David RobinsonScott CheneyENGL 13021-09-2018Francis (Swamp Fox) MarionI was born in South Carolina. I remember on certain days inMay, Marion SC would have a Foxtrot Festival.
From Friday to Sunday the Main Stin Marion would be closed to traffic. There were all types of entertainment,games for kids, antique car show and numerous history booths. Growing up, Iwould always wonder where did the Foxtrot Festival come from? I would also askhow did Marion High get a Swamp Fox as their mascot? Being a person that livesin this area, I wanted to know why is Marion so popular? What I mean is, why isthere Francis Marion University, Francis Marion Restaurant and Marion SC. Thisbrought me to information on a man I have learned to be an important Leader tothe South. Francis (Swamp Fox) Marion was by some people arguments, a war legendwho didn’t get enough recognition. His life was from 1732-1795. According to YourDictionary, “at the age of 29 in 1961, hetook part in the war against Cherokee Indians.
Currently Marion was just a lieutenantof militia. He took notes from the fight with the Indians using small forces,hitting and running, dispersing troops in one place and reforming them inanother, and employing the element of surprise. In the year of 1773,Francis Marion went back to farming on his own plantation called Pond Bluff SC.Years later is when Francis Marion begin fighting in the Revolutionary War”.
“Marionwas promoted to Lt. Colonel. In November 1778 he took charge of the secondRegiment; in November 1779 he drove the regiment in an unsuccessful assault onSavannah. The next year was an appalling one for the frontier cause. In May1780 British powers retook Charleston, and in August they smashed the Americanarmed force under Gen. Horatio Gates at the clash of Camden.
This finishedsorted out protection by the Americans in South Carolina” (Revolutionary-War.net). Figure 1 is the front inscription of Francis Marion GraveMarker. As the picturestates, he was one of the Partisan leaders that kept the war alive whilefighting the British (THE HISTORICAL MARKER DATABASE). “In 1780 he took 20 to 70 men and rescued 150American prisoners from the British.
He did this by taking to the swamps andusing guerrilla warfare. His tricky vanishings after amazement assaults againstunrivaled powers badgering and discouraged the adversary, procuring for him thename, “Swamp Fox.” British Lieutenant Colonel Banastre Tarleton, toldof Marion’s whereabouts by an escaped detainee, pursued the American civilianarmy for seven hours, covering exactly 26 miles.
Marion got away into a marsh, andTarleton surrendered, reviling, “Concerning this accursed old fox, theDevil himself couldn’t get him.” The story got around, and soon localpeople—who detested the British occupation—were cheering the Swamp Fox” (HISTORYNET).”Scarcely two weeks after the fact, Marion and his band were in real life oncemore. Tory local army had assembled at Britton’s Neck, a tongue of land shapedby the point of the Great and Little Pee Dee Rivers. Marion and his men rodeduring that time and cleared into the Tory place to stay at first light,killing a few and dispersing the rest. They next climbed the Little Pee Dee toassault another Tory constrain adjacent. At the point when this unit welcomedhim completely conveyed and in more prominent numbers than he expected, Marionpretended withdraw, drew the Tories after him, at that point trapped andvanquished them at a spot known as Blue Savannah” (HISTORYNET).
“Marion along these lines exhibited that he comprehended theessential significance of forcefulness and dauntlessness in supporting loyalistassurance and keeping the foe wobbly. Be that as it may, he was similarly wisein surveying when he should reject fight. At the point when Lord Cornwallisdispatched 800 British and follower troops to chase him down after his firstactivities, Marion judiciously discharged his men to their homes and rode toNorth Carolina.
Figure 2 General Marion Inviting a British Officer to ShareHis Meal (JohnBlake White)Francis Marion and his men were enjoying the great outdoorson Snow’s Island, South Carolina, when a British officer touched base to talkabout a detainee trade. As one-minute man reviewed years after the fact, abreakfast of sweet potatoes was broiling in the fire, and after thearrangements Marion, known as the “Swamp Fox,” welcomed the Britishfighter to share breakfast. As indicated by a legend that became out of themuch-rehashed account, the British officer was so roused by the Americans’cleverness and devotion to the reason—despite their absence of satisfactoryarrangements, supplies or legitimate garbs—that he quickly exchanged sides andbolstered American independence (Revolutionary-War.net). Francis Marion never instructed a huge armed force or drovea noteworthy fight. Histories of the Revolutionary War tend to concentrate onGeorge Washington and his direct crusades in the North, as opposed to littleconflicts in the South. By and by, the Swamp Fox is one of the war’s mostcontinuing characters.
“His notoriety is absolutely merited,” saysBusick. Even though things searched terrible for the Americans after Charlestonfell, Marion’s finesse, genius and assurance helped keep the reason for Americanautonomy alive in the South. In 1790, Marion helped write the South Carolina stateconstitution, and after that resigned from open life. After a long decrease inwellbeing, Francis Marion passed on at his manor, Pond Bluff, on February 27,1795.
In December 2006, two centuries after his passing, Marion made news againwhen President George W. Bush marked a declaration regarding the man portrayedin many memoirs as the “devoted worker, Oscar,” Marion’s own slave.Oscar Marion was the individual slave of Gen. Francis Marion (1732-1795). Likedifferent slaves of the time, he was given his lord’s surname. The two were onenext to the other amid the seven years of the Revolutionary War, far longerthan most men of the time served. Notwithstanding his obligations for thegeneral, Oscar Marion likewise battled in the state army. Bush communicated thethanks of an “appreciative country” for Oscar Marion’s”administration… in the Armed Forces of the United States.
“Identified by genealogist Tina Jones, his far off relative, Oscar is theAfrican-American cooking sweet potatoes in John Blake White’s sketch at theCapitol. I believe we should have given more recognition to Francis Marioninstead of his servant. After all, he was the one that was the leader in the war”(SMITHSONIAN.COM). Although one may not feel it is right, there are reasons whycities and colleges are linked to Francis Marion. Marion SC was named afterFrancis Marion.
This city also has a statue in the town square of FrancisMarion. If you ever go to one of the Marion High School sport events, then youwill hear the chant Marion Swamp Foxes. If you are not from this area, then youprobably never heard of this man let alone the city of Marion SC.
The picturebelow is the statue that’s located in the town square of Marion SC. (HEREAND THERE WITH PAT AND BOB)The Marion courthouse, library andmuseum are all on the historic register and holds memories of Francis Marion. Further down the road you haveFrancis Marion University in Florence SC. This college is on land that held oneof the few battles that Francis Marion fought in. According to the New WorldEncyclopedia, The Francis Marion National Forest near Charleston, SouthCarolina, is named after Marion, like the noteworthy Francis Marion Hotel indowntown Charleston. Various areas the nation over are named after Marion. Thecity of Marion, Iowa, is named after Francis, and the city holds a yearly SwampFox Festival and parade each late spring.
More than 20 states have urban areasor regions named after Francis Marion. Thisjust goes to show that Francis Marion deserves a day called Francis Marion Day.One would argue that FrancisMarion did not fight by himself. They also would question was Francis Marionguerilla tactics an act of terrorism? (SMITHSONIAN.COM)Francis Marion was the figure leader of this sort of fighting.
On the offchance that you have ever observed the motion picture The Patriot, he was thereason for the character Mel Gibson depicted. As indicated by Amy Crawford ofthe Smithsonian Magazine, “However frequently dwarfed, Marion’s volunteerarmy would keep on using guerilla strategies to astonish adversary regiments,with incredible achievement… Marion and his adherents assumed the part of Davidto the British Goliath.” Line arrangements were yet the typical method forbattle until WWI, so it is sheltered to state that Francis Marion wasconsidering unheard of options.
The guerrilla write fighting was named by theBritish as unusual and they made a decent attempt to catch Marion. This is likethe war in Iraq where American warriors are assaulted by Iraqi state armieswith unusual means and are named as psychological oppressors. This is true, butFrancis Marion was the leader. He more than once crushed bigger andbetter-furnished powers with couple of misfortunes, checking him as one ofhistory’s extraordinary guerrilla pioneers. He used tactics from the battlewith the Cherokee Indians on the British. Marion showed himself to be auniquely capable pioneer of sporadic minute men and savage in his threateningof Loyalists. Not at all like the Continental troops, Marion’s Men, as theywere known, served without pay, provided their own stallions, arms andfrequently their sustenance (SMITHSONIAN.COM).
Others argue that even after Charleston fell, Francis Mariondetermination and resourcefulness helped keep the American Independence alivein the South. (SMITHSONIAN.COM) The general population memory of FrancisMarion has been molded in substantial part by the principal account about him,The Life of General Francis Marion composed by M. L. Weems (otherwise calledParson Weems, 1756– 1825) in view of the diaries of South Carolina officerPeter Horry. The New York Times has depicted Weems as one of the “earlyhagiographers” of American writing “who raised the Swamp Fox, FrancisMarion, into the American pantheon”.
Weems is known for having concoctedthe spurious “cherry tree” tale about George Washington and”Marion’s life gotten comparable frivolity”, as Amy Crawford wrote inSmithsonian Magazine in 2007. Luckily, the genuine Francis Marion has not beencompletely darkened by his legend—students of history including William GilmoreSimms and Hugh Rankin have composed precise life stories. Considering theactualities alone, “Marion should be recognized as one of the legends ofthe War for Independence,” says Busick, who has composed the prologue toanother version of Simms’ The Life of Francis Marion, out in June 2007. Mostlegends of the Revolution were not the holy people that biographers like ParsonWeems would have them be, and Francis Marion was a man of his circumstances: heclaimed slaves, and he battled in a fierce crusade against the CherokeeIndians. While not respectable by the present gauges, Marion’s involvement inthe French and Indian War set him up for more honorable administration. TheCherokee utilized the scene further bolstering their good fortune, Mariondiscovered; they covered themselves in the Carolina boondocks and mountedobliterating ambushes.
After two decades, Marion would apply these strategiesagainst the British. (SMITHSONIAN.COM)The reason I strongly argue that we as Americans and anative of South Carolina should have a Francis Marion Day is because withoutFrancis Marion, who is to say how the war would have ended. Would theRevolutionary War militia have gotten very far without his determination andwittiness? Could Americans claim South Carolina as their own if the British hadwon the war? Would we have a city called Marion SC, or a college called FrancisMarion? Would we be able to go to Charleston SC and consider the areahistorical? Would have any other soldier or leader been given the name SwampFox? Now for all these questions, I have the answer. Because of Francis Marionwittiness, the Revolutionary War militia did get far. Marion observed thetactics that was used against him in the French and Indian war to help him beatthe British.
Had the British won the war, South Carolina would not be anIndependent state. Had it not been for Francis Marion, we would not have areason to name a city Marion or a college Francis Marion. If you are ever ICharleston SC, then you need to go on a tour of the plantation that FrancisMarion fought through. Francis (Swamp Fox) Marion deserves a Francis MarionDay. Works Cited Crawford, Amy.
“The Swamp Fox.” SMITHSONIAN.COM, 30 June 2007, https://www.smithsonianmag.
com/history/the-swamp-fox-157330429/. “Francis Marion.” New World Encyclopedia, . 24 Apr 2017, 22:46 UTC. 10 Jan 2018, 04:15 newworldencyclopedia.org/p/index.php?title=Francis_Marion&oldid=1004445 “Francis Marion.” YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 9 January 2018. Read more at http://biography.yourdictionary.com/francis-marion#BA3zmOOoUDbOVpI0.99 Gray, Jefferson M. “Francis Marion Foils the British.” HISTORYNET, 31 Aug. 2011, http://www.historynet. com/up-from-the-swamp-francis-marion-foils-the-british.htm. Patten, Bob. “Marion South Carolina – The Swamp Fox. ” HERE AND THERE WITH PAT AND BOB, 5 Aug. 2016, http://www.hereandtherewithpatandbob.com/marion-south-carolina-swamp-fox/. Pavao, Janelle and Esther. “Francis Marion ‘The Swamp Fox.'” Revolutionary-War.net. , https://www.revolutionary-war.net/francis-marion. html. Stroud, Mike. ” Francis Marion / Francis Marion’s Grave. ” THE HISTORICAL MARKER DATABASE , 18 Sept. 2009, https://www.hmdb. org/Marker.asp?Marker=22549. The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica, editor. “Francis Marion UNITED STATES MILITARY OFFICER. ” Yamini Chauhan, John Higgins, Gloria Lotha, Marco Sampaolo, Amy Tikkanen, 20 July 1998, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Francis-Marion.
