The Life of Francis Marion [1]
to the Senate from St. John -- His Course on the Confiscation Act --
Anecdotes -- Is made Commandant at Fort Johnson -- His Marriage --
A Member of the State Convention in 1794 -- Withdraws from Public Life --
His Death.
Appendix A. Notes on the Electronic Text.
Appendix B. Song of Marion's Men. By William Cullen Bryant [1794-1878].
Note.
In preparing this biography, the following works have been consulted:
1. A Sketch of the Life of Brig. Gen. Francis Marion, and a History of his Brigade, &c. By Wm. Dobein James, A.M. Charleston, S.C. 1821.
2. The Life of Gen. Francis Marion, &c. By Brig. Gen. P. Horry, and M. L. Weems. Philadelphia. 1833.
3. A MS. Memoir of the Life of Brig. Gen. P. Horry. By Himself.
4. Sketches of the Life and Correspondence of Nathanael Greene, &c. By William Johnson. Charleston. 1822.
5. Memoirs of the American Revolution, &c. By William Moultrie. New York. 1802.
6. Anecdotes of the Revolutionary War in America (1st and 2d series). By Alex. Garden. 1822 and 1828.
7. Memoirs of the War in the Southern Department of the United States. By Henry Lee, &c. Philadelphia. 1812.
8. Memoirs of the American Revolution, &c., as relating to the State of South Carolina, &c. By John Drayton, LL.D. Charleston. 1821.
9. The History of South Carolina, &c. By David Ramsay. Charleston. 1809.
10. The History of Georgia, &c. By Capt. Hugh M`Call. Savannah. 1811.
11. A History of the Campaigns of 1780 and 1781, in the Southern Provinces of North America. By Lieut. Col. Tarleton, Commandant of the late British Legion. London. 1797.
12. Strictures on Lieut. Col. Tarleton's History, &c. By Roderick Mackenzie, late Lieutenant in the 71st Regiment, &c. London. 1787.
13. History of the Revolution of South Carolina from a British Province to an Independent State. By David Ramsay, M.D. Trenton. 1785.
14. An Historical Account of the Rise and Progress of the Colonies of South Carolina and Georgia. (Hewatt.) London. 1779.
15. A New Voyage to Carolina, &c. By John Lawson, Gent., Surveyor-General of North Carolina. London. 1709.
16. The History of the Rise, Progress, and Establishment of the Independence of the United States of America, &c. By William Gordon, D.D. New York. 1789.
17. Five volumes of MS. Letters from distinguished officers of the Revolution in the South. From the Collection of Gen. Peter Horry.
Preface.
The facts, in the life of Francis Marion, are far less generally extended in our country than his fame. The present is an attempt to supply this deficiency, and to justify, by the array of authentic particulars, the high position which has been assigned him among the master-workers in our revolutionary history. The task has been a difficult, but I trust not entirely an unsuccessful one. Our southern chronicles are meagre and unsatisfactory. South Carolina was too long in the occupation of the British -- too long subject to the ravages of civil and foreign war, to have preserved many of those minor records which concern only the renown of individuals, and are unnecessary to the comprehension of great events; and the vague tributes of unquestioning tradition are not adequate authorities for the biographer, whose laws are perhaps even more strict than those which govern the historian. Numerous volumes, some private manuscripts, and much unpublished correspondence, to which reference has been more particularly made in the appendix, have been consulted in the preparation of this narrative. The various histories of Carolina and Georgia have also been made use of. Minor facts have been gathered from the lips of living witnesses. Of the two works devoted especially to our subject, that by the Rev. Mr. Weems is most generally known -- a delightful book for the young. The author seems not to have contemplated any less credulous readers, and its general character is