At the present juncture, when the necessity of public affairs requires the military of this state to be organized anew, to repel the attacks of an enemy from whatever quarter they may be forced upon us, we, citizens of the district of Georgetown, finding you no longer at our head, have agreed to convey to you our grateful sentiments for your former numerous services. In the decline of life when the merits of the veteran are too often forgotten, we wish to remind you that yours are still fresh in the remembrance of your fellow citizens. Could it be possible for men who have served and fought under you, to be now forgetful of that general, by whose prudent conduct their lives have been saved and their families preserved from being plundered by a rapacious enemy? We mean not to flatter you. At this time it is impossible for you to suspect it. Our present language is the language of free men expressing only sentiments of gratitude. Your achievements may not have sufficiently swelled the historic page. They were performed by those who could better wield the sword than the pen. By men whose constant dangers precluded them from the leisure, and whose necessities deprived them of the common implements of writing. But this is of little moment: they remain recorded in such indelible characters upon our minds, that neither change of circumstances nor length of time can efface them. Taught by us, our children shall hereafter point out the places and say to their children, here Gen. Marion, posted to advantage, made a glorious stand in defence of the liberties of his country; there, on disadvantageous ground, retreated to save the lives of his fellow citizens. What could be more glorious for the general commanding free men than thus to fight, and thus to save the lives of his fellow soldiers? Continue general in peace to till those acres which you once wrested from the hands of an 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."
This address was presented to the general and gave him great pleasure; but as he had not latterly been much in the habit of using his pen, his answer was a verbal one, expressive of his sincere thanks.
On the 27th day of February, 1795, Gen. Marion died at his house in St. John's parish. As his fame is yet but indistinctly known, and much of that through the medium of fable, the present attempt has been made to arrest its progress, to do honour to his memory, and to transmit his example to posterity.
Gen. Marion's Epitaph.
————
Sacred to the Memory
of
BRIG. GEN. FRANCIS MARION,
Who departed this life, on the 27th of February, 1795, In the Sixty-Third Year of his Age;
Deeply regretted by all his fellow citizens.
HISTORY
will record his worth, and rising generations embalm
his memory, as one of the most distinguished
Patriots and Heroes of the American Revolution;
which elevated his native Country
TO HONOUR AND INDEPENDENCE,
and
secured to her the blessings of
LIBERTY AND PEACE.
This tribute of veneration and gratitude is erected
in commemoration of
the noble and disinterested virtues of the
CITIZEN;
and the gallant exploits of the
SOLDIER;
Who lived without fear, and died without reproach.
————
Taken from the marble slab at Belle Isle, this 20th September, 1821, by Theodore Gourdin.
Appendix.
The following is the letter of Dr. Robert Brownfield to the author, giving a detailed account of the defeat of Buford's regiment, referred to at page 39. [Chapter II Paragraph 6]