Francis Marion

Francis Marion , c.1732-1795, American Revolutionary soldier, known as the Swamp Fox, b. near Georgetown, S.C. He was a planter and Indian 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.

Bibliography: See biographies by W. G. Simms (1844, repr. 1971) and H. F. Rankin (1973).

Marion, Francis (c.1732–95),South Carolina soldier, commander of militia in the Revolutionary War, who lacked sufficient men for regular organization and became famous for his guerrilla tactics. He was nicknamed “the Swamp Fox” because he retired to the swamps when confronted by superior forces. He became a brigadier general and fought under Greene in the Battle of Eutaw Springs. His reputation became almost legendary, and he figures in many of the Revolutionary Romances of Simms. The latter also wrote his biography and the poem The Swamp Fox, and Bryant wrote a Song of Marion's Men.

Marion, Francis (1732–95) Revolutionary War soldier, born in St. John's Parish, Berkeley County, South Carolina. Marion was known as the “Swamp Fox” for his campaign of harassment against British detachments in South Carolina (1780)—he would strike swiftly and then seemingly melt back into the swamps. He subsequently commanded militia forces on the field at the battle of Eutaw Springs (1781). Earlier Marion had played an important role in repulsing a British assault against Charleston (1776) and in the patriot assault on Savannah (1779).