The Life of Francis Marion | Page 4

finds in Ruins -- Is returned 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 such as naturally to inspire us with frequent doubts of its
statements. Mr. Weems had rather loose notions of the privileges of the
biographer; though, in reality, he has transgressed much less in his Life
of Marion than is generally supposed. But the untamed, and sometimes
extravagant exuberance of his style might well subject his narrative to

suspicion. Of the "Sketch" by the Hon. Judge James, we are more
secure, though, as a literary performance, it is quite as devoid of merit
as pretension. Besides, the narrative is not thorough. It dwells
somewhat too minutely upon one class of facts, to the neglect or the
exclusion of others. I have made both of these works tributary to my
own whenever this was possible.
Woodland, S.C., May 25, 1844.

The Life of Francis Marion.
Chapter 1.
Introduction -- The Huguenots in South Carolina.

The name of FRANCIS MARION is identified, in