 1788 SC ratification of the new constitution but was not present for the final vote. He was more a Federalist than a states rights guy like Thomas Sumter and Wade Hampton. He continued to command a militia brigade until 1794 when Charles Pinckney was promoted to major general (Marion and Sumter caused a deadlock in voting so the legislators opted for someone else). Marion was in poor health at that time anyway as he expressed in a letter to his grandnephew (adopted son) that a cramp in his fingers and constant pain in his head plus a fever. At 63 on February 27th 1795 he died at Pond Bluff and buried at Belle Isle. His land was worth about $500,000 in today's money. While Francis had a will it had not been witnessed so his wife received only 1/2 the proceeds and Francis' nieces and nephews the other 1/2. Mary ended up buying out the nieces and nephews and the adopted son inherited slaves "and their increase" upon Mary's death in 1815. When the adopted son died in 1833 he had more than 150 slaves. No slaves were freed upon his death, but there are two things to consider with this. 1) He must have wanted to provide for Mary and allow her to free them upon her death. 2) SC law states that freed slaves have to leave the colony within 6 months or face re-enslavement which meant the breaking up of a slave family.

7) Prior to his death, a delegation of Georgetown dignitaries traveled to Pond Bluff and presented him with a written address: "Your achievements may havenot significantly swelled the historic page .. but this is of little moment. They remain in such indelible characters upon our minds, that neither change of circumstances nor length of time can efface them .. Continue general in peace to till those acres which you have wrested from the hands of the enemy. Continue to enjoy dignity, accompanied with ease, and to lengthen out your days blessed with the consciousness of conduct unaccused of rapine or oppression, and of actions ever directed by the purest patriotism."

Called the "Washington of the South", the more one learns of Marion and his character, the more he inspires admiration.

The Swamp Fox (Recap #25)

Transition Towards Peace - But One Last Battle

Getting closer ... the author goes on a bit of a rabbit trail in sharing what happened in August 1782 when John Laurens, the most esteemed man of the war died in a small skirmish 50 miles from Charleston with the Brits. This late in the war it is tough to lose men when it makes no strategic difference. Laurens was brave and reckless in 1779 at Savannah, as an aide to George Washington, at Redoubt #10 at Yorktown and helped negotiate the British surrender there, trying to oust the Brits from Johns Island in Charleston harbor in January 1782, took a seat at Jacksonboro and attempted to arm slaves for the fight yet to come and then took over Light Horse Harry Lee's troops .. all without pay. The "golden boy" of the Revolutionary War, he had no faults according to George Washington.

1) Two days after Laurens' death, Marion's men came across the Black Dragoons, former slaves under African American officers fighting for the British and "cut them to pieces". Sad when it seems that politicians were dragging their feet thousands of miles away while people re still dying. Marion himself was occupying the deserted plantation of the loyalist Colleton at Wadboo Barony, a 12,000 acre spread with a castle for a house. Marion and his men (including 40 former Tories) were without horses to save expenses as the war was winding down when Brit Thomas Fraser with 100 cavalry found himself in the neighborhood.  Marion was able to station his men under cedar trees that had not been trimmed in some time (the owner living in London) while a few men with horses went out towards Fraser. Fraser gave chase and the men came back to the ambush zone in the cedar trees which resulted in 20 shot and four killed including the captain who led the charge however Marion's ammo wagon was captured by the Brits. Marion had only a few men wounded. This was to be Marion's last engagement in the field. Greene offered his congrats as did George Washington.

2) Marion stayed at this location for a few months but felt disconnected from Greene who was northwest of Charleston 50 miles away. By October 1782 there was a treaty with the Cherokees. By November there were preliminary peace papers signed in Paris. Also at this time there were large British shims in Charleston Harbor. Greene and Leslie agreed that the Brits could leave unmolested if they left without burning the town. On December 14th 1782 the British forces departed Gadsden Wharf with 4000 loyalists and 5000 slaves (to be used as slaves elsewhere) departing for Florida, Jamaica, NYC, Nova Scotia and England. The Continentals entered Charleston and escorted Gov. Matthews while the city celebrated WITHOUT the militia. It was agreed to keep the militia out of Charleston for fear of violence with the loyalists. Greene indicated that Marion could come with 3 or 4 friends but Marion noticed a slight when he saw one and begged off saying he did not want to catch smallpox there. Greene gave permission for Marion to dismiss the militia once the Brits set sail and so in a simple ceremony Marion did just that at a small ceremony at the Cedars at Colleton's plantation after which Marion rode off on the horse Ball that was captured at Black Mingo a couple years prior and he returned to his Pond Bluff plantation.

The fighting has ceased, it is time to count what was won and what was lost. That will be addressed in the last snippet #26.

The Swamp Fox (Recap #24)

The Pendulum Swings Back

It simply amazes me how sometimes people get placed in positions they have no business being because of connections or money, case in point, future British physicist and inventor Benjamin Thompson whose middle name should have been Tory. He was a New Hampshire school teacher who married into wealth, arrested for loyalist sympathies and then left his wife and child (never to see them again) for England after briefly serving as a spy for General Gage. He became a fellow of the Royal Society of scientists and an aide to Lord Germain.

1) After Yorktown, Lord Germain made Thompson a Lt. Col in a provincial cavalry unit and sailed for NYC but the Atlantic storms took the ship he was on to Charleston where General Leslie made him commander of all 200 cavalry there, as well as 500 infantry in December 1781. Thompson learned fast that the patriot forces were not up to par with Marion in Jacksonboro, Maham sulking about his authority and chain of command and Horry very sick. Maham would sulk for a month or so and eventually would take his seat in Jacksonboro on February 15th. At about the same time, Light Horse Harry Lee, disappointed at being passed over for promotion to brigadier general and decided to retire to his farm in Virginia also in February 1782. In this power/leader vacuum, Thompson took aim at Horry's position at Wambaw Creek 40 miles northeast of Charleston on February 24th where McDonald and Benison were left in charge. When reports came in that the British were near, neither leader thought much about it as they ate afternoon dinners at separate camps. McDonald did dispatch a few men to the bridge only to find the entire Brit force upon them and forty men were killed as the rest fled into the swamp. Part of the issue might have been the recent 6-month enlistees who were former Tories that were unnerved coming face to face with their former allies. Marion had left the assembly on February 20th with Maham when they heard reports of the Brits being back in the field. The two heard a false report that Thompson had returned to Charleston so Maham went toward his plantation and Marion continued on only to find what was left of Horry's men the day after (Feb 25th).  Less than an hour in camp, Thompson had returned and was now face-to-face with the Swamp Fox who along with his remaining men had his back to the river to retreat was not an option. Marion ordered a charge but Capt. Smith leading Maham's dragoons botched the assignment by panicking allowing Thompson to counter attack and ended up getting horses, weapons as well as Marion's own tent and canteens full of liquor. Marion rallied his troops but Thompson withdrew having handing Marion his only defeat. The Tories in Charleston celebrated for three days and there was talk that maybe Marion had drowned. Maham was ticked that Marion did not wait for him (what?) and Horry said it was all Marion's fault as he was at the assembly and Horry wrote him every day about his concerns. Greene had the cool head and understood being surprised by an overwhelming force and that at the end of the day it was of little strategic military significance.

2) In March 1782 Thompson came up with a plan to capture Greene but the plan was considered unrealistic and so Thompson sailed for NYC. The defeat at Wammbaw actually solved the whole Maham vs. Horry thing as both Marion and Greene both thought Maham was best suited to command the one cavalry unit. Horry was better suited for infantry. Horry took it very hard but was given an assignment to take his unmounted unit to Georgetown to assist with administrative matters where he would only stay three months and then return to his plantation for the balance of the war. Maham ended up never commanding that one unit as he was captured in May 1782 by a raiding party as he sat down for supper. Fearing torture, he was paroled by his signature and never commanded again in the war.

3) Marion also had a NC loyalist issue coming up from Ganey's Tories as a treaty was set to expire on June 17th. The new SC governor Matthews sent Marion to this area and was given 250 troops from the NC governor to assist, and the governor even offered more if he needed them as Marion's reputation preceded him. On June 3rd Marion took his men this direction but confided in letter that he had hoped to achieve his task without violence. The British pro-war Lord NOrth government had fallen in March and Lord Germain had resigned which led to rumors of peace in the months to come.  Marion actually wrote Ganey stating that a treaty to "prevent the effusion of blood and distresses of the women and children" was his aim. He mentioned that the British were ready to make peace but if Ganey did not accept the terms, the patriots would make war on them. The first talks broke down but when Ganey and Marion went to a tent by themselves it was all worked out by June 8th, 1782. A formal surrender ceremony was had 15 miles away one week later. Arms were laid down except in the support of the patriot cause, return plundared property (including slaves) and turn in any American deserters. Oath to SC and the United States and renounce the Crown and full pardons were issued with the Tories able to retain their property. Some of the most radical Tories were sent to British lines at Charleston. Any that decided not to stay were allowed safe passage with their wives and children to Charleston. Marion allowed Ganey to travel to Charleston to resign his commission and then he joined the patriot militia for a six-month stint. Marion warned his men not to treat the "reformed" Tories badly or that they would be punished. "It is recommended as Christians to forgive and forget all injuries which have been committed by such who have been led away by our enemies"

4) The war started winding down a bit with the British leaving Savannah, GA on July 12th. Florida was British territory and so the only harbor south of the Chesapeake still occupied by the British was Charleston. With a parliament that was now full of peace-focused politicans, Clinton was removed from command at NYC and his replacement secretly let Leslie in Charleston know to prepare to abandon that port. The Americans would not learn of this until August 1782. Leslie requested a ceasefire but Greene, not trusting the Brits said no. Leslie also requested buying rice instead of him having to send foraging parties but Greene said no to this as well. Greene would continue to use Marion as the buffer between the Brit army and Greene's Continentals.

The war is STILL not over ..

The Swamp Fox (Recap #23)

The War is Still on Folks!

Governor Rutledge, once exiled leader of the SC colony, decided now was the time to push for civil government including elections. In late November 1781 he called for elections to be held mid-December and asked Marion among other militia leaders to appoint election officials and supervise the voting. Marion himself was not thrilled with the idea since he saw the British having the option to re-ignite the war in the south. Marion did, however, what he was asked to do.

1) After some more time showed that the British were not immediately eager to extend the conflict, Greene and Rutledge agreed on the location for the General Assembly to meet should be Jacksonboro just 36 miles west of Charleston. Greene's army was camped at Parker's Ferry which was close and he hoped that this would show to the world that the colonies had control of their territories. The fact of the matter was, Greene asked Marion to ensure the safe meeting of legislators since the Continentals were short of ammo and provisions.

2) Most of the legislators besides Whigs were former military officers, prisoner of war and exiles. Moultrie and Pickens were elected to the House and Thomas Sumter to the Senate as was Marion. There were many more that read like a Whos Who of SC miliitary fame and in 1783 even John Postell would join after his release from prison. Turnout was low since Whigs in Charleston could not vote due to British presence .. and some elected were stuck in Charleston for the foreseeable future. The backcountry of SC kind of liked this. January 11th 1782 Marion set out on a 85 mile ride to Jacksonboro and placed Peter Horry as head of his brigade until his return. There was not much going on yet when Marion arrived until the 18th when they finally had a quorum and then met at Peter DuBose's Tavern. From Rutledge to Christopher Gadsden, it was a moment to behold.

3) A new governor was elected by the assembly to replace the term-limited Rutledge. Gadsden was desired but he sited health and age for reasons to decline. Unfortunately, the Confiscation Act that dealt with loyalists in ways like the British had done to patriots was a measure that did not sit well with Marion even though slave families were to be kept together when being sold with the rest of the loyalist's properties. On the plus side, for the colony, this was a source of revenue that would be needed as they rejected paper money and proceeded to have to come up with back pay for all the soldiers. Marion would have fought an uphill battle on this issue and remained quite (except legend has it when asked for a toast to the new governor he said "Well gentlemen, here's damnation to the Confiscation Act!"). Next came the difficult task of identifying which people and properties were to be linked to this legislation. Marion sided with the more dovish leaders as the low country had not seen as much brutality as the other parts of SC had. 900 names were part of the bill but then it was pared down to 238. Even though Gadsden leaned more radical than Marion, the two came together on this bill in which Gadsden said "he that forgets and forgives most .. is the best citizen".

4) Other action included attempting to raise two regiments of Continentals in SC but this never materialized. Another was Nathaniel Green's suggestion via Col. John Laurens as a sponsor that 2000 Negroes be armed in the state's militia but that failed 100 to 15. That would have been good to have to give some of the slaves an avenue towards freedom, but many saw only scary scenarios if they had passed that one in early 1782. Gadsden and others thought that the British might capitalize on that as they had done with Indians in the past.

5) Ever since Marion arrived, Horry sent letters indicating not only that he was sick but there was mass exodus of militia members since Marion left. Also, the feud between Horry and Maham had escalated and Marion finally had Greene indicate just who had seniority and what the reporting structure was. Marion also emphasized as much as he would like to, he could not leave Jacksonboro yet as many times there was barely a quorum and also if he left, others would too. However, on February 20th he did leave six days before the legislative session was to adjourn .. BECAUSE a new Brit commander was on the loose and looking for a fight with the Swamp Fox.

Stay tuned .. the war is still on folks!

The Swamp Fox (Recap #22)

The Slow Push of British Forces

One might figure that with Eutaw Springs done, there is little to do at this point of the Revolutionary War or for what was actually the civil war in SC between whigs and tories and those who switched sides back and forth. There is also the transition from a British military presence for 12-18 months that displaced civil government as so we see at this time Gov. Rutledge attempting to piece back together something.

1) Post-Eutaw Springs Greene dispatched Lee and Marion to attempt to get in front of Stewart's forces as they withdrew towards Charleston but 400 fresh Brits arrived in Monck's Corners from Charleston to cover the retreat. On September 12th, Stewart, who was wounded was temporarily replaced by Col. Paston Gould who had been Balfour's position until he was promoted to commandant of the Charleston district for the British. Gould had stayed put in Charleston until know and was unfamiliar with the territory. He briefly took an expedition out towards Greene but then came back to a point 50 miles outside Charleston while half his men came down with seasonal fever. He returned to Charleston and was replaced by Gen. Alexander Leslie and Steward, having recovered from his wounds took command of 1200 troops 7 miles north of Monck's Corners where he proceeded to raid plantations for food (harvest time was getting near), slaves including women and children to return to Charleston where they were put to work strengthening Brith fortifications there.

2) Greene felt confident with the British south of the Santee to take his own sickly army to the High Hills of the Santee to recover. Marion camped 50 miles away on the Santee ready to deploy but he himself was hit with the seasonal fever in spite of his vinegar and water concoction. Between daily correspondence with Greene on intelligence reports and sometimes two letters a day from Gov. Rutledge in getting the right people in the right positions in the new civil government especially justices/judges, it was a different kind of busy for Marion. Rutledge offered a Clinton-like proclamation that now allowed Tories to be pardoned and reunite with their families if they serve 6 months in the patriot militia. Those who declined faced banishment and property loss similar to the Clinton order a few years prior. September 27th was the day the amnesty proclamation was made official and gave 30 days for men to meet with a brigadier general of SC. By October, Marion was able to attend to family matters as he continued to assist his nephews in collages in the north with a shipment of indigo to Philadelphia to supply them with winter clothes, etc.

3) The increasing insubordination of Horry and Maham came to a head at this time as well as Marion took the time to dialog in letters with these officers as well as Rutledge and Greene in the murky chain of command that had yet to be settled. In the end, Horry and Marion patched things up and even met in person while the relationship with Maham deteriorated even more. By early November with all these distractions it was learned that on October 19th Cornwallis surrendered ALL his troops at Yorktown. Marion actually arranged for a celebration at a local plantation, a ball for his officers and area ladies yet Marion remained subdued during the festivities. He still had on his mind two patriots that were still in prison, one would die there and the other would remain there until the official end of the war. [unlike what history books claim today, Yorktown was NOT the end of the Revolutionary War]

4) Greene had hoped with Cornwallis gone and the British evacuation of Wilmington, NC on November 14th that the French navy might be asked to come to Charleston and/or Continentals would be deployed to SC to push the Brits out to sea. But the French navy in alliance with Spain went to Jamaica and lost to the British in the attempt to capture that island. Greene did receive about 300 mountain men from TN but they stayed only for for one engagement but left after they experienced the boredom and heat of the lowcountry. The final liberation of SC were in the hands of Greene and Marion as Pickens was deployed to the western regions to deal with indians and loyalists in that area and Sumter was directed to lead a post on Orangeburg. Sumter came up with a secret plan to expedite the liberation of SC but was ignored by Marion. Marion was then given total autonomy by Greene in future operations so on November 15th two forces were dispatched to the area below Eutaw Springs to stop British plundering. The circumstances of a November 17th raid on the Fairlawn Plantation where the Brits has munitions and provisions that doubled as a hospital. By the end of the month the Brits retreated even closer to Charleston.

5) Greene saw this opportunity to capitalize on this momentum and on December 1st arrived in Dorchester and with only Greene's advance units observed the Brits panicked, burned supplies and dumped cannons in the river. The Brit force retreated to Quarter House only six miles above Charleston. At this same time, only Savannah remained in Brit control in GA. Adding to the Brit's frustrations was the influx of refugees that they absorbed as loyalists who could not consider living in the SC colony in a post British era. The patriots were not exempt from suffering as malaria and lack of clothes plagued many as not one shilling had been paid to any patriot Continental soldier who had come south. The Brits had thousands of troops in Charleston and several naval ships in the harbor with cannon and therefore was a force that could routinely exit the city to forage for food without being bothered much. Marion at this point was used by a paranoid Greene to go here, there and everywhere when even a rumor of British movements were communicated. They both admitted that it could take a year to finally be able to capture and liberate Charleston itself. Rumors of a peace process rising in Parliament had yet to change the mind of King George or Lord Germain. The hope for a better future was still something that seemed just out of reach.

Snippet 23 is next .. it is neither the last chapter NOR the next to last chapter. This war is NOT over

The Swamp Fox (Recap #21)

Eutaw Springs Sep 8, 1781

As Nathaniel Greene completed resting his troops in the High Hills of the Santee (only 15 miles from the British, each could see the other's camp fires) about the same time that Marion went to the aid of Harden the other side of Charleston, he decided to engage the 1500 men under Rawdon's replacement Alexander Stewart. Separated by an impassible lake swollen with the summer rains Greene decided to go against the logic of moving south and then upriver to engage the Brit forces directly. Greene chose to go counter-clockwise at a slow pace moving only in the cool morning and early evening to conserve the men's strength. Greene himself had 1250 men but needed militia to help make up the difference. Virginia had promised 2000 militia but with Cornwallis in their backyard they opted to have them stay there. Greene's route took him close to NC where he picked up some untested militia (150-200) under French commander Malmady. He also picked up 300 men under Pickens (some were former Sumter troops), William Henderson's (Sumter replacement) 200 SC state troops and William Washington's Virginia Continental Cavalry.

1) Stewart had heard of Greene's intention and moved 40 miles south down the Santee to Eutaw Springs specifically to take on supplies from Charleston. Greene was aware that Marion was working the other side of Charleston but was hoping he could make it back in time to be a factor now against the Brits. Greene stalled on September 2nd in case he heard of Marion's location. Communique sent on September 4th to Marion said Greene was collecting his force and planning to attack the Brits on the next day. The next day Greene received Marion's Parker Ferry report and found out that Marion was only 20 miles south of Eutaw Springs. Another communique was sent and Marion used the nighttime to circle clockwise around Stewart's Brit forces and  by September 7th was together with Greene at Burdell's Tavern just seven miles above Eutaw Springs. Marion's plantation at Pond Bluff was only four miles away, this was home turf.

2) Alexander Stewart, a 40 year old Scot with a high opinion of himself was caught off-guard by the proximity of 2000 patriot forces and even disbelieved a couple of patriot deserters who showed up in camp and proclaimed that a force of several thousand was near. Stewart did however dispatch a cavalry commander to check and he ran into the patriots only two miles away, engaged them and was overwhelmed and escaped to make it back to report to Stewart.  Greene then used the Cowpens model by having militia (one-third of his total force present) at the center and cavalry on the flank with solid troops and by 9am September, the battle was green-lighted. Stewart had no Hessians with him on this day and offered a single line on the other side of the battle field. Marion's men advanced surging with Pickens and Henderson's men on their left they continued to fire volley after volley, SEVENTEEN in all, a testament to the character of men Marion had formed. The NC militia quit the field after only three rounds and left a hole in the middle ("the line is faltering") which then encouraged the Brits to use a bayonet charge just when Greene's seasoned Maryland and Virginia Continentals surged themselves with a bayonet charge to give the Brits a taste of their own medicine. This was the first and only time seasoned Brit troops were in full retreat back to their camp. The rout pushed the point of the battle back 300 yards to a garden area adjacent to a brick house that the Brits used as a defensive line of last resort. The left flank of the patriots had the British commander Marjonbanks putting up a devil of a fight and it was the Delaware Continentals, the cream of the crop for patriot troops drove his forces back to the garden area as well. It was at this point that Greene's troops who had been rummed up prior to the battle located the British alcohol in camp and decided to quench their thirst in the 90 degree SC sun. It was here that the patriots lost all their cannon and experienced a Brit counterattack. So after four hours of fighting, Greene ordered a retreat. While many believe that this was a defeat for the patriots, what is known is that a) Brits did not hold the field but were driven back to their camp b) Stewart left 70 wounded men and his dead buried behind c) Greene buried BOTH sides dead and cared for the enemy's wounded and especially d) strategically, the British decided to fall back to Charleston.

This was great news for South Carolina but in no way did it mean the war was done. The British Empire at this moment of time could have had Cornwallis return to South Carolina to almost start all over again as the British had resources they could pull from their global footprint. At this point Marion and Greene were still in the mode of anxious anticipation of the next British move, which takes place in snippet #22

The Swamp Fox (Recap #20)

British Return to their Violent Ways

So with momentum in the patriot's favor, the British again turn towards "making an example" of someone, a typical bully move.

1) The backstory to a hanging that took place on August 4, 1781 of 35 year old Issac Haynes, a much beloved planter/patriot in the Lowcountry region was that after the fall of Charleston early 1780, Haynes made a trip to Charleston to gather medical supplies as well as a doctor if possible for his gravely ill wife and children. The British would not allow him to go home without signing an oath of allegiance, which said he would not take up arms against his countrymen, which he did. By 1781 with the patriot popularity surging he was pressured toward signing on with the British in the loyalists ranks but at the same time he was courted by the patriots who understood that if Issac signed on, a couple other hundred men would also join the patriot cause. Spring 1781 Haynes was a Lt. Col. in the SC militia and in July 1781 he led a party to suburban Charleston and captured the "Benedict Arnold of the South" Andrew Williamson. Fearing that the Americans would execute Williamson, Balfour, the Charleston commander dispatched Thomas Fraser and 90 cavalry to rescue him. Williamson was rescued and Haynes was now a prisoner. At a summary trial, Haynes thought this was just a preliminary procedure but turned out he was sentenced to death by hanging. Despite pleas even from Charleston loyalists to spare this honorable man's life, after a brief time to say farewell to his family he was hanged, and he himself pulled the lever after a very honorable speech. The British won the short term effect, with Tory support rising but even the British Parliament condemned the act and even Greene and other patriot commanders were pressured to respond in kind (not Marion however). Eventually, the patriots did not stoop to a tit-for-tat response but Marion got permission to go after the Brit who captured Haynes, Thomas Fraser.

2) The the tide favoring the Tories in the Lowcountry, local partisan leader William Harden saw his forces dwindle. He had success up until then in the Charleston to Savannah corridor but now needed assistance. Mid-August 1781 with Cornwallis long gone to Virginia and now encamped at Yorktown, Marion and his two hundred troops plus another 35 mounted troops from Horry and Mahem's units, everyone on horseback went the 100 miles to the Ashepoo River Horseshoe region where a Brit force commanded by a German officer Ludwig von Benning including 180 Hessians, 150 Redcoats, 130 Tories and 80 dragoons under Fraser.

3) The British were not expecting a fight as they were out and about gathering rice and cattle to ship to Charleston to feed the troops there. Because this was a much larger force than Marion's, this was a perfect Marion ambush scenario. Marion attempted to engage the Brits on August 27th with posted guards from the Georgia militia, these men were spooked when the Brits approached the causeway ambush spot. Marion then found another causeway August 30th between von Benning's troops and about 100 Tories at the Edisto River that led to Charleston. The Brits were actually camped at Issac Haynes plantation where his fresh grave was. The causeway was lined on either side at 40 yards distance with patriot riflemen, another groups of men under Harden were positioned to charge forward once the enemy was engaged and a third group mounted swordsmen under Cooper (under Harden) were set to bring up the rear in this trap.

4) The battle itself was set off prematurely when according to legend, on of the militia's white feathered caps was spotted by the advanced Tory guard coming from the river. These men were driven off but the shooting got the attention of von Benning who came from the other direction towards the fight and he ordered the 25 year old Scotsman Fraser and his cavalry into the fray. This is where the term "running the gauntlet" came from as coming down the causeway there was no way to reverse themselves and had to complete the causeway crossing and resulted in 20 dead and dozens more wounded. Another 60 Brits were wounded compared to 3 patriots wounded and only 1 killed. This Marion victory could be been more effective if the Harden militia units had engaged, but both ignored Marion's orders and as the Georgia men had never fought with Marion before (poor excuse since Marion had come to Harden's aid and request). To add insult to injury, some of Harden's men mistakenly claimed they were being flanked wich allowed von Benning's men to escape without further losses. Praise from Continental military in the North for Marion's efforts came streaming in and Marion himself praised his own leaders as behaving like true "Sons of Liberty". This event near Parker's Ferry was Marion's biggest win to date. But it was his next assignment from Greene that would be even more important should the Brits call for a truce or treaty at this point of the war as control of lands would determine the conditions set forth.

Stay tuned for Eutaw Springs, SC, an epic face-off between British and rebels on an open field in early September 1781.

Swamp Fox Maps/Battles

The Swamp Fox (Recap #19)

Dog days Campaign

In South Carolina, the "dog days" of summer are down-right hot. Labeled the Dog Days Campaign, this chapter ends with a total rift between Francis Marion and Thomas Sumter.

1) Georgetown and Ninety-Six had fallen and so two significant outposts remained slightly inland, Monck's Corner 30 miles north of Charleston and Dorchester 20 miles northwest of Charleston. The British army was basically in Charleston, in these outposts and then one army in the field at Orangeburg. Sumter convinced Greene that he should take out the two outposts cutting off the Brit army in Orangeburg from Charleston, using Lee's and Marion's forces of course. Greene's objective was to get the Brits stuck on the coast in a land siege and then pray the French Navy could bottle them up in Charleston.

3) July 12th 1781 marks the day that Marion followed orders and took his 180 man force to Monck's Corner while Lee and his 150 man force moved on Dorchester. Sumter remained in the rear with his 200 infantry and one six-pounder. Marion's force had just went through some leadership changes with Hugh Giles retiring, a 27 year old John Ervin taking his place and Greene's commissioning of Peter Horry and Hezekiah Maham to lead two dragoon forces IN the Continental Army which meant signing on for one year. Complicating the matter was that both promotions were dated the same day AS WELL AS who they really reported to .. Greene OR Marion. This was NEVER made clear.

4) Monck's Corner British force of 500-600 redcoats from 19th Regiment of Foot was led by Lt. Col James Coates as well as 100-150 provincial cavalry under Major Fraser (SC Royalists) which were remnant forces from SC Rangers and Queen's Rangers, all native SC men who knew the back-country as well as Marion and Sumter. Sumter wanted to surround Coates cutting off his escape routes and any reinforcements from Orangeburg. Lee easily pushed the British out of Dorchester and so upon hearing this Coates surprises the patriots by moving five miles northeast to Biggin Church (a structure with three foot thick walls and where Marion himself worshiped as a boy). As the patriots adjusted to Coates new position, Maham was sent to destroy Wadboo bridge so Coates would not have an easy time getting to Charleston, unfortunately, Coates men were able to repair if overnight and were all set to escape down the Cooper River if and when they needed to. With insignificant skirmishing on July 16th at 4am the next morning the Biggin Church was ablaze and Coates had a head start toward Charleston. As the patriots chased Coates they found the Wadboo bridge had been destroyed by the British and so they had to ford the river farter upstream wasting valuable time. The Brits went 18 miles south and settled briefly at a vacant plantation of patriot Col. Thomas Shubrick. They posted a howitzer at Quinby Bridge to guard the crossing and started tearing up the planks when Lee, Wade Hampton and some of Marion's cavalry arrived. Some of the men crossed the creek and started their assault on the British forces, Lee himself chose not to send his cavalry across the 20-yard wide creek due to the muddy bottom. On the other side there was a causeway that led to deadly hand-to-hand combat. Many of the green recruits of the 19th Foot threw down their weapons and fled only to realize how few patriots made is across the creek. The Brits were able to fight their way back to the plantation for cover. Fraser's Brit cavalry left for Charleston for reinforcements. Lee and Marion saw the plantation to well fortified and chose to wait for Sumter and his six-pounder. When Sumter arrived WITHOUT his cannon he decided to attack anyway against Lee and Marion's advice. Marion's men had to advance across open field and then finding Taylor's men facing a bayonet charge (no bayonets on patriot rifles) diverted on an oblique to save Taylor and his men but took a lot of causalities. Forty minute battle was finally called off by Sumter whose troops as well as Lee's remained in reserve. Fifty killed or wounded, mainly from Marion's men was the result.

5) Taylor let it be known that he would not fight alongside the Gamecock Sumter again, putting his men at risk for a poor objective and with no backup. No post battle comments are on record from Marion to Sumter but to Greene he implied that he too was sent on a fools errand. Most evident of Marion's true feelings was that he and Lee left the night of the battle and went 15 miles away to camp without informing Sumter. All but 100 of Marion's men left at this point and Marion internally knew he was done with Sumter.

6) Greene later told Lafayette that the Dog Days Campaign had some success but admitted it was far short of what needed to be accomplished. Driving the British out of Monck's Corner and Dorchester only lasted a few weeks before the Brits were back. On the plus side, 140 prisoners, 200 horses and ammunition were to be had. Another detail that made the rift between Sumter and Marion final was that 720 guineas (gold coins) were found and distributed to Sumter's men and some of Lee's men BUT not Marion's. Sumter's 10-month enlistees were on their way home at this point, dissatisfied with Sumter's Law. Sumter tried to plunder more by going near Georgetown and seizing slaves, horses, indigo and salt from the Tories there and the British retaliated on August 1st by bombarding Georgetown from a warship with many innocent people caught in the crossfire. Gov. Rutledge generally favored harsh treatment of Tories BUT finally started seeing this from Marion's point of view as that practice usually gave significant blowback. On August 5th Rutledge signed a proclamation strictly forbidding plundering for any purpose essentially nullifying Sumter's Law. Sumter took this personally and resigned but Greene talked him into staying on but that would old last a few months as Sumter had fought his last battle. Now, twelve months into this phase of the Revolutionary War Marion would now been the supreme commander of the South Carolina militia.

The Swamp Fox (Recap #18)

Patriot Momentum Keeps Growing in SC

So Marion has Georgetown on his mind since only 80 are garrisoned there but waits for approval from Green. Green is going after Ninety-Six and does noot want Marion tied up should he need him.

1) May 26 Marion receives a conditional "yes" (as long as Sumter would not be exposed and Rawdon did not move on Ninety-Six) and moved on Georgetown and laid siege leaning from Fort Watson and Fort Motte. Again he was without cannon but that did not keep him from using black painted peeled logs! The Brit leadership had already been given permission to exit should they be pressed and so on the same day the siege started the Brits spiked their cannons, boarded their ships and left the city. They lingered in the bay a few days and then sailed for Charleston.

2) With Georgetown supply line to the Tories gone, they asked for a three month truce later extended to one year and even offered to return captured slaves and plundered items. In the middle of all this good news, Francis' last brother Issac passed away in Georgetown that same week.

3) Marion was now directed to check Rowden at Monck's Corner to ensure those Brit forces would not be a factor elsewhere as well as to find out about the rumor of 2000 new Brit troops from Ireland that landed in Charleston.

4) Ninety-Six lay in the middle of Tory country and so a siege was tough sledding. It should never had taken place except the orders from Rawdon to Cruger (commander at 96) to leave Ninety-Six for Augusta was intercepted by the rebels and never delivered. The fortification was intense and artillery consisted of three three-pounders and 550 motivated soldiers knowing that this was the last significant outpost in the interior of SC. All three innovations were attempted, Mahem's tower, flaming arrows and even a tunnel but all were compensated for by the Brits. With Rawdon advancing on Ninety-Six in spite of militia on their heels, Greene with Lee and Pickens just back from Augusta attempted an assault but was turned back and the longest siege of the Revolutionary War at 28 days ended.

5) Post defeat reflection on why the militia was not a factor included Sumter assuming Rawdon was going to another fort and not Ninety-Six at first and him giving Marion orders that conflicted each other (halt, resume march, halt, etc). Marion also mentioned that there were crops to be protected for Greene's provisions as well as a growing presence at Monck'S Corner. Unstated was the primary reason, Marion's men refused to travel so far from their homes. Greene issued a scathing report of how the militia failed him yet again (and added that the Virginia militia did not show up either thanks to Thomas Jefferson). Greene failed to look in the mirror as his inexperience in the ways of sieges had his troops not discover the water source for Ninety-Six fortification that could have made that fortification fall in less than two weeks instead of almost a month. Marion never responded to this letter but I am sure he had words ready for that opportunity should he see Greene again face-to-face.

6) Two weeks after the siege and assault failed, the British left Ninety-Six and they tried to go after Greene but the Irish in wool uniforms and 100F heat were not holding up well and 50 died from heat-stroke. Returning to Ninety-Six briefly, Rawdon saw that it could not be held as the troops could not be provisioned there and battles won made little difference if the troops were starving. The loyalists in the area (non-military) left with Rawdon and Cruger as their protection and safe passage for Charleston.

7) Greene had actually won by losing at this point in the conflict. He called together Sumter, Lee and Marion to take advantage of the momentum offered. Orangeburg was a likely target but 26-year old Rawson saw a fight as pointless and returned to Charleston, left on a ship to England on August 21 to recuperate but was seized by privateers, handed off to the French and then traded for an American officer. Again considering Orangeburg Greene concluded that the American forces were weekend by the heat as well and the men from Virginia and northward could not survive on the rice in the region and needed bread again. With no beef they resorted to frogs and alligators, cause they taste like chicken. Greene then moved his troops to the High Hills of the Santee for the summer.

The writing seems to be on the wall, however, the war is a long way from over.

The Swamp Fox (Recap #17)

The Tide Turns into a Flood

As I last wrote it seemed that the tide was turning, Fort Watson was upended by innovative Americans shooting from a tower down into a for that had no cannon. This snippet also contains some thinking outside the box when time was of the essence ...

1) Fort Motte was constructed in and around the Motte Plantation house 30 miles up river from Fort Watson. May 6th, 1781 started yet another siege of a fort as now the post-by-post elimination of British strongholds set in motion. Rebecca Motte, recent widowed, aristocrat and ardent patriot had been moved into the overseers log cabin by the British who took over her house perched on a 250 foot hill was now surrounded by protective wall of wooden stakes 10 foot high with a seven foot wide, six foot deep ditch around the walls. Inside were 80 Redcoats, 59 Hessians and 45 loyalist Tories led by Lt. McPherson, a Scottish unit that had proved itself in Canada and was now a part of the Brit regulars.

2) Lee (Lighthorse Harry) had 250 and Marion 150 with one six-pounder cannon. The plan was to use slave labor to build zig-zag trenches close to the fort using patriot sharpshooters to protect the laborers. In the middle of this siege, Marion fell into his deepest sour mood to date having done nine months being chased by death squads and having no practical consistent military help and being prodded to give, give, give. Again it was the request of horses that set him off (triggered) but the root issues included both the undermining from other militia leaders who said "Marion had come across plenty of horses", the outright murder of a patriot on his own front porch in front of his family by Tories as well as the typical comings and goings of a militia army. Marion offered to quit and go north to Philadelphia to be assigned elsewhere. Greene wrote back, backing off on the horses but saying the cause and his state needed him at such a time as this. Marion ended up sending Greene one quality horse with a promise of more horses when they could.

3) Word came on May 11th that the Brit Rawdon had left Camden and was in route to reinforced Fort Motte. The tower would not work in this instance, but raining down fire was the action agreed upon when Lee and Marion met with Rebecca Motte for permission which she gave. She also provided a bow from India to launch a fireball at her own plantation house. On May 12th the house was targeted with fire, and with the cannon used to spread cannister shot, the Brits could not put out the fire and surrendered. The patriots saved the house from fire, the prisoners were granted generous conditions even keeping their recent loot. The Brits lost no men and the patriots two. McPherson surrendered to Lee and the Tories to Marion. McPherson thought he was surrendering to a gentleman BUT three months earlier Lee himself had employed tactics used by Tarleton.

4) After the surrender, Lee again received wrath from Marion when Francis learned that Lee was hanging Tories. Three were hung but not the fourth. Lee complained but said that Marion's humanity among the ranks could not be overcome. It was finally at this point for the first time that Greene met with Marion personally and cleared the air. There were no more threats of quitting from this point forward.

5) The Brit Rawdon arrived at Nelson's Ferry on May 14th only to hear that Fort Motte was gone and dismantled and all the supplies taken by the patriots. From there his only recourse was to move his troops to within 30 miles of Charleston at Monck's Corners.

6) More good news was that the Brit force at Orangeburg fell to Sumter and Lee moved to Fort Granby and accepted surrender of Brit forces there on May 15th. The typical hot-headed Gamecock Sumter was ticked that HE was not allowed to accept the surrender on the siege he had started two weeks before. Sumter threatened resignation but ended up getting munitions and slaves to pay his men via "Sumter's Law" Greene also at this time ensured that Sumter was top dog and could order Marion where he needed him.

7) Greene continued on to Ninety-Six where the last inland detachment of British were. Lee continued on to Augusta, Georgia to work with militia leader Elijah Clarke taking Fort Galpin on May 21st then on to assist Pickens in taking out smaller forts around that key city.

8) Marion once again had his eye on Georgetown on the coast .. but that will have to wait for recap #18