Francis Marion Francis Marion is one of the most well known soldier and captain of the American
Revolution. It all started on February 26, 1732 in Berkeley County, SC when he was born the youngest of six kids. His parents were Gabriel Marion and Esther Cordes. He attended basic elementary, middle and high schools. He never attended college. He helped his family with their plantation, but at the age of 15 he asked his parents if he could go to sea. His first voyage turned out to be a disaster because the ship wrecked and two crewmen had died. He knew it was time to rethink his future. That moment came when the French and Indian War broke out.
Like all famous people he had to start at the bottom. His first military assignment was in the parish militia. He joined them to fight against the French and Indians. Marion's experience in the French and Indian War prepared him for more admirable service. One of the most important things Marion learned was how the Cherokee used the landscape to their advantage. Marion found that they concealed themselves in the Carolina backwoods and mounted devastating ambushes. Two decades later, Marion would apply these tactics against the British. The British and colonists ended up winning the war. After the war he became a first lieutenant for his bravery in battle. After the war he worked hard to repair his war torn plantation. With the thought of independence from Britain, Marion hurried to enlist in the militia. With
American

Independence in 1776 (although not fully accepted by Britain at the time), he immediately was commissioned a major in the South Carolina militia. He participated in the capture of Fort
Johnson in September of 1776. He also distinguished himself at the battle of Sullivans Island,
June 1776. But for much of the next three years, he remained at the fort, occupying the time by

trying to discipline his troops, whom he found to be a disorderly, drunken bunch insistent on showing up to roll call barefoot. In 1779, they joined the Siege of Savannah, which the
Americans lost.
He became the commanding officer of the parish militia. The reason is the officers knew that he could navigate through the swamps better than anyone they knew at the time. Colonel
William Moultrie was Marion’s superior. He assigned Marion to be one of the first guerilla warfare soldiers in modern warfare. He usually had 20­70 men in his force. He hid in the swamps and ambushed the British taking prisoners and weapons. He fought from Charleston,
Camden, and along the Pee Dee and Santee river systems. During the next two and a half years
Marion and his men devastated the British troops in the region. Earning one of the most famous nicknames in warfare history “ the swamp fox
”. Although virtually in a sea of enemies, Marion and militia leaders Thomas Sumter and Andrew Pickens kept resistance alive in South Carolina until the Continental Army could recapture the region. Since over half of the South Carolina backcountry was Loyalist, or Tory, Marion engaged as much in civil war as he did war against the British. When