[May 12, 2016] More than a decade ago the U.S. Army developed a “Warrior Ethos” program that was designed to help prepare soldiers for combat and it still exists today as part of the Soldier’s Creed.1 What it did not do was create warriors. Today, I’m introducing a real warrior – Francis Marion who was the father of guerrilla warfare during the American Revolutionary War.
You’ve probably heard of Nathanael Green or Thomas Sumter, all of whom along with Francis Marion were kindred spirits in driving the British out of the Carolinas in 1780-81. This came on the heels of the largest defeat of Americans in the war on this date, the 12th of May 1780. Marion, also known as the Swamp Fox, chased far more numerous British forces into Virginia where they eventually surrendered at Yorktown in October 1781.2
What is important for us here today is to understand what it takes to be a real warrior, one like Swamp Fox Marion. South Carolina was a deeply divided state, those wanting independence and those opposed; between Patriots and Loyalists. Marion and his men reacted to the Loyalists pacification of the Patriots by returning the violence many fold.
Due to his irregular methods of warfare, Marion is considered one of the fathers of modern guerilla warfare and is credited in the lineage of the U.S. Army Rangers. At the start of his guerilla campaign, he organized a small unit consisting on between 20 and 70 men and was the only force in the state at the time to oppose the British. Marion showed himself to be a singularly able leader of irregular militiamen and ruthless in terrorizing of Loyalists.
So hated by the British that they made repeated attempts to neutralize his small force but Marion’s intelligence was superior to that of the British. Marion also avoided British agents sent specifically to capture or kill him. At the end of the war he returned home to find his plantation had been burned and his slaves dispersed.
Swamp Fox Marion was recognized by the Continental Congress for his heroic deeds and helping secure a defeat upon the British. He did this as a true warrior and Patriot. Today you will hear little about him because he was a slave owner yet his efforts to help free America was undeniable.
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- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soldier%27s_Creed
- http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/americans-suffer-worst-defeat-of-revolution-at-charleston