Editing Francis Marion

{{Short description|American military officer, planter and politician (1732–1795)}}
{{pp-move-indef}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2022}}
{{Infobox military person
| name          = Francis Marion
| image         = General Francis Marion (NYPL b13050113-421073).tiff
| birth_date    = {{circa}}&nbsp;1732
| death_date    = February 27, 1795<br />(aged {{circa}}&nbsp;63)
| nickname      = ''The Swamp Fox''
| birth_place   = [[Berkeley County, South Carolina|Berkeley County]], South Carolina, British America<ref name="Smithsonian" />
| death_place   = Berkeley County, South Carolina, U.S.
| placeofburial = [[St. Stephen, South Carolina]]
| allegiance    = Great Britain <br /> United States
| branch        = [[South Carolina National Guard|South Carolina Militia]] <br /> [[Continental Army]]
| serviceyears  = 1757–1782
| rank          = [[Lieutenant colonel]] Continental Army<br>[[Brigadier general (United States)|Brigadier General]] South Carolina Militia
| battles       = 
{{tree list}}
* [[French and Indian War]]
* [[Anglo-Cherokee War]]
* [[American Revolutionary War]]
** [[Battle of Sullivan's Island]]
** [[Siege of Savannah]]
** [[Siege of Charleston]]
** [[Battle of Black Mingo]]
** [[Battle of Tearcoat Swamp]]
** [[Siege of Fort Watson]]
** [[Siege of Fort Motte]]
** [[Battle of Eutaw Springs]]
{{tree list/end}}
}}

[[Brigadier general (United States)|Brigadier General]] ''' Francis Marion''' ({{circa}}&nbsp;1732 – February 27, 1795), also known as the "Swamp Fox", was an American military officer, planter, and politician who served during the [[French and Indian War]] and the [[American Revolutionary War|Revolutionary War]]. During the [[American Revolution]], Marion supported the [[Patriot (American Revolution)|Patriot cause]] and enlisted in the [[Continental Army]], fighting against [[Kingdom of Great Britain|British]] forces in the [[Southern theater of the American Revolutionary War]] from 1780 to 1781. 

Though he never commanded a [[field army]] or served as a commander in a major engagement, Marion's use of [[irregular warfare]] against the British has led him to be considered one of the fathers of [[Guerrilla warfare|guerrilla]] and [[maneuver warfare]], and his tactics form a part of the modern-day military doctrine of the [[United States Army|U.S. Army]]'s [[75th Ranger Regiment]].<ref name="Smithsonian">{{Cite web|url=http://www.smithsonianmag.com/biography/the-swamp-fox-157330429/?all|title=The Swamp Fox|last=Crawford|first=Amy|date=June 30, 2007|website=Smithsonian|access-date=May 23, 2016}}</ref><ref name="Dembroski">{{cite web|access-date=9 September 2022|date=October 6, 2015|first=Rick|last=Dembroski|title=Father of Special Operations: The Swamp Fox|url=https://sofrep.com/gear/father-of-special-operations-the-swamp-fox-special-operations-appreciation-month-ryan-zinke/|work=sofrep.com}}</ref>

==Early life==
Francis Marion was born in [[Berkeley County, South Carolina|Berkeley County]], Province of South Carolina, around 1732. His father Gabriel Marion was a [[Huguenots|Huguenot]] who emigrated to the [[Thirteen Colonies]] from [[Kingdom of France|France]] at some point prior to 1700 due to the [[Edict of Fontainebleau]] and became a [[Planter class|slaveowning planter]].<ref>''Southern and Western Monthly Magazine and Review'', Volume 1, 1845, page 210.</ref> Marion was born on his family's [[Plantation complexes in the Southern United States|plantation]], and at approximately the age of 15, he was hired on a [[merchant ship]] bound for the [[West Indies]] which sank on his first voyage; him and five other crew members escaped on a lifeboat but had to spend one week at sea before reaching land.<ref name="Smithsonian" /> In the following years, Marion managed the family's plantation, including overseeing the activities of the family's [[Slavery in the United States|slaves]].<ref name="Smithsonian" />

==French and Indian War==
{{further|Great Britain in the Seven Years' War}}

Marion began his military career shortly before his 25th birthday. On January 1, 1757, Francis and his brother, Job, were recruited by [[Captain]] John Postell to serve in the [[South Carolina National Guard|South Carolina Militia]] during the [[French and Indian War]]. Marion also saw service during the [[Anglo-Cherokee War]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Francis Marion |url=https://www.battlefields.org/learn/biographies/francis-marion |access-date=2024-05-02 |website=American Battlefield Trust |language=en-US}}</ref>

==American Revolutionary War==

===Early service===

During the [[American Revolution]], Marion supported the [[Patriot (American Revolution)|Patriot cause]] and on June 21, 1775, he was commissioned as an officer in the [[Continental Army]]'s [[2nd South Carolina Regiment]] (commanded by [[William Moultrie]]) at the rank of captain. Marion served with Moultrie in [[Battle of Sullivan's Island|the defense]] of [[Fort Moultrie|Fort Sullivan]] from a [[Royal Navy]] attack on June 28, 1776.<ref name="EB1911">{{EB1911|inline=y|wstitle=Marion, Francis|volume=17|page=722}}</ref> In September 1776, the [[Continental Congress]] commissioned Marion as a [[Lieutenant colonel (United States)|lieutenant colonel]]. In the autumn of 1779, he took part in the [[siege of Savannah]], a failed [[Franco-American Alliance|Franco-American]] attempt to capture the capital of [[Province of Georgia|Georgia]] which had been previously occupied by [[Kingdom of Great Britain|British]] forces.<ref name="EB1911"/><ref name="NPS">{{cite web|url=https://www.nps.gov/people/francis-marion.htm|title=Francis Marion|last=staff|work=National Park Service|access-date=9 September 2022}}</ref>

===Siege of Charleston===

A British force led by Sir [[Henry Clinton (British Army officer, born 1730)|Henry Clinton]] entered South Carolina in the early spring of 1780 and [[Siege of Charleston|laid siege]] to [[Charleston, South Carolina|Charleston]]. Marion was not captured with the rest of the city's garrison when Charleston capitulated on May 12, 1780, as he had broken an [[ankle]] in an accident and had left the city to recuperate. Clinton led part of the force that had captured Charleston back to [[Province of New York|New York]], but a significant number stayed for [[Southern theater of the American Revolutionary War|operations]] under Lord [[Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis|Charles Cornwallis]] in the [[Carolinas]]. After the loss of Charleston and the defeats suffered by [[Isaac Huger]]'s men at the [[Battle of Monck's Corner]] and [[Abraham Buford]]'s troops at the [[Battle of Waxhaws]] (near the [[Province of North Carolina|North Carolina]] border, in what is now [[Lancaster County, South Carolina|Lancaster County]]), Marion organized a small military unit, which at first consisted of between 20 and 70 men and was the only force then opposing the British in the region. At this point, Marion was still hobbling on his slowly healing ankle.<ref name="EB1911"/>

===Guerrilla campaigns===
[[Image: General Marion.jpg|thumb|'' General Marion Inviting a British Officer to Share His Meal'' by John Blake White; his slave [[Oscar Marion]] kneels at the left of the group.]]

Marion joined Major General [[Horatio Gates]] on July 27 just before the [[Battle of Camden]], but Gates had formed a low opinion of Marion. Gates sent Marion towards the interior to [[Intelligence in the American Revolutionary War|gather intelligence]] on the British forces opposing them. He thus missed the battle, which resulted in a British victory.<ref name="John">{{cite book|last1=Buchanan|first1=John|title=The Road to Guilford Courthouse|date=1997|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|location=New York|isbn=9780471327165|page=155}}</ref> Marion showed himself to be a singularly able leader of [[Irregular military|irregular]] militiamen and ruthless in his terrorizing of [[Loyalist (American Revolution)|Loyalists]]. Unlike the Continental Army, Marion's Men, as they were known, served without pay, supplied their own horses, arms and often their food. Marion's Men operated from a base camp on [[Snow's Island]] in Florence County.<ref>Gray p. 60</ref><ref name="Academic OneFile">{{cite journal|last=Gray|first=Jefferson|title=Up from the swamp: Francis Marion turned South Carolina's Low Country into a quagmire for the British and became one of history's greatest guerrilla leaders.|journal=MHQ: The Quarterly Journal of Military History|date=Autumn 2011|volume=24|issue=1|pages=56–65}}</ref>

Marion rarely committed his men to frontal warfare but repeatedly bewildered larger bodies of Loyalists or [[British Army|British regulars]] with quick surprise attacks and equally sudden withdrawal from the field. After their capture of Charleston, the British garrisoned South Carolina with help from local Loyalists, except for Williamsburg, which they were never able to hold. The British made one attempt to garrison Williamsburg at the colonial village of Hilltown but were driven out by Marion at the [[Battle of Black Mingo]].  

A state-erected information sign at Marion's gravesite on the former Belle Isle Plantation shows that he was engaged in twelve major battles and skirmishes in a two-year period: Black Mingo Creek on September 28, 1780; [[Battle of Tearcoat Swamp|Tearcoat Swamp]] on October 25, 1780; Georgetown (four attacks) between October 1780 and May 1781; Fort Watson on April 23, 1781; Fort Motte on May 12, 1781; Quinby Bridge on July 17, 1781; Parker's Ferry on August 13, 1781; Eutaw Springs on September 8, 1781; and Wadboo Plantation on August 29, 1782. Cornwallis observed, "Colonel Marion had so wrought the minds of the people, partly by the terror of his threats and cruelty of his punishments, and partly by the promise of plunder, that there was scarcely an inhabitant between the [[Santee River|Santee]] and the [[Pee Dee River|Pee Dee]] that was not in arms against us."<ref>Wickwire pp. 190–91</ref>

===Engagements with Tarleton===
[[Image:Banastre-Tarleton-by-Joshua-Reynolds.jpg|thumb|''[[Portrait of Banastre Tarleton]]'' by [[Joshua Reynolds]], 1782.]]

The British made repeated efforts to neutralize Marion's force, but Marion's intelligence gathering was excellent and that of the British was poor, due to the overwhelming Patriot presence in the Williamsburg area. Colonel [[Banastre Tarleton]] was sent to capture or kill Marion in November 1780. After pursuing Marion's troops for over 26 miles through a swamp, Tarleton supposedly said "as for this old fox, the Devil himself could not catch him."<ref name="NPS"/> Based on this tale, Marion's supporters began to call him "the Swamp Fox".<ref name="Smithsonian" /> 

Once Marion had shown his ability at guerrilla warfare, making himself a serious nuisance to the British, Governor [[John Rutledge]] commissioned him as a brigadier general of militia.<ref name="AHC">{{cite web|url=https://www.americanhistorycentral.com/entries/francis-marion/|title=Biography of Francis Marion the "Swamp Fox" of the American Revolution|last=staff|work=American History Central|access-date=9 September 2022}}</ref> Marion fought against [[Black Loyalist|freed slaves]] working or fighting alongside the British. He received an order from Rutledge to execute all Black people suspected of carrying provisions or gathering intelligence for the British "agreeable to the laws of this State".<ref>Young p. 74</ref>

===End of the war===

When Major General [[Nathanael Greene]] took command in the South, Marion and Lieutenant Colonel [[Henry Lee III]] were ordered in January 1781 to attack Georgetown, but were unsuccessful. In April, they [[Siege of Fort Watson|took Fort Watson]]. In May, they [[Siege of Fort Motte|captured Fort Motte]], breaking communications between British outposts in the Carolinas. On August 31, Marion rescued a small American force trapped by 500 British soldiers, under the leadership of Major C. Fraser. For this action he received the thanks of the Continental Congress. Marion commanded the right wing under General Greene at the [[Battle of Eutaw Springs]].<ref name="EB1911"/><ref name="Dunkerly">{{cite book|last1=Dunkerly|first1=Robert|last2=Boland|first2=Irene|title=Eutaw Springs|date=2017|publisher=The University of South Carolina Press|location=Columbia|isbn=9781611177589|pages=20–33}}</ref>

In January 1782, he was elected to the [[South Carolina General Assembly]] at [[Jacksonboro, South Carolina|Jacksonborough]] and left his troops to take up his seat.<ref>Cate p. 164</ref> During his absence, Marion's men grew disheartened, particularly after a British [[sortie]] from Charleston, and there was reportedly a conspiracy to turn him over to the British. But in June of that year, he put down a Loyalist rebellion on the banks of the Pee Dee River. In August, Marion left his unit and returned to his [[slave plantation]], Pond Bluff.<ref name="EB1911"/> In 1782, the British Parliament suspended offensive operations in America, and in December 1782, the British withdrew their garrison from Charleston. The [[Treaty of Paris (1783)|Treaty of Paris]] brought the war to an end.{{fact|date=December 2022}}

==Later life and death==

When Marion returned to Pond Bluff, he discovered it had been destroyed during the war. Of the roughly 200 slaves there before the war, most had fled the plantation, with some joining the British when Clinton had issued the [[Philipsburg Proclamation]] offering freedom for people enslaved by Patriots. Those who had joined the British were evacuated from Charleston at the end of the war and at least one settled in [[Nova Scotia]]. Meanwhile, 10 people were moved to Belle Isle, a plantation owned by Marion's brother Gabriel, during the war. Four [[house slave]]s were also moved to Gabriel's plantation, all of whom had been singled out for favorable treatment in Marion's prewar will: overseer June and his wife, Chloe; their daughter Phoebe (sister of Buddy, Marion's enslaved manservant); and her daughter Peggy.{{fact|date=December 2022}}

These enslaved people, together with the 10 field hands, went back with him to Pond Bluff. After the war, Marion borrowed money to purchase more slaves for his plantation.<ref>Risjord p. 93</ref> At the age of 54, Marion married his 49-year-old cousin, Mary Esther Videau.<ref>{{cite news|title=Banner Description|publisher=[[Berkeley County, South Carolina|Berkeley County]] Government|url=http://www.co.berkeley.sc.us/county_council/banner_desc.php|access-date=October 23, 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061007204247/http://www.co.berkeley.sc.us/county_council/banner_desc.php|archive-date=October 7, 2006}}</ref> Marion served several terms in the [[South Carolina State Senate]]. In 1784, in recognition of his services, he was made commander of [[Fort Johnson (South Carolina)|Fort Johnson]], a [[sinecure]] with an annual salary of $500 <ref>{{cite web |last=Hickman |first=Kennedy |title=American Revolution: Brigadier General Francis Marion – The Swamp Fox |url=http://militaryhistory.about.com/od/americanrevolutio1/p/American-Revolution-Brigadier-General-Francis-Marion-The-Swamp-Fox.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130328234717/http://militaryhistory.about.com/od/americanrevolutio1/p/American-Revolution-Brigadier-General-Francis-Marion-The-Swamp-Fox.htm |archive-date=March 28, 2013 |access-date=March 7, 2013 |publisher=About.com Military History}}</ref> (at the time, privates in the [[First American Regiment]] were paid $6.67 a month<ref>{{Cite web |last=Admin |date=2015-01-27 |title=First American Regiment |url=https://armyhistory.org/first-american-regiment/ |access-date=2023-10-14 |website=The Army Historical Foundation |language=en-US}}</ref>). He died on his plantation in 1795, at the age of 63, and was buried at Belle Isle Plantation Cemetery in Berkeley County, South Carolina.<ref name="EB1911"/><ref>[https://www.tripadvisor.com/LocationPhotoDirectLink-g54394-d4105287-i63860148-Francis_Marion_gravesite-Pineville_South_Carolina.html TripAdvisor]</ref>

==Legacy==

The public memory of Marion has been shaped in large part by the first biography about him, ''The Life of General Francis Marion'', written by [[Mason Locke Weems]] and based on the memoirs of South Carolinian soldier [[Peter Horry]].<ref name="Smithsonian" /><ref>M. L. Weems: The Life of General Francis Marion [https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/846 Online text] at [[Project Gutenberg]]</ref> ''[[The New York Times]]'' has described Weems as one of the "early [[Hagiography|hagiographers]]" of American literature "who elevated the Swamp Fox, Francis Marion, into the American pantheon."<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/07/04/books/bookend-life-literature-and-the-pursuit-of-happiness.html | work=[[The New York Times]] | title=Bookend; Life, Literature and the Pursuit of Happiness | first=Andrew | last=Delbanco | date=July 4, 1999}}</ref> Weems is known for having invented the apocryphal [[Mason Locke Weems#Cherry-tree anecdote|"cherry tree" anecdote]] about [[George Washington]], and "Marion's life received similar embellishment", as Amy Crawford wrote in ''[[Smithsonian (magazine)|Smithsonian]]'' magazine in 2007.<ref name="Smithsonian" /> In the 1835 novel ''[[Horse-Shoe Robinson]]'' by [[John P. Kennedy]], a historical romance set against the background of the Southern theater of the American Revolutionary War, Marion appears and interacts with the fictional characters. In the book, he is depicted as decisive, enterprising, and valiant.

[[Hans Conried]] portrayed Marion in an episode of the ''[[Cavalcade of America]]'' television series, "The Swamp Fox", which was broadcast on October 25, 1955. Walt Disney Productions produced ''[[The Swamp Fox (TV series)|The Swamp Fox]]'', an eight-episode mini-series about Marion that aired from 1959 to 1961. It starred [[Leslie Nielsen]] as Marion, and Nielsen was also one of the singers of the theme song. The series depicted Mary Videau (who in the series has no familial relationship with Marion) secretly acting as an informant for Marion on British movements and Marion's nephew Gabriel Marion being killed by Loyalists, causing Marion to seek revenge on those responsible.

Marion was one of the influences for the main character of Benjamin Martin ([[Mel Gibson]]) in the 2000 movie ''[[The Patriot (2000 film)|The Patriot]]'', which, according to Crawford, "exaggerated the Swamp Fox legend for a whole new generation."<ref name="Smithsonian" /> The contrast between the film's depiction of Marion "as a family man and hero who single-handedly defeats countless hostile Brits" and the real-life Marion was one of the "egregious oversights" that ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' magazine cited when listing ''The Patriot'' as number one of its "Top 10 historically misleading films" in 2011.<ref>Webley, Kayla (January 26, 2011). [https://web.archive.org/web/20110128181922/http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2044347_2044350,00.html "Top 10 Historically Misleading Films, 1. The Patriot, 2000"]. ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]''.</ref> In the film, Martin describes violence that he committed in the French and Indian War. Around the time of the film's release, comments in the British press challenged the American notion of Marion as a hero. In the ''[[Evening Standard]]'', the British author [[Neil Norman]] called him "a thoroughly unpleasant dude who was, basically, a terrorist."<ref>[[Neil Norman|Norman, Neil]] (June 20, 2000). [https://archive.today/20130505090817/http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/film/article-560613-details/Mel's+vendetta+against+England/article.do "Mel's vendetta against England"]. ''[[Evening Standard]]''.</ref> 

Concurrently, the British historian [[Christopher Hibbert]] described Marion as "very active in the persecution of the Cherokee Indians and not at all the sort of chap who should be celebrated as a hero. The truth is that people like Marion committed atrocities as bad, if not worse, than those perpetrated by the British." According to ''[[The Guardian]]'', "it seems that Marion was slaughtering Indians for fun and regularly raping his female slaves".<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/film/2000/jun/15/news.melgibson "Mel Gibson's latest hero: a rapist who hunted Indians for fun"]. ''[[The Guardian]]''. June 15, 2000. Retrieved May 2, 2021.</ref> According to John Oller's 2016 biography, ''The Swamp Fox: How Francis Marion Saved the American Revolution'', the allegation about Marion raping slaves is untrue. Marion enjoyed generally good relations with his slaves, including Peggy, the mixed-raced daughter of a Native American man and an African American woman. In an early will created when he was single, Marion freed Peggy and endowed her education, contrary to South Carolina law at the time, which made it a crime to teach slaves to write. Oller writes that there is no proof, either, that Marion personally committed any atrocities during the Anglo-Cherokee War, at least as a matter of choice, although he participated in some by order of his commander [[James Grant (British Army officer, born 1720)|James Grant]].{{fact|date=December 2022}}

In a commentary published in the ''[[National Review]]'', the conservative talk radio host [[Michael Graham (radio personality)|Michael Graham]] rejected criticisms like Hibbert's as an attempt to rewrite history:

{{blockquote |Was Francis Marion a slave owner? Was he a determined and dangerous warrior? Did he commit acts in an 18th-century war that we would consider atrocious in the current world of peace and [[political correctness]]? As [[John Shaft|another great American film hero]] might say: "You<!--sic--> damn right."{{pb}}
That's what made him a hero, 200 years ago and today.<ref name="graham">[[Michael Graham (radio personality)|Graham, Michael]] (June 26, 2000). [https://web.archive.org/web/20120421205519/http://old.nationalreview.com/comment/comment062600b.html "The British Are Crying, the British Are Crying. Knock Mel all you want, but leave Francis alone"]. ''[[National Review]]''.</ref>}} Graham also referred to what he describes as "the unchallenged work of South Carolina's premier historian Dr. [[Walter Edgar]], who pointed out in his 1998 ''South Carolina: A History'' that Marion's partisans were "a ragged band of both black and white volunteers."<ref name="graham"/>

English historian [[Hugh Bicheno]] compared Marion's behavior with British officers during the war, including Tarleton and Major James Wemyss. Referring to Marion, Tarleton and Wemyss, Bicheno wrote that "they all tortured prisoners, hanged fence-sitters, abused parole and flags of truce, and shot their own men when they failed to live up to the harsh standards they set."<ref>Rebels and Redcoats, Hugh Bicheno, Harper Collins, 2004, London p. 189.</ref> According to Crawford, the biographies by historians [[William Gilmore Simms]] (''The Life of Francis Marion'') and Hugh Rankin can be regarded as generally accurate.<ref name="Smithsonian" /> The introduction to the 2007 edition of Simms's book (originally published in 1844) was written by Sean Busick, a professor of [[History of the United States|American history]] at [[Athens State University]] in [[Alabama]], who says that based on the facts, "Marion deserves to be remembered as one of the heroes of the War for Independence."<ref name="Smithsonian" /> Crawford commented:

{{blockquote|Francis Marion was a man of his times: he owned slaves, and he fought in a brutal campaign against the Cherokee Indians. While not noble by today's standards, Marion's experience in the French and Indian War prepared him for more admirable service.<ref name="Smithsonian" />}}

==Landmarks==
{{Main|List of places named for Francis Marion}}
[[Image:Francis Marion Park, Georgetown, SC IMG 4511.JPG|right|thumb|
The Francis Marion Park is located in front of the Harborwalk in [[Georgetown, South Carolina]].]] 

Numerous locations in the U.S. are named after Francis Marion, including the [[Francis Marion National Forest]] near [[Charleston, South Carolina|Charleston]], South Carolina. The city of [[Marion, Iowa]]. holds an annual Swamp Fox Festival.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Swamp Fox Festival {{!}} City of Marion, IA|url=https://www.cityofmarion.org/recreation/parks-recreation/events/swamp-fox-festival|access-date=July 16, 2020|website=www.cityofmarion.org}}</ref> [[Marion County, South Carolina]], and its county seat, the [[Marion, South Carolina|City of Marion]], are named for Marion. The city features a statue of General Marion in the town square, and has a museum which includes many artifacts related to Francis Marion; the Marion High School mascot is the Swamp Fox. [[Francis Marion University]] is located nearby in [[Florence County, South Carolina]]. The [[Swamp_Fox_(roller_coaster)|Swamp Fox]] is a wooden roller coaster located in [[Myrtle Beach, South Carolina]]. In Washington, D.C., [[Marion Park]] is one of the four large parks in the [[Capitol Hill]] Parks constellation. The park is bounded by 4th & 6th Streets and at the intersection of E Street and South Carolina Avenue in southeast Washington, D.C.<ref>National Park Service – Marion Park: http://www.nps.gov/cahi/historyculture/cahi_marion.htm</ref> 

The [[Francis Marion Hotel]] is a historic hotel in downtown Charleston, South Carolina. Within the hotel is a restaurant called the Swamp Fox. The municipalities of Marion in [[Marion, Alabama|Alabama]], [[Marion, Illinois|Illinois]], [[Marion, Indiana|Indiana]], [[Marion, Iowa|Iowa]], [[Marion, Kansas|Kansas]], [[Marion, Kentucky |Kentucky]], [[Marion, Louisiana|Louisiana]], [[Marion, Massachusetts|Massachusetts]], [[Marion, Mississippi|Mississippi]], [[Marion, New York|New York]], [[Marion, North Carolina|North Carolina]], [[Marion, Ohio|Ohio]], [[Marion, Pennsylvania|Pennsylvania]], [[Marion, South Carolina|South Carolina]], [[Marion, Virginia|Virginia]], and [[Marion Center, Pennsylvania]], are named for Francis Marion. [[Marion County, Indiana]] (of which the city of [[Indianapolis]] is a part), is named for the general, as are Marion Counties in [[Marion County, Alabama|Alabama]], [[Marion County, Arkansas|Arkansas]], [[Marion County, Florida|Florida]], [[Marion County, Georgia|Georgia]], [[Marion County, Iowa|Iowa]], [[Marion County, Illinois|Illinois]], [[Marion County, Kansas|Kansas]], [[Marion County, Kentucky|Kentucky]], [[Marion County, Missouri|Missouri]], [[Marion County, Mississippi|Mississippi]], [[Marion County, Ohio|Ohio]], [[Marion County, Oregon|Oregon]], [[Marion County, South Carolina|South Carolina]], [[Marion County, Tennessee|Tennessee]], [[Marion County, Texas|Texas]], and [[Marion County, West Virginia|West Virginia]], and more than 30 [[Marion Township (disambiguation)|townships]] in nine states. The [[Military Junior College]] [[Marion Military Institute]] in [[Marion, Alabama]], has an organization called Swamp Fox which is attributed to Francis Marion. The [[marionberry]] is named after the county in Oregon and so derives its name from him.<ref name ="Gannett">{{cite book|last=Gannett|first=Henry|title=The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9V1IAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA200|year=1905|publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office|page=200}}</ref> 

The [[169th Fighter Wing]] of the [[South Carolina Air National Guard]], located about 12 miles east of Columbia in Eastover, South Carolina, boasts the title "Home of the Swamp Fox" and has an image of the face of a fox painted on the body of their F-16 Fighter Jets. The [[South Carolina State Guard]], the successor to the South Carolina Militia, charters the Swamp Fox Explorer Post 1670 through the national division of [[Exploring (Learning for Life)]] for youth 14 to 20 years of age. In 1994, Marion was posthumously inducted into the U.S. Army Ranger Hall of Fame.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.rangers-army.org/images/RHOF_Master_List_thru_2015.pdf |title=U.S. Army Ranger Hall of Fame |date=June 12, 2015 |publisher=Worldwide Army Rangers, Inc |access-date=November 7, 2021}}</ref> 

In 2006, the [[United States House of Representatives]] approved a monument to Francis Marion, to be built in [[Washington, D.C.]], sometime in 2007–2008. The bill died in the [[United States Senate|Senate]] and was reintroduced in January 2007. The Brigadier General Francis Marion Memorial Act of 2007 passed the House of Representatives in March 2007, and the Senate in April 2008. The bill was packaged into the omnibus [[Consolidated Natural Resources Act of 2008]], which passed both houses and was enacted in May 2008.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://uscode.house.gov/statviewer.htm?volume=122&page=781|title=Public Law 110–228|website=US House of Representatives}}</ref> Although a site at [[Marion Park]] was selected,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://parkplanning.nps.gov/document.cfm?parkID=428&projectID=54952&documentID=61949|title=NPS PEPC – Public Scoping: Marion Memorial-Site Selection|website=parkplanning.nps.gov|access-date=April 8, 2019}}</ref> it was not built before authorization expired in 2018.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://uscode.house.gov/statviewer.htm?volume=129&page=1184|title=Public Law 114–92|website=US House of Representatives}}</ref> Some local residents opposed a monument to a slaveowner.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/express/wp/2014/12/02/dont-want-a-federal-monument-in-your-neighborhood-park-tough-luck/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180706164924/https://www.washingtonpost.com/express/wp/2014/12/02/dont-want-a-federal-monument-in-your-neighborhood-park-tough-luck/|url-status=dead|archive-date=July 6, 2018|title=Don't want a federal monument in your neighborhood park? Tough luck.|last=Dingfelder|first=Sadie|date=December 2, 2014|newspaper=Washington Post}}</ref> The U.S. Navy was home to the [[USS Francis Marion (APA-249)|USS ''Francis Marion'']], a ''Paul Revere''-class attack transport. The ship served as the flag for COMPHIBGRU 2 (Commander Amphibious Group 2). For many years, Submarine Squadron Four at the Charleston Naval Base called itself the Swamp Fox Squadron.

==Gallery==
<gallery class="center">
File:Francis Marion Historic Marker.jpg|Historic marker at the burial site of Marion
File:Francis Marion Historic Marker 2.jpg|Historic marker at the burial site of Marion
File:Francis Marion Informative Sign.jpg|Informative sign at the burial site of Marion
File:Francis Marion Informative Sign 2.jpg|Informative sign at the burial site of Marion
File:Burial Site fenced in.jpg|Final resting place of Marion
File:Burial Site Plaque.jpg|Final resting place of Marion
</gallery>

==See also==
* [[Early history of Williamsburg, South Carolina]]

==Citations==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==Bibliography==
* Bass, Robert D. ''Swamp Fox''. 1959.
* Boddie, William Willis. ''History of Williamsburg''. Columbia, SC: State Co., 1923.
* Boddie, William Willis. ''Marion's Men: A List of Twenty-Five Hundred''. Charleston, SC: Heisser Print Co., 1938.
* Boddie, William Willis. ''Traditions of the Swamp Fox: William W. Boddie's Francis Marion''. Spartanburg, SC: Reprint Co. 2000.
* Busick, Sean R. ''A Sober Desire for History: William Gilmore Simms as Historian''. 2005. {{ISBN|1-57003-565-2}}.
* Cate, Alan C. ''Founding Fighter: The Battlefield Leaders Who Made American Independence''. Praeger, 2006.
* [[John Oller|Oller, John]]. ''The Swamp Fox: How Francis Marion Saved the American Revolution''. Boston: Da Capo Press, 2016. {{ISBN|978-0-306-82457-9}}.
* Risjord, Norman K. ''Representative Americans: The Revolutionary Generation''. Rowman & Littlefield, 2001.
* Simms, W.G. ''The Life of Francis Marion''. New York, 1833.
* Myers, Jonathan. ''Swamp Fox: Birth of a Legend''. Ambition Studios, 2004.
* Young, Jeffrey Robert. ''Domesticating Slavery: The Master Class in Georgia and South Carolina, 1670–1837''. University of North Carolina Press, 1999.
* Wickwire, Franklin and Mary. ''Cornwallis and the War of Independence''. John Dickens & Co, 1970.

==External links==
{{commons cat}}
* [https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/biography/fox.html The Swamp Fox, Smithsonian.com]
* [http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/webbin/book/search?author=&amode=words&title=francis+marion&tmode=words The Online Books Page: Texts about Francis Marion]
{{American tall tales}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Marion, Francis}}

[[Category:1730s births]]
[[Category:1795 deaths]]
[[Category:Continental Army officers from South Carolina]]
[[Category:Militia generals in the American Revolution]]
[[Category:American people of French descent]]
[[Category:Huguenot participants in the American Revolution]]
[[Category:People from pre-statehood South Carolina]]
[[Category:People of South Carolina in the American Revolution]]
[[Category:People from colonial South Carolina]]
[[Category:18th-century American planters]]
[[Category:South Carolina militiamen in the American Revolution]]
[[Category:South Carolina state senators]]
[[Category:Members of the United States Army Special Forces]]
[[Category:American folklore]]
[[Category:American guerrillas]]
[[Category:British America army officers]]
[[Category:People of South Carolina in the French and Indian War]]
[[Category:People from Berkeley County, South Carolina]]
[[Category:American slave owners]]
[[Category:18th-century members of the South Carolina General Assembly]]