Francis Marion (1732-1795)
Revolutionary War Brigadier General
South Carolina Senator
American Revolutionary soldier, known as the Swamp Fox, Francis Marion was
born at Goatfield Plantation in St. John Berkeley Parish in 1732. He was a
planter and Native American fighter before joining (1775) William Moultrie's
regiment at the start of the American Revolution. In 1779 he fought under
Benjamin Lincoln at Savannah and escaped (1780) capture at Charleston by
being on sick leave. Marion organized a troop (1780), which, after the
American defeat at Camden in the Carolina campaign, constituted the chief
colonial force in South Carolina. Engaging in guerrilla warfare, he
disrupted the British lines of communication, captured scouting and
foraging parties, and intimidated Loyalists. His habit of disappearing
into the swamps to elude the British earned him his nickname. When Nathanael
Greene had succeeded in ousting the British from North Carolina (see Carolina
campaign), his lieutenant, Light-Horse Harry Lee, brought reinforcements to
Marion, and they took part together in several battles, notably that at Eutaw
Springs (Sept. 8, 1781). After the war, Marion served in the South Carolina senate,
where he advocated a lenient policy toward the Loyalists.
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