During the American Revolution, who was Francis Marion?

Francis Marion was born in 1732 in Winyah, South Carolina. Marion gained his first military experience, in the French and Indian War with the rank of lieutenant, fighting against the Cherokee Indians in 1759.

Promoted to Major, in February of 1776, he participated in the defense of Charleston. Later in 1776, he was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel and given command of a regiment.

In 1780 when General Benjamin Lincoln surrendered to the British, Marion with a broken ankle, escaped into the swamps with between 20 and 70 men. After Patriot losses at Moncks Corner and the Waxhaw massacre, Marion's unit became the only Patriot force in South Carolina.

Using guerrilla tactics, much like his counterpart from the previous war, Robert Rogers, of Roger's Rangers, Marion went about attacking much larger British units in a lightning strike then, disappearing back to the swamp.

Because of his ability to attack and just vanish, British General Banastre Tarleton, out of frustration of having to chase Marion and his men in and out of the swamps, named him "The Swamp Fox".

In 1781, Marion and his men executed a daring rescue of Continentals who were surrounded by the British at Parker's Ferry. For making himself a serious nuisance to the British, Governor John Rutledge commissioned him a brigadier general of state troops.

After the war, Marion served several terms in the South Carolina State Senate and died on his estate in 1795, at the age of 63.