As a boy Carl Sandburg rolled up in his blanket at night and dreamed that he slept alongside Colonel Francis Marion, the Swamp Fox of Revolutionary War fame, in the marshes of South Carolina.

Marion was born in 1732 in Berkeley County, South Carolina. His parents were Huguenots who had arrived on these shores before 1700. He was a short man with a limp due to a broken ankle. His personality was somewhat eccentric and he didn't get along with his fellow officers.

Marion joined the South Carolina Militia and fought in the French and Indian War (1756-1763). In that war he learned the “Indian Style” warfare while fighting the Cherokee. The Native Americans used the landscape features to their advantage, ambushes and surprise attacks with a minimum of men.

After Lord Cornwallis captured Charleston in 1780 Colonel Marion engaged in guerilla warfare against the British for the next two and a half years. His men provided their own mounts, weapons and clothing. They gathered intelligence, disrupted British supply lines and lines of communication. There were seldom more than two hundred men serving under Marion.

The British officers came to hate Marion for his hit and run attacks. He forced the British to divide their troops on more than one occasion because they didn't know exactly where he was located. He caused the British to overextend their lines and created havoc for them.

Colonel Banastre Tarleton was sent to capture or kill Marion, whom he called “the damned old fox.” Tarleton was unsuccessful and lost many men in the process.

More battles were fought in South Carolina than any other colony. Twenty percent of the deaths in the Revolutionary War occurred in the marshes of that area.

In 1809 Parson Weems published a biography of Francis Marion and his war exploits. He gave the name “The Swamp Fox” to Marion. Young boys reading about the history of the Revolutionary War are attracted by the nickname. Weems was also responsible for the fable about George Washington chopping down a cherry tree.

Francis Marion was a man of his times. He owned slaves, fought brutal battles against Native Americans and fought for the establishment of his country. Marion's men were able to keep the colonial resistance alive until the Continental Army could recapture the region.

In 1783 Francis Marion returned to his home and began rebuilding his plantation. He married his first cousin, Mary Ester Videace, in 1785. He served in the South Caroline Senate and helped write the state constitution. He died in 1795.

There are ships, towns and counties named for him.