Book Review: The Swamp Fox

I picked up this 2016 biography of Francis Marion, the Swamp Fox of the American Revolution in a Goodwill store in Maine. Best $2 purchase I’ve made in quite a long time, possibly ever. John Oller wrote a fine biography of Marion’s life, including before and after the war.

 

I've long had an interest in Marion, starting with the ancient Disney TV series “The Swamp Fox” featuring young Leslie Nielson (Airplane, Naked Gun) as Marion. In the series young Marion romanced the comely daughter of middle-aged Banastre Tarleton, when not raiding, ambushing and escaping. A book for young adults opened my eyes to artistic license when I found Marion was middle-aged and Tarleton a young man in his early 20s, no child in sight.

 

Later came that preposterous film The Patriot. The fiction was so blatant that they changed the names of the principals. Marion (Mel Gibson) became Ben Martin, and Tarleton became William Tavington. Martin was a Rambo-style super-killer, disposing of a full British infantry company early in the film with a little help from his three pre-pubescent sons. The British commit war crimes that rival those of the SS. The war in the south was truly nasty, but churches were not packed full of civilians and set afire.

 

Oller’s book reveals that Marion was 5 foot 2 and 110 pounds. His strong suit was brain, not brawn. Early in the war he was a Lt. Col in the 2^nd South Carolina Continental Regiment. He escaped the catastrophic siege of Charleston by being on the injured list. He then raised a unit in the tidewater region, loosening his command style to avoid alienating his militia volunteers. They followed this tiny man. He didn’t lead from the front, instead hanging back to figure out when to commit his slender reserves, or when to cut and run. He worked hard to avoid heavy losses.

 

Ambushes and raids were his stock in trade. Once, a mixed force of Crown troops set out to abolish him and his “brigade”. Marion eluded them, burning bridges to delay them. Then he repulsed an enemy attempt to cross a bridge under fire. With supplies running low, the Crown force then headed to the coast, with Marion’s fighters snapping at their heels. The hunted became the hunters.

 

His small brigade put up a creditable showing at the one open field battle they participated in, Eutaw Springs in 1781, trading fire with British troops.

Marion suffered his one clear defeat during the long period between Yorktown and the final peace. Called back from his seat in the South Carolina legislature, he arrived as the fight was under way, when he had not picked the time or place of the fight.

 

He was a slave-owner. His will set three individuals free, but not the enslaved Buddy who accompanied him during the war. On the other hand, the British only freed enslaved people who escaped from rebels. Those enslaved by loyalists got short shrift.

 

I found this an excellent book about Marion and the war in the south. It may well give you ideas for small actions. Descriptions of the principal actors abound, with both strengths and flaws on display.

 

Spoiler: the film has Martin slay Tavilton in single combat at the end (you don’t need to see the film anyway). Marion never personally crossed swords with Tarleton. The Duke of Wellington would have been pleased if he had, since Tarleton ended up being Wellington’s persistent critic in Parliament for many years.

Edit: it is noteworthy that for a lengthy period after the fall of Charleston and the rout of Camden, Marion's guerillas were the only rebel force in Tidewater South Carolina. The book made clear that the guerillas of Sumter in the piedmont and Pickens in the mountains were the other flickers of resistance.