- published: 09 Dec 2013
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Francis Marion (February 26, 1732 – February 27, 1795) was a military officer who served in the American Revolutionary War. Acting with Continental Army and South Carolina militia commissions, he was a persistent adversary of the British in their occupation of South Carolina in 1780 and 1781, even after the Continental Army was driven out of the state in the Battle of Camden.
Due to his irregular methods of warfare, he is considered one of the fathers of modern guerrilla warfare, and is credited in the lineage of the United States Army Rangers. He was known as the Swamp Fox.
In 1732, Francis Marion was born on his family's plantation in Berkeley County, South Carolina.[1] Around the age of 15, he was hired on a ship bound for the West Indies which sank on his first voyage; the crew escaped on a lifeboat but had to spend one week at sea before reaching land.[1] During the following years, Marion managed the family's plantation.[1]
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 French and Indian War and to drive the Cherokee Indians away from the border. In 1761, Marion served as a lieutenant under Captain William Moultrie in a campaign against the Cherokee which destroyed many Indian villages and burned crops to starve the Cherokee into surrendering.