This history of Marion's career thereafter, accurately and authentically tells the story, for Judge James, its author, was one of Marion's active officers.
Perhaps Marion's highly meritorious services would never have received the widespread attention that has been accorded them had it not been for a fictitious publication issued in 1809 by Matthew Carey, a well known publisher, of Philadelphia, entitled: The / Life / of / Gen. Francis Marion, / a Celebrated / Partizan Officer, / in / The Revolutionary War, / against the / British and Tories, in South-Carolina and Georgia. From documents furnished by his brother in arms, Brigadier-General P. Horry: and his nephew, the Hon. Robert Marion, Esq. of Congress.
General Peter Horry, who had been one of Marion's most active colonels, had written a history of Marion's brigade, but had not readily found a publisher when he encountered Rev. Mason L. Weems, an itinerant book agent and preacher. Weems persuaded Horry to let him have the manuscript, assuring him that he would secure a publisher. Horry agreed, but admonished Weems "not to alter the sense or meaning of my work, least when it came out I might not know it; and, perverted, it might convey a very different meaning from the truth." Those were Horry's own words to Weems, as recalled by Horry to Weems in a letter dated at Georgetown, S.C., February 4, 1811.
In the same letter he reminded Weems: "I requested you would (if necessary) so far alter the work as to make it read grammatically, and I gave you leave to embellish the work, but entertained not the least idea of what has happened though several of my friends were under such apprehensions, which caused my being urgent on you not to alter as above mentioned."... "Nor have the public received the real history of General Marion. You have carved and mutilated it with so many erroneous statements your embellishments, observation and remarks, must necessarily be erroneous as proceeding from false grounds. Most certainly 'tis not my history, but your romance."... "Can you suppose I can be pleased with reading particulars (though so elevated, by you) of Marion and myself, when I know such never existed."
The book has been through scores of editions and printings and the falsehoods that Weems concocted—sometimes in malice—have been accepted as truth and retold throughout the United States and used in encyclopaedias and text books, government reports and political speeches. As a result, Marion has been honored by having counties and towns named for him to an extent equalled or surpassed by few of America's greatest men.
Judge James's book had but a limited circulation and it has long been a very scarce book; hence it has not been the factor it should have been in correcting the fabrications in Weems's book.
Judge James's book is not entirely free from error. He begins his first chapter with the statement: "Francis Marion was born at Winyaw, near Georgetown, South-Carolina, in the year 1732." Marion's family had no connection with Georgetown until six or seven years after Marion's birth, when his father moved with his family to that town from St. John's Parish, Berkeley, where he had resided since marriage. His wife's family resided in the adjoining St. James's Parish, Goose Creek, and, as there is no definite record of the place of Marion's birth, it could have been at the home of either family. The year of his birth cannot be fixed as 1732. The inscription on his tombstone gives the date of his death as February 27, 1795, "in the sixty-third year of his age." If he had been born at any time between January 1st and February 26, 1733, he would have been in the 63rd year of his age February 27, 1795.
(3) For the purists: A list of changes and corrections to the text.
The following changes in spelling were made, to update them. In some cases, both spellings were used, or an odd spelling was only used in one distinguishable section of the text. They are listed more or less in the order they appeared in the text.
South-Carolina > South Carolina
Broad-Street > Broad Street
North-Carolina > North Carolina
Major Weymss > Major Wemyss (both spellings given in the original)
These spellings appeared only in the quotations from Lawson:
staid > stayed
turkies > turkeys
hickorynuts > hickory nuts
West-Indies > West Indies
Hugonots > Huguenots
(The correct spelling is the latter, but the former spelling
may have some connection with the common American mispronunciation,
as "Hyoo-go-nots", rather than "Hyoo-ga-nose".)
intreaties > entreaties
Great-Britain > Great Britain
co-operate > cooperate
ancle > ankle
controul > control (both spellings given in text)
shew > show
New-Orleans > New Orleans
dispair > despair (extract from Lincoln's letter, chapter I)
Port-Royal > Port Royal
New-York > New York
Lenud's-ferry > Lenud's ferry (both spellings given in text)
Black-Mingo > Black Mingo
harrassed > harassed
adviseable > advisable
New-Jersey > New Jersey
Goose-Creek > Goose Creek
Wyley > Wiley (both spellings in a footnote, only Wiley in the text)
downfal > downfall
three pounders > three-pounders
alledged > alleged
swoln > swollen
six pounder > six-pounder
intreat > entreat (Gen. Greene's letter, Chapter III)
New-England > New England
True-Blue > True Blue
All-Saints > All Saints
These spellings appeared only in the Appendix:
Your's > Yours
inclose > enclose
Frequently the hyphen was omitted from numbers, but not always.
A few specific cases:
twenty five > twenty-five
twenty four > twenty-four
seventy five > seventy-five
thirty five > thirty-five