FRANCIS MARION.
Francis Marion, born at Winyah, near Georgetown, South Carolina, in 1732, was of Huguenot descent; his ancestors, fleeing from persecution in France, came to this country in 1690. Small in stature and slight in person, he possessed a power of endurance united with remarkable activity rarely surpassed. At the age of fifteen, yielding to a natural love of enterprise, he went to sea in a small schooner employed in the West India trade. Being shipwrecked, he endured such tortures from famine and thirst as to have prevented his ever wishing to go to sea again. After thirteen years spent in peaceful tilling of the soil, he took up arms in defence of his State against the Cherokee Indians. So signal a victory was gained by the whites at the town of Etchoee, June 7, 1761, that this tribe never again seriously molested the settlers. Returning to his home after this campaign, Marion resumed his quiet life until in 1775 he was elected a member of the Provincial Congress of South Carolina. This Congress solemnly pledged the “people of the State to the principles of the Revolution, authorized the seizing of arms and ammunition, stored in various magazines belonging to the crown, and passed a law for raising two regiments of infantry and a company of horse.” Marion resigned his seat in Congress, and applying for military duty, was appointed captain. He undertook the recruiting and drilling of troops, assisted at the capture of Fort Johnson, was promoted to the rank of major, and bore his full share in the memorable defence of Fort Moultrie on Sullivan’s Island, which saved Charleston and secured to South Carolina long exemption from the horrors of war. Little was done at the South for the next three years, when in 1779 the combined French and American forces attempted the capture of Savannah. Marion was in the hottest of the fight; but the attack was a failure, followed in 1780 by the loss of Charleston. Marion escaped being taken prisoner by an accident that placed him on sick leave just before the city was invested by the British. The South was now overrun by the enemy; cruel outrages were everywhere perpetrated; and the defeat of the Americans at Camden seemed to have quenched the hopes of even the most sanguine. Four days after the defeat of Gates, Marion began organizing and drilling a band of troopers subsequently known as “Marion’s Brigade.” Though too few in number to risk an open battle, they succeeded in so harassing the enemy that several expeditions were fitted out expressly to kill or capture Marion, who, because of the partisan warfare he waged and the tactics he employed, gained the sobriquet of the “Swamp Fox.” Again and again he surprised strong parties of the British at night, capturing large stores of ammunition and arms, and liberating many American prisoners. He was always signally active against the Tories, for he well knew their influence in depressing the spirit of liberty in the country. When Gates took command of the Southern army, he neither appreciated nor knew how to make the best use of Marion and his men. South Carolina, recognizing how much she owed to his unwearying efforts in her behalf, acknowledged her debt of gratitude by making him brigadier-general of her Provincial troops, after the defeat of Gates at Camden. Early in the year 1781, General Greene assumed command of the Southern army, and entertaining a high opinion of Marion, sent Lieutenant-Colonel Harry Lee, with his famous legion of light-horse, to aid him. Acting in concert and sometimes independently, these two noted leaders carried on the war vigorously wherever they went, capturing Forts Watson and Motte, defeating Major Frazier at Parker’s Ferry and joining Greene in time for the battle of Eutaw Springs. When the surrender of Cornwallis practically ended the war, Marion returned to his plantation in St. John’s parish and soon after was elected to the Senate of South Carolina. On the 26th of February, 1783, the following resolutions were unanimously adopted by that body:—
“Resolved, That the thanks of this House be given Brigadier-General Marion in his place as a member of this House, for his eminent and conspicuous services to his country.
“Resolved, That a gold medal be given to Brigadier-General Marion as a mark of public approbation for his great, glorious, and meritorious conduct.”
In 1784, he was given command of Fort Johnson in Charleston Harbor, and shortly after, he married Mary Videau, a lady of Huguenot descent, who possessed considerable wealth and was a most estimable character. On the 27th of February, 1795, Francis Marion passed peacefully away, saying, “Thank God, I can lay my hand on my heart and say that since I came to man’s estate I have never intentionally done wrong to any.”
THOMAS SUMTER.
Thomas Sumter, born in Virginia in 1734, served in the French and Indian War, and afterward on the Western frontier. Establishing himself finally in South Carolina, he was appointed in March, 1776, lieutenant-colonel of the Second Regiment of South Carolina Riflemen, and sent to overawe the Tories and Loyalists in the interior of the State. The comparative immunity from war secured to South Carolina during the first years of the Revolution deprived Sumter of any opportunity for distinguishing himself until after the surrender of Charleston to the British in 1780. Taking refuge for a time in the swamps of the Santee, he made his way after a while to North Carolina, collected a small body of refugees, and presently returned to carry on a partisan warfare against the British. His fearlessness and impetuosity in battle gained for him the sobriquet of “the game-cock;” and with a small band of undisciplined militia, armed with ducking-guns, sabres made from old mill-saws ground to an edge, and hunting-knives fastened to poles for lances, he effectually checked the progress of the British regulars again and again, weakened their numbers, cut off their communications, and dispersed numerous bands of Tory militia.
Like Marion, whenever the enemy threatened to prove too strong, Sumter and his followers would retreat to the swamps and mountain fastnesses, to emerge again when least expected, and at the right moment to take the British at a disadvantage. During one of many severe engagements with Tarleton, he was dangerously wounded and compelled for a time to withdraw from active service, but learning Greene’s need of troops, Sumter again took the field. After rendering valuable assistance toward clearing the South of the British, the failure of his health again forced him to seek rest and strength among the mountains, leaving his brigade to the command of Marion. When once more fitted for duty, the British were in Charleston, and the war was virtually at an end. Though Sumter’s military career ended with the disbanding of the army, his country still demanded his services. He represented South Carolina in Congress from 1789 to 1793, and from 1797 to 1801; he served in the United States Senate from 1801 to 1809, and was minister to Brazil from 1809 to 1811. He died at South Mount, near Camden, South Carolina, on the 1st of June, 1832, the last surviving general officer of the Revolution.