Biography francis marion swamp fox restaurant charleston sc

Like Southern youth of the time and today , Francis enjoyed the outdoors; hunting, fishing, riding horses, and the freedom that came with rural life. However, growing restless with age, Francis joined the crew of a merchant ship at the age of Bound for the West Indies, the ship would sink on its voyage, leaving five of the seven men, including Marion, to drift at sea for a week before running ashore.

Shortly before his 25th birthday, Francis and his brother, Job, were recruited to join the South Carolina Militia and fight in the French and Indian War , and later, the Anglo-Cherokee War — Finding fulfillment and success in the militia, Marion rose through to the ranks of lieutenant, learning a great deal from the Native Americans he fought.

Swamp fox restaurant menu

Rather than fight in large European style lines, Francis noted how the Cherokee used their smaller numbers and knowledge of the landscape to mount devasting ambushes on Marion and his militia — tactics he would later employ himself. After the war, Marion returned to St. Over the next few years, Marion would be promoted to Major and Lt.

Colonel, eventually taking command of the racially integrated Continental Army in In the fall of , Marion took part in the Siege of Savannah, a failed Franco-American attempt to capture the capital of Georgia which had been previously occupied by British forces. Retreating to Charleston, Marion would avoid capture under bizarre circumstances when the city eventually fell in May While attending a dinner party at the Charleston home of a fellow officer, Marion discovered the host had locked the doors, as was customary of the time.