Marion Data, Rev War, Life Events, and Bibliography
About General Francis Marion, The "Swamp Fox"
Significant Events in the Life of Francis Marion and the Revolution, Southern Campaigns in SC:
** Battles or skirmishes Marion engaged in **
Winter 1732: Marion was born in the Low Country of South Carolina, youngest of six.
1738 (c): Family moved to Winyah Bay close to Georgetown.
1747 (c): Francis went to sea. Disaster changed his mind about a career at sea.
1750 (c): Francis Marion’s father died and Francis, unmarried, managed farm.
**1756: Francis and brother, Gabriel, enlisted to fight Indians. Indian fighter to 1761
1773: Francis purchased land on the Santee, 4 miles below Eutaw Springs.
April 19, 1775: Battles at Lexington and Concord, MA
May 1775: Marion learned of the struggle in New England and went to Charleston to enlist, Commissioned as Captain on June 21, 1775, in SC Regiment.
June 18, 1776: South Carolina Regiments incorporated into Continental Army.
**June 28, 1776: British attack Sullivan’s Island from the sea. Marion commanded the guns at the fort, now Fort Moultrie.
— South Carolina troops serve in SC and GA. Most action is in New England
September 19, 1778: Marion takes command of the 2nd South Carolina Regiment.
Summer 1779: Lord Cornwallis has orders from London for the Southern Campaign.
**October 9, 1779: Attempt to retake Savannah from British. Marion was involved
January 20, 1780: Marion, now a Lt. Col., commands the 2nd SC Regt.
March 19, 1780: Marion at a party at Tradd St. Jumped out window and broke leg or ankle. Evacuated from the besieged Charleston which fell May 12, 1780.
August 16, 1780: Camden fell, Cornwallis defeated Gates
**August 17, 1780: Marion (age 48) assumed command of the Williamsburg Militia; controlled Santee River traffic, orders to destroy boats
**August 24, 1780: Nelson’s Ferry (Great Savannah), Santee River, Marion attacked British Soldiers conveying prisoners to Charleston.
**September 4, 1780: Blue Savannah, Marion ambushed Tories under Micah Ganey. Wemyss’s Campaign of Terror. Marion at Great White Swamp (Waccamaw) in NC.
**Sept 7, 1780: Kingstree – Marion’s Militia snatched Brit for interrogation
**Sept. 28-29, 1780: Marion, back in SC, attacked Col. Ball at Black Mingo, Mouzon wounded.
October 7, 1780: Battle at King’s Mountain. (Marion not involved)
**October 25, 1780: Marion attacked Brits at Tearcoat Swamp, Black River, during the night.
**November 7, 1780: Confrontation at Richbourg’s Mill & Gen.Richardson’s Plantation/Big Home
**November 8, 1780: Jack’s Creek to Ox Swamp Chase, Marion became known as the “Swamp Fox”, and Marion ambush site established at Benbow Ferry
**Nov. 15, 1780: Marion at White’s Plantation and Pen’s Plantation
November 15, 1780: Marion’s nephew Gabriel Marion killed after he surrendered near White Bridge, Georgetown
December 2, 1780: Greene took command from Gates
**December 5, 1780: Tory Tavern
**December 12, 13, 1780: Marion at Halfway Swamp near Santee River, and Singleton’s Mill.
December 14, 16, 17, 1780: Reconnoitered Backcountry Outposts, Santee Road Recon/Interdiction/ Ambush sites
December 28, 30, 1780: Camp near Georgetown, Chased Rangers from Williamsburg to Georgetown
January 14, 1781: Waccamaw
January 17, 1781: Battle of Cowpens, Morgan defeated Tarleton. (Marion not involved)
**January 25, 1781: Marion at Georgetown with Lee during the new moon.
**January 29, 1781: Raided Moncks Corner and Congaree
**March 6-28, 1781: Marion at Wiboo Swamp, Cantey Plantation, Mount Hope Swamp, Lower Bridge of the Black River at Kingstree and Sampit Bridge.
**April 15-23, 1781: Marion and Lee, Siege of Fort Watson, British surrendered because of Maham Tower, Santee River
**May 12, 1781: Marion and Lee capture Fort Motte
**May 28, 1781: Georgetown
**June 6, 1781: British evacuate Georgetown.
July 8, 1781: Moncks Corner and Orangeburg
**July 17, 1781: Marion and Lee at Quinby Bridge and Shubrick’s Plantation
August 4, 1781: Col. Isaac Hayne is hanged in Charleston.
**August 13, 1781: Marion ambushes Fraser and his Loyal SC Dragoons at Parker’s Ferry Causeway
**September 8, 1781: Battle of Eutaw Springs on Santee River
**Sept. 20, 1781: Port’s Ferry on Pee Dee River
October 19, 1781: Cornwallis surrendered at Yorktown
November 9, 1781: Marion learns of Cornwallis surrendered
November 10, 1781: Celebration party at John Cantey’s: “a fine party for the ladies of Santee”: Cantey Plantation
**February 24, 1782: Two encounters with Loyalist cavalry. Tydiman Plantation Skirmish w/foragers
**August 29, 1782: Fair Lawn Skirmish, Marion encounters Fraser and is forced to retreat
December 14, 1782: British evacuated Charleston. Militia not allowed to participate and had been disbanded. Marion returned to his home at Pond Bluff
April 20, 1786: Marion (age 53) married to Mary Esther Videau. They lived at Pond Bluff, on the south edge of the Santee River on their many acres and raised pineland cattle.
February 27, 1795: Francis Marion died at his home at Pond Bluff, area presently under Lake Marion and he is buried at Belle Isle, his nephew Job’s estate. Marker at Marion’s tomb at Pineville, SC. 33° 27.232’N, 80° 5.194′ .
Extensive research and Christine Swager’s Paper: Francis Marion: Stranger Than Fiction
Compiled by Christine Swager and George Summers
Bibliography of works related to and about Marion:
Web info researched from these works:
Lucien Agniel, Rebels Victorious: The American Revolution in the South, 1972
Scott Aiken: The Swamp Fox: Lessons in Leadership from the Partisan Campaigns of Francis Marion , 2012
John R. Alden, A History of the American Revolution, 1969
Todd Andrlik: Reporting the Revolutionary War: Before It Was History, It Was News , 2012
Todd Andrlik, Hugh Harrington, Don Hagist, Journal of the American Revolution v.1, 2013
Lawrence E. Babits, A Devil of a Whipping, 1998
Lawrence E. Babits, Fortitude and Forbearance HC Continental Line.., 2004
Lawrence E. Babits, Southern Campaigns, 2002
D.W. Barefoot, Touring SC’s Revolutionary War Sites, 1999
Robert D. Bass, Gamecock, 1961
Robert D. Bass, Swamp Fox, 1974
Robert D. Bass, The Green Dragoon, 1973
John Beakes, DeKalb, 2015
John Beakes with Jim Piecuch, “Cool Deliberate Courage: John Eager Howard in the American Revolution”
“Light Horse Harry Lee in the War for Independence”
“Otho Holland Williams in the American Revolution” 2015
M.C. Beckham, Colonial Spy, 2005
Douglas H. Bennett, Trail of the Swamp Fox, 2000
Carol Berkin, Revolutionary Mothers, 2005
Warren I. Bingham, George Washington’s 1791 Southern Tour, 2016
Bob Bishop, Life, Liberty and Happiness, 2009
Mark M. Boatner III, Encyclopedia of the American Revolution, 1966
Benson Bobrick, Angel in the Whirlwind, 1997
William Willis Boddie, Traditions of the Swamp Fox, 2000
Melissa L. Bohrer, Glory, Passion and Principle, 2003
Carl Borick, A Gallant Dedense, 2003
Carl P. Borick, Relieve Us of This Burthen, 2012
Douglas Bostick, Sunken Plantations, The Santee Cooper Project, 2008
Michael R. Bradley, It Happened In The Revolutionary War, 2003
R. Arthur Bowler, Logistics and the Failure of the British Army in America, 1975
C.L. Bragg, Crescent Moon over Carolina, 2013
C.L. Bragg, Martyr of the American Revolution, 2016
Charles Broadwell, Sketches of Planters, Plantations, and Living Along the Great Road, Saint Mark’s Parish, 1700-2000, 2010
Brown, Memoirs of Tarleton Brown, 1862
Marvin W. Bubie, Celebrating the Revolutionary War – Municipal Symbols of a Free Country, 2011
John Buchanan, The Road to Charleston, 2019
John Buchanan, The Road To Guilford Courthouse, 1997
John Buchanan, The Road to Valley Forge, 2004
Bruce E. Burgoyne, Journal of a Hessian Grenadier Battalion, 2005
J.B. Burgess, Mount Dearborn Military Establishment, 1999
James M. Burgess, M.D., Chronicles of St. Mark’s Parish, 1888
Colin G. Calloway, The American Revolution in Indian Country, 1999
Katherine Cann, Turning Point, the American Revolution in the Spartan District, 2014
Jimmy Carter, The Hornet’s Nest, 2003
Edward J. Cashin, William Bartram and the American Revolution on the Southern Frontier, 2000
Donald Barr Chidsey, The War in the South the Carolinas and Georgia in the American Revolution, 1969
Henry Clinton, The American Rebellion, 1954
Colonial Williamsburg, Historic Trades, 2014
Suzanne E. Coffman, et al., Williamsburg – Three Hundred Years
H.S. Commager & R. B. Morris, The Spirit of Seventy-Six, 1995
Kay Cornelius, Francis Marion, 2001
Susan F. Craft, The Chamomile, 2011.
Susan F. Craft, Laurel, 2015.
William P. Cumming, North Carolina in Maps, 2001
Eric Dabney & Mike Coker, Historic South Carolina, 2006
Frederick Dalcho, An Historical Account of the Protestant Episcopal Church in South-Carolina, 1820/2009
Sidney W. Dean, Knight of the Revolution, 1941
Jeff W. Dennis, Patriots & Indians, 2017
Joann Conrad Dohla, A Hessian Diary of the American Revolution, Burgoyne, 1990
Elisha P. Douglas, Rebels and Democrats, 1983
John Drayton, Memoirs of the American Revolution , 1821
Robert M. Dunkerly, Redcoats on the River, 2008
Walter Edgar, South Carolina History Encyclopedia, 2006
Walter Edgar, Partisans & Redcoats, 2001
Walter Edgar, South Carolina History, 1998
Joe Epley, A Passel of Hate, 2011
Joe Epley, A Passel of Trouble, 2016
Leland G. Ferguson, Archeology at Scott’s Lake, 1975
John Ferling, Almost A Miracle, 2007
Thomas Fleming, Liberty! The American Revolution, 1997
Sir J. W. Fortescue, The War of Independence: The British Army in North America 1775-1783 , 1911
Walter J. Fraser, Jr., Patriots, Pistols and Petticoats, 1976
Alexander Garden, Anecdotes of the Revolutionary War…, 1822
Noel B. Gerson, Light-Horse Harry, 1966
Noel B. Gerson, The Swamp Fox, 1967
Robert Wilson Gibbes, Documentary History of the American Revolution, 1857
Joseph T. Glatthaar and James K. Martin, Forgotten Allies, 2007
John W. Gordon, South Carolina and the American Revolution, 2003
Louis Gottschlk, LaFayette Comes To America, 1935
P. G. Gourdin, Life Along the Santee, 19??
John Grafton, The American Revolution, 1975
Rod Gragg, Planters, Pirates and Patriots, 1985
Matthew G. Grant, Francis Marion, 1974
Robert Graves, Sergeant Lamb’s America, 1940 (1995)
William T. Graves, James Williams, An American Patriot, 2002
William T. Graves, Backcountry Evolutionary, 2012
Barbara Graymont, The Iroquois in the American Revolution, 1972.
J.P. Greene & J.R. Pole, A Companion to The American Revolution, 2004
Francis Vinton Greene, General Greene, 1897
Jack P. Greene, A Companion to the American Revolution,
Anne King Gregorie, Thomas Sumter, R. L. Bryan, 1931
Samuel B. Griffith, Mao Tse-Tung On Guerrilla Warefare, 1961
Cecil B. Hartley, Heroes and Patriots of the South, 1860. (Legacy Reprint)
David Freeman Hawke, Everyday Life in Early America, 1959
Alexia Jones Helsley, South Carolinians In The War For Am. Independence, 2000
Christopher Hibbert, Redcoats and Rebels, 1990
David R. Higgens, The Swamp Fox, 2013
Don Higginbotham, The War of American Independence, 1971
William Hill, Col. William Hill’s Memoirs of the Revo;ution, 1921
Historical Documents, Revolutionary War Battlefield Map, 1962
Stewart H. Holbrook, The Swamp Fox of the Revolution, 1959
M.H.B. Hughes, 1777 – Danbury on Fire!, 2018
Scott Huler, A Delicious Country, J. Lawson’s 1700 Expedition, 2019
John Milton Hutchins, Massacre at Old Tappan, 2007
John Milton Hutchins, Bull’s Ferry Roundup, 2007
Sheila Ingle, Courageous Kate, 2008
Sheila Ingle, Fearless Martha, 2011
John Jakes, Kent Family Chronicles, Vol I, II, III
Gordon Bubber Jenkinson, Williamsburgh District, 2007
Wm. Dobein James, A Sketch of the Life of Brig. Gen. Francis Marion and a History of His Brigade, 1821
Joseph Johnson, M.D., Traditions and Reminiscences Chiefly of the American Revolution, 1851/2009
George Fenwick Jones, The 1780 Siege of Charleston, The SC Historical Magazine, 1987
Randall Jones, Before They Were Heroes at King’s Mountain, 2006
C. Brian Kelly, American Revolution, 1999
Frances H. Kennedy, The American Revolution a Historical Guidebook, 2014.
Kevin F. Kiley & Digby Smith, Uniforms of the American War of Independence 1775-1783, 2010.
Brian Kilmeade & Don Yaeger, George Washington’s Secret Six, 2013
F.M. Kirk, Pond Bluff,2000
Wade S Kolb III and Robert M. Weir, Captured at Kings Mountain, 2011
Roger Lamb/Dan N. Hagist, A British Soldier’s Story, 1811/2004
Robert Lagemann and Albert C. Manuey, The Long Rifle, 1993
Bruce Lancaster, The American Revolution, 2001
John Lawson, A New Voyage to Carolina, 1709, reprint 1967
Robert Leckie, Americans at War, Forged in Blood, 1982
Robert Leckie, George Washington’s War, 1993
Henry Lee, Jr., The Campaign of 1781 in the Carolinas, 1824
Terry W. Lipscomb, Various Booklets, 1988
John J. Loeper, Going to School in 1776, 1973
John H. Logan, A History of the Upper Country of South Carolina, Reprint 2009
Benson J. Lossing, Hours with the Living Men and Women, 1889, Scoggins, 2005
Benson J. Lossing, The Pictorial Field Book of the Revolution, 1859
Silas E. Lucas, Jr., Mills’ Atlas Of South Carolina, 1980 (1825)
Henry Lumpkin, From Savannah to Yorktown, 1981
Karen L. MacNutt, Francis Marion and the Training Fields of Mars, 2016
Gregory D. Massey, John Laurens and the American Revolution, 2000
David B. Mattern, Benjamin Lincoln and the American Revolution, 1995
Bill Mauldin, Mud & Guts, 1978
Charles G. Mann, 1493, 2011
Edward McCrady, The History of South Carolina in the Revolution, 1775-1780, 1901
Edward McCrady, The History of South Carolina in the Revolution, 1780-1783, 1902
Lee F. McGee, European Influences on Continental Cavalry, 2007
Hugh M. McLaurin, III, The Swamp Fox, 1988
Fitzhugh McMaster, Soldiers and Uniforms, SC Military Affairs, 1971
Robert L. Meriwether, The Expansion of South Carolina 1729-1765, 1940
John Mollo, Uniforms of the American Revolution, 1975
Horatio Newton Moore, Francis Marion, 1845
Robert Morgan, Brave Enemies, 2003
Leigh M. Moring, Nathanael Greene in South Carolina, 2016
Dan L. Morrill, Southern Campaigns of the American Revolution, 1993
Brendan Morrissey, Yorktown 1781, 2004
Bobby G. Moss & Michael C. Scoggins, African-American Patriots in the Southern Campaign of the American Revolution, 2004
William Moultrie, Memoirs of the American Revolution, 1802
James W. Mueller, Santee National Wildlife Archeological Survey, (David G. Anderson & Judith A. Carter, Santee Indian Mound), 1979
John A. Nagy, Dr. Benjamin Church, Spy, 2013
Erick W. Nason, In the Presence of Wolves, 2016
Erick W. Nason, A Fury of Wolves, 2019
Erick W. Nason, In the Company of Wolves, 2020
Erick W. Nason, A Leader of Wolves, 2021
Erick W. Nason, The Silver Fox and the Wolf, the Final Partisan Campaign of 1782. 2023
National Geographic Society, America’s Historylands, 1962
Kenneth Nebenzahi & Don Higginbotham, Atlas of the American Revolution, 1974
L/C Brian W. Neil, The Southern Campaign of the American Revolution, The American Insurgency, 1780 to 1782. 2009
George C. Neumann, Swords and Blades of the American Revolution, 1973
Cassie Nicholes, Historical Sketches of Sumter County, 1975
Patrick K. O’Donnell, Washington’s Immortals, 2016
Patrick O’Kelley, Nothing but Blood & Slaughter-Rev. War in the Carolinas, Vols. 1 & 2, 2004
Patrick O’Kelley, Nothing but Blood & Slaughter-Rev. War in the Carolinas, Vols. 3 & 4, 2005
Patrick O’Kelley, Unwaried Patience and Fortitude, Francis Marion’s Orderly Books, 2007
John Oller, The Swamp Fox: How Francis Marion Saved the Revolution, 2016
James Otis, The Boy Spies With the Swamp Fox , 1899
James Otis, The Minute Boys of South Carolina, 1907
John S. Pancake, This Destructive War, 1985
John C. Parker, Jr., Guide to the Revolutionary War in South Carolina, 2009, 3rd Edition, 2019
Michael Pearfon, Those Damned Rebels, 1972
Rodney M. Peck, Colonial Artifacts of Early America, 2002
Howard H. Peckham, The War for Independence, 1958
Michael Pearfon, Those Damned Rebels, 1972
Theda Perdue, The Cherokees, 2005
Margaret F. Pickett, Eliza Lucas Pinckney, 2016
Jim Piecuch, Cavalry of the American Revolution, 2014
Jim Piecuch, The Battle of Camden, 2006
Jim Piecuch, Three Peoples, One King, Loyalists, Indians, & Slaves,2008
W.R. Pritchett, There is a Black River, 1930s?
David Ramsey, The History of the American Revolution, Vol. 2, 1789
R. Randolph / James Otis, How We Boys Aided Marion the Swamp Fox, 1907
Hugh F. Rankin, Francis Marion: The Swamp Fox, 1973
Hugh F. Rankin, The North Carolina Continentals. 1971
Hugh F. Rankin, North Carolina in the American Revolution, 1959
Ray Raphael, A People’s History of the American Revolution, 2001
Roe Richmond, Island Fortress, 1952
Ricky Roberts & Bryan Brown, Every Insult & Indignity, 2011
Mrs. Arthur Gordon Rose, Little Mistress Chicken, 1913
Parke Rouse, Jr., The Great Wagon Road, 1996
David Lee Russell, The American Revolution in the Southern Colonies, 2000
William R. Ryan, The World of Thomas Jeremiah, 2010
Ian Saberton, The Cornwallis Papers, 2010
Leslie Sackrison, Awesome Women, 2007
Henry Savage, Jr., River of the Carolinas: The Santee, 1968
George F. Scheer & Hugh F. Rankin, Rebels & Redcoats, 1987
David Schenck, North Carolina 1780-81, 1889
Arthur M. Schlesinger, The Colonial Merchants and the American Revolution, 1968
Michael C. Scoggins, The Day It Rained Militia, 2005
Anthony Scotti, Jr., Brutal Virtue, 2002
Bill Segars, Churches in SC Burned During the American Revolution, 2016
W. Gilmore Simms, Brig. General Francis Marion, edited by Jogn Huffman, 2012
W. Gilmore Simms, The Life of Francis Marion, 1844
W. Gilmore Simms (Charles S. Watson), Woodcraft, 1852 (1983
Eugene B. Sloan, Scenic South Carolina, 1971
Steven D. Smith, Obstinate and Strong, 2007
Steven D. Smith, The Search For Colonial Jacksonborough, 2008
Steven D. Smith, The Search for Francis Marion, 2008
Steven D. Smith, Archaeological Evaluation of the Dunham’s Bluff Sites, 2009
Steven D. Smith, Francis Marion at Snow Island, 2010
Steven D. Smith, Francis Marion and the Snow’s Island Community: Myth, History, and Archaeology, 2021
Jack Sprott, Man Beloved: A Novel of the Yemassee War, 2011
Sol Stember, The Bicentennial Guide to the American Revolution, 1974
Richard Stengel (Time), Benjamin Franklin, 2010
Baron von Steuben, Revolutionary War Drill Manual, (Dover) 1985
D. W. Stokes, The Life of Francis Marion, 1974
James L. Stokesbury, A Short History of the American Revolution, 1991
Thomas S. Sumter, Stateburg and Its People, 1922
Christine R. Swager, Black Crows & White Cockades, 1990
Christine R. Swager, If Ever Your Country Needs You, 2001
Christine R. Swager, Come To the Cowpens!, 2002
Christine R. Swager, The Valiant Died, The Battle of Eutaw Springs, September 8, 1781, 2006
Christine R. Swager, Heroes of Kettle Creek, 1779-1782 , 2008
Christine R. Swager, Musgrove Mill Historic Site, 2013
Craig L. Symonds, Battlefield Atlas of American Revolution, 1986
Banastre Tarleton, History of the Campaigns of 1780 & 1781, 1787
Elswyth Thane, The Fighting Quaker: Nathanael Greene, 1972
Theodore Gaillard Thomas, A Contribution to the History of the Huguenots of SC, 1887
Roy Thompson, Before Liberty, 1976
Don Troiani, Soldiers in America, 1998
Don Troiani and James L. Kochan, Soldiers of the American Revolution, 2007
Robert L. Tonsetic, Special Operations During the American Revolution, 2013
Daniel J. Tortora, A Faithful Ambassador, The SC Historical Magazine, 2006-7
Daniel J. Tortora, Carolina in Crisis, 2015
John P. True, On Guard, 1927
Mao Tse-Tung, On Guerrilla Warfare, 1937 (2009)
Barbara W. Tuchman, The First Salute, 1988
Marion Cabell Tyree, Housekeeping in Old Virginia, 1879, Recipes
Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, A Midwife’s Tale, 1990
Harlow Giles Unger, Lafayette, 2002
Mark Urban, Fusiliers, 2007
Dorothy & James Volo, Daily Life During the American Revolution, 2003
Melissa Walker, The Battles of Kings Mountain and Cowpens, 2013
James A. Wallace, History of Williamsburg Church, 1856 (1971)
Norman S. Walsh, Plantations, Pineland Villages, Pinopolis and Its People, 2007
Jessica Warner, John the Painter, 2004
George Washington, Journal of Major George Washington (1753-1754), 1959
George Washington, Rules of Civility & Decent Behaviour, Applewhite, 1988
Wylma A. Wates, A Flag Worthy of Your State and People, 1996
James Webb, Born Fighting, 2004
M. L. Weems, The Life of General Francis Marion, 1824
Russell F. Weigley,The American Way of War, 1973
Russell F. Weigley, The Partisan War, 1970
Kenneth C. Weyand, Recipes & Stories of Early-Day Settlers, 1988
C. Keith Wilbur, The Revolutionary Soldier, 1969
W. B. Wilcox, Clinton’s Narrative of The American Rebellion, 1954
Beryl Williams & Samual Epstein, Francis Marion, 1958
David K. Wilson, The Southern Strategy, 2005
Scott Wimberley, Special Forces – Guerrilla Warfare Manual, 1997
Robert Witherspoon, The Witherspoon Family Chronicle, 1780 (1967)
Charles Woodmason, The Carolina Backcountry on the Eve of the Revolution, Hooker-1953
Richard Yeadon, The Marion Family, Southern & Western Magazine & Review, 1845
Eugene N. Zeigler, Jr., In Disgrace with Fortune and Men’s Eyes, 2012
Tony Zeiss, Backcountry Fury, 2010
A-1
Marion request letter, Sullivan’s Island, 26 July 1778
Marion appointment to Lieutenant Colonel, 16 September 1776 (dated 12 April 1782)
Marion Letter, Salem Black, 6 Feb 1781
Marion reciept, Camp Peedee River, 19 Feb 1781
Marion Congressional Citation, 12 April 1782
Marion Letters, City of Charleston Yearbook, 1895
Marion Article, Sanders R. Guignard family, Dec. 26, 2002
Marion Letter, re. Fort Watson, 23 April, 1781
Marion Presentation, The Man and The Myth, Lauren Pougue, April, 2003
Marion Presentation, Christine Swager, Francis Marion, Stranger then Fiction, April, 2003
Marion-Gadsden Correspondence, SC Historical Magazine
Francis Marion’s Hunting Lodge, Nettie Smith Owings, Huguenot Society of SC, 1975
Pond Bluff, F. M. Kirk, Geocities, 4/6/99
The Swamp Fox, Hugh M. McLaurin, III, Nov. 16, 1988
Francis Marion, Frankie Anderson, 1994
Francis Marion Statement, re. Plundering, 29 April 1790
News Article, Pennsylvania Packet, 10-09-1781
News Article, Pennsylvania Evening Post, August 14, 1781
Letter, Lt. Col Balfour to Lord George Germain, May 1, 1781
Letter, Gen Green, McCord’s Ferry, May 14, 1781
A-2
Marion request letter, April 21, 1781
News Article, Richmond, April 6, 1782
News Article, New Jersey Gazette, April 1, 1781
Marion Letter to Gen Greene, Pennsylvania Packet, March 6, 1781
Marion Letter to Gen Greene, Pennsylvania Packet, January 31, 1781
News Article, Pennsylvania Packet, January 9, 1781
News Article, NY Royal Gazette, Sep 20, 1780 (About Nelson’s Ferry and 150 Marylanders)
News Article, Marion Letter, NE Chronicle, Jan 18, 1781
News Article, Royal SC Gazette, Nov 16, 1780
Francis Marion Orderly Book Presentation, John Frierson, April, 2003
Trail of The Swamp Fox, Douglas H. Bennett, Jul-Aug 2000, SC Wildlife
Francis Marion as an Intelligence Officer, George W. Kyte, SC Historical Magazine
Francis Marion, Carologue, Spring 2004, Intelligence
The Life of Francis Marion, D. W. Stokes, est. 1926, reprinted 1974
The Order Books of Francis Marion, Discipline by the Lash, John L. Friarson, Carologue, Winter 1999
General Marion’s Sweet Potatoe Dinner, unknown, facts/myths wrong
New Facts about an Old Story, Nell Weaver Davies, Carologue, Winter 1999
Who Was the Swamp Fox, Interview with Leslie Nielson, Paul F. Anderson
Francis Marion, Benson J. Lossing, Harper’s New Monthly Magazine, July, 1858.
Haunts of “The Swamp Fox”, P. D. Hay, Harper’s New Monthly Magazine
Simm’s Life of Marion, review, Jan 1845
L/C Brian W. Neil, The Southern Campaign of the American Revolution, The American Insurgency, 1780 to 1782. 2009.
Numerous Discussions with:
Charles Baxley, Daniel Bell, Scott Bell, Dr. Anthony Beninati, Jeannette Beranger,
Fin Coffey, Mike Coker, Windy Corbett, Janson Cox, Doug Crutchfield, Dan Culpepper,
Dr. Marion Davis, Dr. Walter Edgar, Dr. Elizabeth Fenn, Dr. George Fields,
John Frierson, Harold Furse, Christopher George, David Grant, Val Green, Doyle Harper,
Justin Liles, Dr. Karen MacNutt, Norman McFadden, Dr. Warner Montgomery, Joe Moore,
Erick Nason, Patrick O’Kelley, Lauren Pogue, Dr. Tom Powers, Herb Puckett, John Robertson,
Dr. David Reuwer, Nicki Sackrison, Ross St. George, Dr. Steve Smith, Dwight Stewart, Frank Stovall,
Dr. Joe T. Stukes, Dr. Bob Swager, Dr. Christine Swager, Dr. Dan Tortora, Dr. Wright Turbeville,
Luther Wannamaker, Richard Watkins, Athena Westeren, Scott Withrow

Pursuit to Ox Swamp
Wednesday, November 8, 1780
Directions: I-95 Exit 119 – go east on SC 261. I-95 Exit 122 – go east on US 521. The road crosses Ox Swamp just east of Manning.
Upon learning from a Tory spy that General Marion slipped back east of Jack’s Creek, Tarleton gave chase with his Green Dragoons. Marion, staying just ahead of the dragoons, and fighting a series of delaying tactics with his rear guard, rode to the head of Jack’s Creek, Sammy Swamp and then down the Pocotaligo and slipped away into Ox Swamp. Here Tarleton gave up the chase and said “as for the old fox, the devil himself could not catch him.” Thus, General Francis Marion became known as the “Swamp Fox”. Marion and his men continued east to Benbow’s Ferry on the Black River where he had established the ambush for the British.
- Find Ox Swamp & the Pocotaligo: 33° 41′ 32″ N 80° 12′ 03″ W and this event.
- SC ETV “Chasing the Swamp Fox“ on-line.
- On November 8, 1780, after a seven-hour, 26 mile chase, of Col. Francis Marion by Lt. Col. Banastre Tarleton, he, Tarleton, gave up at Ox Swamp, just a few miles short of Benbow’s. Col. Francis Marion and his band of Patriots remained at Benbow’s Ferry on the Black River where he had prepared his own ambush for Lt. Col. Tarleton – however, Tarleton never came, but instead began burning homes in the vicinity, including the barn of Mrs. Richardson and all her livestock.
- Benbow’s Ferry Site
- Directions: East of Manning on SC 261. Left, north, onto S-55 at Martine Crossroads.
- The ferry was located just east of where the bridge crosses the Black River.
- Marion positioned his force in an ambush for Tarleton along the approach to the ferry.
- See the latest mural in Manning of this event, West facing wall of Piggly Wiggly.
Ambush Set at Benbow's

Siege of Fort Watson
Monday to Monday, April 16-23, 1781
Directions: I-95 Exit 102, South of Summerton. Historic US 301 north, turn west onto Fort Watson Road (S-803). Marker at the Visitors Center and the Indian Mound, site of Fort Watson, is at the end of the road.
Colonel Harry Lee and Lee’s Legion from Virginia had joined General Marion and Marion’s Brigade on the Black River on April 14, 1781. Marion and Lee elected to capture the British fort, built in December 1780, Fort Watson on the Santee and beside Scott’s Lake, to secure the area and to get badly needed supplies. They laid siege to the fort. The cannon never arrived. “Col. Maham contrived to raise a tower of logs, so high that it overtopped the fort.” The tower was erected over night after collecting saplings for several days. The use of the tower by the McCottry riflemen at sunrise led to the quick surrender of Fort Watson by Lt. James McKay on the morning of April 23, 1781 and was the final Battle of Fort Watson.
- Fort Watson mural
- Fort Watson mural is on the North facing wall of Summerton Hardware, Main Street.
- Historic marker
- Former Crypt cover, Marion stone
Statue
General Francis Marion in St. Mark’s Parish, now Clarendon County, is in the Continental uniform of his 2nd SC Regiment after he occupied Georgetown, June 6, 1781.
Francis Marion statue is sponsored by the Swamp Fox Murals Trial Society.
Come to Manning to see Francis Marion in the Clarendon County Chamber of Commerce window, 19 N. Brooks Street.
These Swamp Fox engagements were after Charleston fell and the British occupied it starting on May 12, 1780. Marion had escaped capture and was the only senior Regimental or Continental Officer free to lead the local militia. Find this statue: 33.696° N 80.211° W


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Revolutionary War Locations in Clarendon County Area
# On Clarendon Map | Date | Location |
1 | 1780-08-17 | Nelson’s Ferry |
2 | 1780-08-25 | Great Savannah |
7 | 1780-10-25 | Tearcoat |
8a | 1780-11-08 | Jack’s Creek |
8b | 1780-11-08 | Ox Swamp |
13 | 1780-12-12 | Halfway Swamp |
14 | 1780-12-13 | Singleton’s Mill |
16 | 1780-12-17 | Santee River Rd |
22 | 1781-03-06 | Wiboo Swamp |
23 | 1781-03-06 | Cantey Plantation |
24 | 1781-03-13 | Mt. Hope Swamp |
37 | 1781-04-15 | Fort Watson |
41 | 1781-08-16 | Santee River |
44 | 1781-09-08 | Eutaw Springs |
54 | Richardson Cemetery | |
55 | 1795-02-27 | Marion’s Tomb |



Choke points on the Santee River and the Black River where Marion cut the British supply lines.