County to observe Francis Marion Memorial Day

To commemorate Gen. Francis Marion Memorial Day, a group has been making plans for a wreath laying and gathering at the General’s monument on the Courthouse Square in the city of Marion. The county’s third-graders will be attending the event, organizers said, adding that the 9 a.m. event is open to the public.

Gen. Francis Marion, for whom the county is named, was a partisan leader in the American Revolution, nicknamed by the British as “the Swamp Fox” and one of the state’s best remembered Patriots.

Born in 1732 in St. John’s Parish, Berkeley County, his parents were French Huguenots who lived and farmed along the Santee River. He was the grandson of Benjamin Marion, a native of Poitou, who came to the province in 1690. He was the fifth and youngest son of Gabriel Marion, who married Esther Cordes.

To honor the man who became a Revolutionary War hero, the S.C. General Assembly two years ago designated Feb. 27 as General Francis Marion Memorial Day. To commemorate Gen. Francis Marion Memorial Day, a group has been making plans for a wreath laying and gathering at the General’s monument on the Courthouse Square in the city of Marion.

The county’s 325 or so third-graders will be attending the ceremony, organizers said, adding that the 9 a.m. event is open to the public.

The group of volunteers planning the event is also working to get copies of Kate Salley Palmer’s books on Francis Marion into the county’s schools. Palmer, among other books, has written “Francis Marion and the Legend of the Swamp Fox” and “Almost Invisible: Black Patriots of the American Revolution.“ In conjunction with the day, the Marion County Library has put together a bibliography of materials on Gen. Marion and has the Palmer books on its shelves.

“The library has a good selection of Francis Marion materials, for adults and children, fiction and non-fiction, ” Salley Davidson, library director said.

“A number of very interesting vertical file folders in the South Carolina Room have items related to Francis Marion, including items from past celebrations. We plan to do a nice display the week of the celebration in the Marion Library and we urge everyone to come by.“

Other Marion locations having displays honoring Marion’s contributions are the Marion Chamber of Commerce, in the historic train depot on Bobby Gerald Parkway; the Marion County Archives & History Center on Godbold Street and the Francis Marion Room in the Inn on Harlee, Montgomery Grove, on Harlee Street.

A group of reenactors and members of the Blue Savannah—Swamp Fox Chapter, National Society Daughters of the American Revolution will be helping with the event.

A brief history

In 1761, Francis Marion distinguished himself as a lieutenant of militia in an expedition against the Cherokee Indians and rose to prominence in his community. He was a delegate in 1775 to the South Carolina Provincial Congress and was named a captain in the 2nd South Carolina Regiment. He was promoted to major in February 1776 and participated in the defense of Charleston on June 28.
Later in 1776, he was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel and assumed command of a regiment.
In October 1779, he led his command in an unsuccessful assault against Savannah. He was spared capture in Charleston in 1780 when the city fell to the British and was able to organize local folks in resistance to the British as a guerrilla leader. His work in disrupting British communications and preventing the organization of the Loyalists from participating fully in the battle of King’s Mountain, along with other assaults and skirmishes, helped to turn the tide of the war in the South.

In late 1780, he was appointed Brigadier General of the S.C. Militia. In cooperation with troops under the command of Henry Lee, he raided Georgetown and took Fort Watson and Fort Motte and supported attacks on Augusta and Ninety-Six.

He was elected in 1781 to the state senate and attended the general assembly of 1782. After the war, he was appointed commander of troops at Ft. Johnson. He was re-elected to the sen-ate in 1782 and 1784 and sat in the state constitutional convention.

In 1786, he married Mary Esther Videau. The couple had no children and he died at his home “Pond Bluff,“ on Feb. 27, 1795. He is buried at Belle Isle, near present day St. Stephen, S.C.

History records him as a thin, slight fellow with a “hawk-like” nose. Marion and his troops regularly roamed the Pee Dee area swamps and Snow’s Island, near where the Great Pee Dee and Lynches rivers converge, is home to his famous hideout.

Just a quick note: It is estimated a third of South Carolinians remained loyal to the crown during the American Revolution, especially portions of Marion County, from the Lumber River (then called Drowning Creek) to Britton’s Neck, that were a loyalist stronghold. Two prominent farmers in this area, Macijah Gainey, and Jesse Barfield, led a loyalist regiment against Francis Marion in several battles.