The Swamp Fox

by John Oller

  201Marion remained . . . slowed by the fever: FM to NG, September 21, 23, 25, 27, October 9, 1781 (NGP9:382–383, 386, 396–397, 403, 439); Rutledge to FM, October 10, 1781 (Gibbes, 185–186); Boddie, Traditions, 226.

  202Rutledge . . . “severe examples” . . . wanted the names: Conrad, NGP9:646n1; Rutledge to FM, September 2, 3, 6, 1781 (Gibbes, 131–132, 134–135) (quotation at 131); O’Kelley, Unwaried Patience, 552.

  202sought Marion’s recommendations: Rutledge to FM, August 13, September 14, 1781 (Gibbes, 126–127, 159–160).

  202Rutledge decided to offer . . . detailed lists: Rutledge to FM, September 15, 26, October 10, 1781 (Gibbes, 162–163, 175, 184–185); Simms, 187; Rutledge Proclamation (Gibbes, 175–178).

  203Rutledge also kept him busy: Rutledge to FM, September 17, 26, October 11, 13, 16, 24, 1781 (Gibbes, 164–165, 174, 188, 190, 197); Haw, John and Edward Rutledge, 159.

  203“I wish . . . winter cloths”: FM to William Richardson, October 28, 1781, American Antiquarian Society, Books and Autographs, Carnegie Book Shop, New York: 1948, Catalog 134 (citation courtesy of David Neilan).

  203a serious dressing down . . . sent Horry a list: FM to PH, September 23, October 11, 1781 (Gibbes, 171–172, 188); Boddie, Traditions, 233–234.

  204“The time is lost . . . agreeably to his orders”: FM to PH, October 11, 1781 (Gibbes, 188).

  204“behaved very much amiss”: Rutledge to PH, October 10, 1781 (Gibbes, 184).

  204“every step . . . exasperate the militia”: Rutledge to PH, October 27, 1781 (Gibbes, 198–199).

  204point-by-point rebuttal . . . “Gen. Marion’s charges . . . in particular”: PH to Rutledge, October 30, 1781 (Gibbes, 200–203).

  204“I used to submit . . . his late usage”: PH to NG, October 31, 1781 (Gibbes, 205).

  204“obvious . . . no other person but yourself”: Ibid.

  204He concluded . . . Rutledge had ordered a stop: Ibid.; Rutledge to FM, September 26, 1781 (Gibbes, 173–174); Rutledge to PH, October 22, 1781 (ibid., 194–195).

  205“It is high time . . . commanding you or not”: FM to Maham, October 18, 1781 (Gibbes, 194) (quotation); Boddie, Traditions, 234–235.

  205“You will please . . . command of General Marion”: NG to Maham, October 23, 1781 (NGP9:468).

  205“no man . . . better than yourself”: NG to FM, October 23, 1781 (NGP9:468).

  205Maham returned the horse: Joseph Johnson, Traditions and Reminiscences, 287. Johnson identifies the horse as belonging to the son of Mr. Oliver.

  205“General Marion cannot wish . . . avoiding them”: NG to PH, November 6, 1781 (Gibbes, 207).

  205meant nothing personal . . . “the very action itself”: FM to PH, November 9, 1781 (Gibbes, 210).

  206he and Horry met . . . satisfied: FM to PH, October 29, 1781 (Gibbes, 199); PH to NG, November 8, 1781 (NGP9:546–547); NG to PH, November 11, 1781 (Gibbes, 210).

  206they learned . . . Cornwallis had surrendered: FM to PH, October 29, 1781 (Gibbes, 199); NG to FM, October 30, 1781 (NGP9:496–497).

  206Marion hosted a ball: Bass, Swamp Fox, 224; Ames, Cantey Family, 31.

  206“The general’s heart . . . his breast”: James, 80.

  206John Postell . . . would remain in jail: FM to NG, August 18, November 8, 30, 1781 (NGP9:204 and n2, 549, 642); Conrad, NGP9:643n7; FM to NG, January 26, 1782 (NGP10:265); NG to FM, January 28, 1782 (NGP10:275); Rankin, 252; McCrady, 155.

  206Peter Sinkler . . . denied a farewell visit: Dubose, “Address at the 17th Anniversary,” 7–8; Dubose, “Reminiscences of St. Stephens Parish,” 45–48; Ames, Cantey Family, 35; Nason McCormick, “South Carolina: The Revolutionary Generation,” Comments on Life and Culture in These United States, June 6, 2010, nasonmac.wordpress.com/tag/hezekiah-maham.

  207“between ourselves” . . . had or could “get”: Rutledge to FM, October 24, 1781 (Gibbes, 196).

  207Greene wrote Marion . . . inappropriate: NG to FM, October 30, 1781 (NGP9:497 and n3). Greene repeated the admonition a few days later. NG to FM, November 5, 1781 (ibid., 531).

  207written to Gould . . . to complain: NG to Gould, October 29, 1781 (NGP9:495).

  207Sinkler . . . died soon thereafter: Dubose, “Address at the 17th Anniversary,” 8.

  207Initially Greene hoped . . . “Mad Anthony” Wayne: Swager, The Valiant Died, 126; William Johnson, Life of Greene, 2:256–257, 276–277; Royster, Light-Horse Harry Lee, 47–48; Pancake, This Destructive War, 236; NG to FM, October 16, 1781 (NGP9:448); Alexander Martin to NG, November 28, 1781 (ibid., 634–635); Wayne to NG, November 30, 1781 (ibid., 644 and n2); NG to Wayne, January 9, 1782 (NGP10:175–176); O’Kelley, Unwaried Patience, 559.

  208three or four hundred “over mountain” men . . . left to go home: Otho Williams to Elie Williams, November 10, 1781, Calendar of Otho Holland Williams Papers, 1744–1839, MS 908, Maryland Historical Society; NG to John Farr, October 24, 1781 (NGP9:470); FM to NG, November 2, 18, 25, 27, 1781 (ibid., 522, 590, 628, 632); Sevier to NG, November 9, 1781 (ibid., 552); NG to FM, November 24, 1781 (ibid., 618); Simms, 189–190; Christine Swager, “Marion After Eutaw Springs,” address at 5th Francis Marion/Swamp Fox Symposium, Manning, SC, October 20, 2007, DVD.

  208Pickens had recovered . . . Sumter was back . . . defending backcountry raids: William Johnson, Life of Greene, 2:258; Charles B. Baxley, “Gen. Nathanael Greene’s Moves to Force the British into the Charlestown Area, to Capture Dorchester, Johns Island and to Protect the Jacksonborough Assembly, November 1781–February 1782,” SCAR 12, no. 1.1 (January 23, 2015), 3–5; Swager, The Valiant Died, 129–131; NG to Sumter, November 2, 1781 (NGP9:517–518); Sumter to NG, December 9, 22, 1781 (NGP10:24–25 and n2, 89–90 and n4).

  209“the worst men”: Sumter to NG, November 14, 1781 (NGP9:576).

  209a secret plan . . . war’s end: Sumter to FM, November 23, 1781 (Gibbes, 213–214).

  209no longer viewed Sumter . . . free to coordinate: NG to McKean, August 25, 1781 (NGP9:242); NG to FM, November 5, 1781 (ibid., 531).

  209“As you are at liberty . . . avoid a surprise”: NG to FM, November 15, 1781 (NGP9:577).

  209Marion sent Maham . . . watched without intervening: FM to NG, November 18, 1781 (NGP9:589–590); Maham to NG, November 27, 1781 (ibid., 630–631 and nn2, 4); Henry A. M. Smith, “The Colleton Family in South Carolina,” SCHGM 1, no. 4 (October 1900): 333–335; Parker, 62; Stedman, History of the Origin, 2:183n. Tarleton apparently sympathized with the women and also supported hanging one of the offenders. Borick, A Gallant Defense, 152–153.

  209“dragging away . . . civilized nations”: John Doyle to FM, November 20, 1781 (Gibbes, 213).

  209Marion’s initial report: FM to NG, November 18, 1781 (NGP9:590).

  210Shelby later claimed: Conrad, NGP9:613n4.

  210nattack in a far different light: NG to FM, November 24, 1781 (NGP9:618); Maham to NG, November 27, 1781 (ibid., 630–631).

  210Within a matter of days . . . below Goose Creek: FM to NG, November 21, 25, 27, 30, 1781 (NGP9:606, 628, 631, 642); Baxley, “Gen. Nathanael Greene’s Moves,” 6–7.

  210leave the High Hills . . . now were in possession: Baxley, “Gen. Nathanael Greene’s Moves,” 7–15; Henry A. M. Smith, “The Town of Dorchester, in South Carolina: A Sketch of Its History,” SCHGM 6, no. 2 (April 1905): 84–85; NG to Otho Williams, December 2, 1781 (NGP9:649–650 and n2); Conrad, NGP9:xiv–xv.

  210“melancholy state . . . almost intolerable”: Willcox, Clinton’s Narrative, 356–357.

  211Yet the Americans . . . The British still . . . could forage: Simms, 191; William Johnson, Life of Greene, 2:266; NG to PH, December 14, 1781 (Gibbes, 222–223); NG to FM, December 14, 1781 (ibid., 223); Baxley, “Gen. Nathanael Greene’s Moves,” 17, 22.

  211Greene lived in constant fear . . . countermand his orders: NG to FM, December 16, 17, 22, 31, 1781 (Gibbes, 224–228); FM to NG, December 18, 21, 23, 30, 1781 (NGP10:74, 86, 94, 137); Boddie, Traditions, 232.

  211Neither King George nor Lord Germain: Carbone, Nathanae
l Greene, 209; Swager, The Valiant Died, 128.

  211“will not . . . so soon”: FM to NG, November 18, 1781 (NGP9:590).

  211“If we are not supported . . . better days”: NG to FM, December 14, 1781 (Gibbes, 223).

  CHAPTER 23: “As SOON AS THEY CAN SPARE ME”

  212Governor John Rutledge . . . called for elections: FM to NG, December 1, 1781 (NGP9:646 and n1).

  212“I am sorry . . . cannot be full”: Ibid., 646.

  212General Assembly at Jacksonboro: Haw, John and Edward Rutledge, 160; McCrady, 555, 560; NG to Rutledge, December 14, 1781 (NGP10:51 and n1); NG to FM, December 31, 1781 (Gibbes, 227).

  212up to Marion to cover: NG to FM, January 3, 1782 (Gibbes, 228).

  213most of those elected . . . turnout was low . . . changed the composition: McCrady, 557–563, 739–742; FM to NG, December 1, 1781, January 1, 1782 (NGP9:646, 10:147); Rogers, History of Georgetown County, 145; Haw, John and Edward Rutledge, 162; Brannon, “Reconciling the Revolution,” 113–114; Postell, “Notes on the Postell Family,” 51; Bailey and Cooper, South Carolina House, vol. 3, 1775–1790, 346–347, 376–377, 453–454, 574–577; N. Louise Bailey, ed., Biographical Dictionary of the South Carolina Senate, vol. 2, 1776–1785 (Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 1986), 753–754, 1035–1036, 1050–1052.

  213On January 11 . . . Mepkin Plantation: FM to PH, January 10, 1782 (Gibbes, 228–229); O’Kelley, Unwaried Patience, 559.

  213reaching a quorum . . . January 18 . . . DuBose’s tavern: McCrady, 560–561, 563; Conrad, NGP10:147–148n4; FM to PH, January 18, 1782 (Gibbes, 232); A. S. Salley, ed., Journal of the Senate of South Carolina: January 8, 1782–February 26, 1782 (Columbia, SC: The State Company, 1941), 3–5 and n1, 44, 142nn1–2; A. S. Salley, ed., Journal of the House of Representatives of South Carolina: January 8, 1782–February 26, 1782 (Columbia, SC: The State Company, 1916), 3–9; Steve Coker, “Tavern of Peter DuBose,” Rootsweb.com, January 1, 2007, archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/DuBose/2007–01/1167692640.

  214a dramatic scene . . . keynote speech: McCrady, 561–568; Salley, Journal of the Senate, 5–10.

  214“emaciated victims . . . That is Marion”: George Washington Greene, The Life of Nathanael Greene, Major-General in the Army of the Revolution, vol. 3, The War in the South, 1780–1783 (New York, 1871), 432–433.

  214passed laws . . . legislators bought him: McCrady 570–574; Conrad, NGP10:412n2.

  214Confiscation Act . . . “inveterate enemies of the state”: McCrady, 576–580; Brannon, “Reconciling the Revolution,” 79–84, 87–99, 103, 107; Phil Norfleet, “The South Carolina Estate Confiscation Act of 26 February 1782,” Tripod.com, n.d., sc_tories.tripod.com/estate_confiscation_lists_of_february_1782.htm.

  215“Well, gentlemen . . . Confiscation Act”: Weems, 236.

  215help raise needed revenue: FM to PH, February 10, 1782 (Gibbes, 249).

  215list of persons subject to confiscation: David J. McCord, ed., The Statutes at Large of South Carolina, vol. 6, Containing the Acts from 1814 . . . to 1838 (Columbia, SC, 1839), 629–635.

  216The original bill . . . were either moved from . . . or were dropped: McCrady, 584–588; McCord, Statutes, 1814–1838, 6:629–635; Salley, Journal of the Senate, 74–79, 97–98, 114–115, 117, 124, 129–131; Rachel N. Klein, Unification of a Slave State: The Rise of the Planter Class in the South Carolina Backcountry, 1760–1808 (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1990), 120–123; Lambert, South Carolina Loyalists, 286–293.

  216on the Senate committee: Journal of the Senate, Jan. 6 to Mar. 17, 1783, South Carolina Dept. of Archives and History, 11–59, 68, 237–239, 248–250.

  216“at least mitigated where there is room”: Gadsden to FM, November 17, 1782, in Walsh, Writings of Christopher Gadsden, 196.

  216“he that forgets . . . best citizen”: Ibid., 197.

  216Marion was willing to forgive . . . readily welcomed: Brannon, “Reconciling the Revolution,” 147, 252, 255, 268.

  216undertook . . . John Brockinton . . . confiscation remained: John Faucheraud Grimke Pension, W11088; Journal of the Senate, Jan. 6 to Mar. 17, 1783, South Carolina Dept. of Archives and History, 239, 250.

  216“in conjunction . . . arms against us”: Brannon, “Reconciling the Revolution,” 266; Lambert, South Carolina Loyalists, 287.

  216Gordon was . . . switched: McCord, Statutes, 1814–1838, 6:635.

  216also served on a committee: Salley, Journal of the Senate, 28, 30, 39–41, 45–49.

  216“one sound negro”: Thomas Cooper, ed., The Statutes at Large of South Carolina, vol. 4, Containing the Acts from 1752 . . . to 1786 (Columbia, SC, 1838), 513–515.

  217He and Charles Cotesworth Pinckney: NG to PH, March 29, 1782 (Gibbes, 281); David Neilan, “Marion and the Jacksonboro Assembly,” address at 9th Francis Marion/Swamp Fox Symposium, October 15, 2011, DVD.

  217never received their promised slaves: John Carter Pension, W8587; James Chitwood Pension, S1751.

  217“the natural strength . . . not the least doubt”: NG to Rutledge, December 9, 1781 (NGP10:22).

  217“opposed by common prejudices . . . two years past”: NG to Rutledge, January 21, 1782 (NGP10:228).

  217“people returned to their senses”: Edward Rutledge to Arthur Middleton, February 8, 1782, in “Correspondence of Hon. Arthur Middleton, Signer of the Declaration of Independence,” annotated by Joseph W. Barnwell, SCHGM 27, no. 1 (January 1926): 4.

  217“The Northern people . . . general Emancipation”: Aedanus Burke to Middleton, January 25–February 5, 1782, in Middleton, “Correspondence,” SCHGM 26, no. 4 (October 1925): 194.

  217despite rumors . . . only seven hundred: Carbone, Nathanael Greene, 210; NG to FM, April 15, 1782 (NGP11:64).

  217urgent messages . . . deserting him: NG to FM, January 16, 1782 (Gibbes, 230); PH to FM, January 31, 1782 (ibid., 246–247); James, 90.

  218face-to-face meeting . . . despite Marion’s orders: O’Kelley, Unwaried Patience, 558; FM to PH, February 3, 1782 (Gibbes, 248).

  218could call on Maham . . . militia work: FM to PH, January 18, 1782 (Gibbes, 231–232); Maham to PH, January 20, 1782 (Gibbes, 239).

  218referred to as a Legion: Hezekiah Maham Orderly Book, September 26, December 27, 1781, January 12, 13, 25, 1782, Manuscripts and Archives Division, New York Public Library. Marion also referred to Maham’s unit as a “Legion” (ibid., December 28, 1781, January 11, 1782).

  218“I . . . shall not obey . . . pleased to send”: Maham to PH, January 20, 1782 (Gibbes, 238).

  218Maham was issuing . . . “interferes with my command . . . can scarcely act”: PH to FM, January 31, 1782 (Gibbes, 246).

  218Marion prevailed upon Greene . . . “obstinate”: FM to NG, January 26, 1782 (NGP10:265–266).

  218Greene had just recently: Maham to NG, January 4, 1782 (NGP10:157–158); NG to Maham, January 17, 1782 (ibid., 212–213).

  218“a just . . . it is actions”: NG to Maham, February 1, 1782 (NGP10:297).

  218advise him not to gloat: NG to PH, February 1, 1782 (Gibbes, 247).

  218“I esteem you both . . . his folly”: NG to PH, February 14, 1782 (Gibbes, 252).

  218stuck in Jacksonboro . . . barely had a quorum: FM to PH, January 18, 20, February 3, 10, 14, 1782 (Gibbes, 232, 240, 248–249, 253).

  218“As soon as . . . will return”: FM to PH, January 18, 1782 (Gibbes, 232).

  218“I assure you . . . with you”: FM to PH, February 10, 1782 (Ibid., 249).

  218“would stop all business here”: FM to NG, February 19, 1782 (NGP10:391).

  219Senate had to adjourn: Salley, Journal of the Senate, 30, 41.

  219on February 20: Ibid., 106, 112, 138, 145.

  CHAPTER 24: “TO PREVENT THE EFFUSION OF BLOOD”

  220Benjamin Thompson . . . immediate assignment: Sanford C. Brown, Benjamin Thompson, Count Rumford (1979; repr., Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1981), 17, 24–39, 58, 78–82; Jim Piecuch, “Francis Marion Meets His Match: Benjamin Thompson Defeats the ‘Swamp Fox,’�
� Journal of the American Revolution, April 29, 2014, allthingsliberty.com/2014/04/francis-marion-meets-his-match-benjamin-thompson-defeats-the-swamp-fox; FM to NG, March 1, 1782 (NGP10:431); Conrad, NGP10:419n3, 420n5.

  220Peter Horry, incapacitated . . . Maham rode to Jacksonboro: PH to NG, February 28, 1782 (NGP10:419–421 and nn4, 6); O’Kelley, Unwaried Patience, 560; Salley, Journal of the House, 84; Linder and Thacker, Rice Plantations, 561–562.

  221Lee . . . asked for Greene’s permission: Lee to NG, January 26, 1782 (NGP10:264–265); Bass, Swamp Fox, 226; Royster, Light-Horse Harry Lee, 48, 52.

  221“I have the highest opinion . . . a friend”: NG to Lee, January 27, 1782 (Gibbes, 243).

  221Thompson struck . . . withdrew: PH to NG, February 28, 1782 (NGP10:419–420 and nn4, 5); James, 90–91; McCrady, 602–604; Piecuch, “Francis Marion Meets His Match”; Thompson to Leslie, February 24, 1782, in Report on Manuscripts in the Royal Institution of Great Britain (Dublin: John Falconer, 1906), 2:403–405.

  221Benison’s “neglect of duty”: PH to NG, February 28, 1782 (NGP10:419).

  221“reformed” Tories: James, 90–91; Rankin, 272–273.

  221Marion, accompanied by Maham . . . rallied his troops: Rankin, 273–275; James, 91; FM to PH, March 2, 1782 (Gibbes, 260–261); Maham to NG, March 1, 1782 (NGP10:429–430); O’Kelley, Unwaried Patience, 564; New-York Gazette, April 15, 1782; Piecuch, “Francis Marion Meets His Match”; Thompson to Leslie, February 25, 1782, in Report on Manuscripts, 2:405–407.

  222“chosen corps . . . in person: Thompson to Leslie, February 25, 1782, in Report on Manuscripts, 2:405.

  222elated . . . three days celebrating: Gray, “Observations,” 156–157.

  223Marion had drowned: New-York Gazette, April 15, 1782.

  223“which was the only thing . . . saved our men”: Maham to NG, March 1, 1782 (NGP10:430).

  223“a glorious opportunity . . . British cavalry”: FM to NG, March 1, 1782 (NGP10:431).