Intro & (Book Review) The Swamp Fox - How Francis Marion Saved the American Revolution

I have been on this "liberty" journey for some time .. and for most of my life I didn't realize it.

It started when I was a young boy questioning not only the sermon from the pastor I was listening to on Sunday mornings as I compared it to what I read in the Bible .. but then also questioning what I read in encyclopedias (World Book variety in the 60s).

I am guessing I am a radical, a rebel but ultimately I am someone who used to follow the book (Bible) and missed loving the Man (Jesus) ... once again I looked to what Jesus said (the words written in red) ... and discovered that I have a Papa (Father) who loves me more than I knew .. this freedom has caused me to live loved and in turn love others who are searching well, wherever they are at in life's journey. To those that are stuck in religious or government focus I trust He will touch their hearts in His time when those things disappoint. Liberty and freedom are designed to transform our hearts ... and that transformation is not something I can tweak for another human being. (from my Blogger blog https://swabby76.blogspot.com/ )

So in my search for liberty I found this book that unpacked the adventures of Francis Marion in a time (1770s/1780s) when society in the colonies was very unsettled and there seemed to be a powder keg about to go off. https://www.amazon.com/Swamp-Fox-Francis-American-Revolution/dp/0306824574

In my research it was very apparent that the colonists had a fair amount of liberty and freedom under the British Empire however, there were things that the British wanted (ROI, return on investment and payment for the expense of the French - Indian War) but the colonists were resistant to give.

In reading this book it was apparent that my sons and daughter were interested in the story, but as 20 and 30 somethings (all full-time employed with very busy lives/families .. yes, I am blessed) they wanted a "Reader's Digest" version .. would "dad" e-mail them my thoughts on each chapter (my 3rd son was the first to suggest this, he even bought the book for me). Eventually I placed it on Blogger so that they could get to it when they could without digging through their e-mails.

What follows are my reviews .. about 26 in total .. and this is the first one:

The Swamp Fox - How Francis Marion Saved the American Revolution

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51E3hCrjFjL.SX330_BO1,204,203,200.jpg

As promised ... here is the 1st of several snippets that will give you a flavor of the caliber of this book.

1. I can't believe how much the SC part of the revolutionary conflict was a war among themselves ... Whigs (patriots) could change into a Tory (loyalist) overnight IF they were done wrong ... and I thought the Israelites were fickle .. even some of the early patriots faded away in 1780 when the British humiliated the American forces in Charleston that May.

2. The character in the movie The Patriot is a combination of Francis Marion (Swamp Fox) in eastern SC, Thomas Sumter in central SC and Andrew Pickens in the northwest mountainous part of SC dealing with the indians (Cherokees sided with British, other tribes with patriots)

3. August 16, 1780 was SC's darkest hour as former hero of Saratoga in the north (Gen Gates) fled like a pansy after he went head-to-head with the British in open field .. turns out the 5'2" 110 pound Francis (physique of a 13 yo) [NOTE: never called the Swamp Fox in his lifetime ] got lucky 2x .. the 1st time when he injured his ankle getting out of that officer's house in Charleston and therefore avoided capture in May 1780, he also was sent on a mission by Gates on August 15, 1780 to assist the patriots in the Williamsburg, SC area .. Scotch-Irish Presbyterians are fiercely independent and dislike external authority.

4. Francis was a French Huguenot .. but his grandfather came across with that background but by 1780 Francis was an Anglican. He was the youngest in his family .. tried being a sailor but the ship to the West Indies capsized and he was adrift for days and returned to SC. Eventually his oldest brother Gabriel sold him land adjacent to his own and Francis did the rice/indigo thing (pre-cotton) and did pretty good. He never married until he was in his mid-50s after the war.

5. August 18, 1780, Thomas Sumter's partisan band of 800 were surprised by Banastre Tarleton's force of 160 on horses and he like Gates escaped to North Carolina ..

It was in this pit that Francis Sumter became SC's freedom fighter ... on his own. He tried to communicate with Gen Gates (Continental Army Southern Command) but he rarely got a reply much less any support. Over the next two years SC would be the hotspot .. and at the end of the day, 20% of the Revolutionary War deaths would be in SC

Does that set the scene or what? :)

dad

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