Preface. Introduction. LIFE OF MARION. Chapter I. (EARLY HISTORY) Chapter II. CAMPAIGN OF 1780. Chapter III. CAMPAIGN OF 1781. Chapter IV. CAMPAIGN OF 1782. Gen. Marion's Epitaph. Appendix. Correspondence. Finis. Notes:...

—| L. S. |— BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the fifth day of April,————- Anno Domini, one thousand eight hundred and twenty-one, and in the forty-fifth year of the Independence of the United States of America, the Honourable WILLIAM DOBEIN JAMES, deposited in this office the title of a book, the right whereof he claims as author and proprietor, in the words following, TO WIT: "A Sketch of the life of Brigadier General FRANCIS MARION, and a history of his Brigade from its rise in June, 1780, until disb

During the siege of Charleston, in May, 1780, the grammar school at Salem, on Black river, where I had been placed by my father, Major JOHN JAMES, broke up; and I was compelled to abandon my school boy studies, and become a militia man, at the age of fifteen. At that time of life it was a great loss; but still I was so fortunate as to have General MARION as my commander, and my much honoured father, who was a sincere christian, as my adviser and protector. I do not intend to write a history of m

The revocation of the edict of Nantz, by Lewis XIV., though highly detrimental to France, proved beneficial to Holland, England and other European countries; which received the protestant refugees, and encouraged their arts and industry. The effects of this unjust and bigoted decree, extended themselves likewise to North America, but more particularly to South Carolina: About seventeen years after its first settlement, in the year 1690, and a short time subsequently, between seventy and eighty F

FRANCIS MARION was born at Winyaw,* near Georgetown, South Carolina, in the year 1732;—memorable for giving birth to many distinguished American patriots. Marion was of French extraction; his grandfather, Gabriel, left France soon after the revocation of the edict of Nantz, in 1685, on account of his being a protestant, and retired from persecution to this new world, then a wilderness; no doubt under many distresses and dangers, and with few of the facilities with which emigrants settle new, but

The year 1780, was the most eventful one, in the annals of South Carolina. The late failure of the attack on Savannah; the little opposition which Gen. Prevost met with, in a march of more than one hundred miles through the state; the conduct of the planters, in submitting, to save their property; and the well known weakness of the southern army; all conspired to induce the enemy to believe, that Charleston, and South Carolina, would become an easy prey. Sir Henry Clinton, their commander in chi

The year 1781 commenced under auspices more propitious than those of the last year. The British had exercised so much oppression and rapacity over all those who would not join them, and so much insolence over those who did, and were in the least suspected, that the people of South Carolina found there was no alternative but between a state of downright vassalage and warfare. Most of the men of principle already had, or were prepared to take up arms against the enemy, and in general the unprincip

The military history of this year, is not remarkable for any great events; but the most material of these happened in the brigade of Marion. As they are not altogether of a pleasant nature, it appears to have been the wish of many to bury them in oblivion, and therefore some of them have been suppressed, and others but slightly recorded. But, the correspondence gives dates and hints, which bring the whole to recollection; and it is the duty of the biographer to be impartial. It was hoped that he

Taken from the marble slab at Belle Isle, this 20th September, 1821, by Theodore Gourdin....

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] Dear Sir, In obedience to your request, I send you a detailed account of the defeat and massacre of Col. Buford's regiment, near the borders of North Carolina, on the road leading from Camden to Salisbury. This regiment consisting of three hundred and fifty men, well appointed and equipped, had marched from Virginia for

Gen. Lincoln to Lieut. Col. Marion, at Sheldon. Sir, The state of affairs is such as to make it necessary that we draw our force to a point as much and as soon as possible. No troops will be kept in the field except two hundred light infantry and the horse.* You will, therefore, please to select from the three regiments with you, two hundred of your best men, and those who are best clothed, and organize them into corps with proper officers. All the remainder with the baggage of the whole (saving

(2) A. S. Salley's Introduction from the 1948 edition. (3) For the purists: A list of changes and corrections to the text. (1) About this etext. This etext was prepared from the original 1821 edition and the 1948 edition. In the case of any differences in the text, the 1821 edition was used, except where there was an obvious mistake (see the section for the purists). Although the 1948 edition maintained the original text as far as possible, a few errors crept in—only one which changed the meanin

But for an accident General Francis Marion probably would not have been the hero of the Revolution that he became. In June, 1775, the Provincial Congress of South Carolina, the extra-legal body of the revolting people of the province, organized three regiments of regular troops in preparation against any attempt at coercion by the British government. The first and second regiments were constituted as infantry, or foot; the third regiment as rangers, or horse. The Congress elected twenty captains