More a major skirmish, the Battle of Black Mingo, just prior to midnight, September 28, 1780, [some accounts incorrectly give the date as September 14th] helped propagate the legend of one who would be termed the ‘Swamp Fox.’ Lt. Colonel Francis Marion was a militia leader and obstinate patriot who preferred to fight his war in small doses, usually company strength militiamen using surprise, hit and run guerrilla tactics. Marion supposedly received his nickname from his arch enemy; the war’s deviant Satin-incarnate; Colonel Banastre Tarleton. A guy so evil that when Hollywood’s blockbuster Patriot needed a sneering Brit for ultimate antagonist, they chose Tarleton to burn down a church, right after having stuffed it full of patriot townspeople. Marion’s first three years of the war were pretty mild; spending it in Charleston, South Carolina training troops and complaining they were drunk most of the time. His reign of terror on British and Loyalist militia would start right after he escaped the British dragnet that captured Charleston and the American Southern Army on May 12, 1780. From then to the war’s end, he was a right ‘Royal’ pain in the arse for King Georgie’s troops.
The events at Black Mingo Swamp continued to set a pattern defining Marion’s battle tactics for the rest of the war; comb the countryside seeking new militia recruits, search out an enemy appropriately camped out in a swamp or moving through a swamp, then a surprise attack in the dead of the night – forcefully and brutally. So too, as at Black Mingo and later at Tearcoat Swamp, overwhelm your opponent in a three-prong attack from center and flanks. Marion did learn one important lesson at Black Mingo that helped him expand his portfolio of legendary escapades; don’t let your horsemen clomp loudly over a wooden bridge in the middle of the night when you are hoping to surprise your snoring enemy. Doesn’t work…every time.
War Shifts South
Once England tired of chasing after the northern ‘Fox,’ their term for Mr. Washington [never honoring the Founding Father with General], they shifted their attention to the south. From December 29, 1778 with the fall of Savannah, until the fall of 1781 with the battles of Eutaw Springs and Yorktown, the war in the south was a series of highs and lows for both sides of the conflict. But what was apparent in the south, from the very beginning until the final shots of anger fired in 1783, was the pure hatred expressed between Loyalist or Tories and Rebels calling themselves Patriots. The violence that erupted between the two opposing forces was ferocious and final; absent were the gentlemanly chivalry one expected on an 18th century ‘field of honor’. It was a ‘gloves off’ fight to the finish that usually ended with the victor hacking their victim to pieces; that is if there wasn’t enough rope and appropriate tree handy.
Background
Shortly after the American Army was wiped off the map, Colonel Tarleton proved the British were out for keeps, as well as very handy with the saber. At the Battle of Waxhaws, May 29, 1780, the cavalryman’s loyalist troopers cut down 260 Americans after they had surrendered. Soon after, the Patriots struck back at the bloody Battle of Ramsour’s Mill, June 20, 1780, destroying British hopes for a strong Tory presence in North Carolina’s backcountry. The British turned it back around when the hapless American Major General Horatio Gates marched a pieced together American Southern Army, that included some veteran Continental reinforcements, to total and utter defeat at the Battle of Camden, August 16, 1780.
Camden left the deep south wide open to British control and aggression towards patriot strongholds. From the time Francis ‘Swamp Fox’ Marion found himself in the countryside, fighting to keep the rebellion alive, he began recruiting his own company of patriot militia for when the American Army would once more operate in the south in strength. It would be nearly eight months from Charleston’s loss to when Major General Nathanael Greene, commanding a new Southern Army, showed up in force. During that time, the hopes of keeping the Carolinas totally out of British hands fell to backcountry, guerrilla tactics of men like General Thomas Sumter and Francis Marion. The later having honed his strategy of ambush and sudden, hit and run tactics from fighting the Cherokee Nation during the French and Indian War. For Marion and his followers, it was often a war of attrition and survival; staying one step ahead of British pursuit. Marion troop numbers would dwindle and swell: depending on the area he traversed, if a vulnerable enemy were near, and the need for militiamen to return to their families. By the fall of 1780, Marion remained active in the South Carolina lowlands whereas he took what action he could to harass his enemy. His knowledge of the terrain abled him to fade into the countryside, only to emerge again and strike unexpected.
Sifting Through Multiple Histories of Swamp Fox
Over the generations, countless fantastical texts were written about a chivalrous, Francis Marion and his backcountry adventures against the British invasion of the south. The granddaddy of them all was the guy who gave us George Washington’s farfetched anecdotes that charmed an attentive 19th century audience; none other than ‘Cherry Tree’ Pastor Weems. His 1809 text on Swamp Fox set the stage for others to cash in on a growing America’s thirst for colorful characters of the Revolution. Eventually, most of Marion’s romantic escapades ended up in Walt Disney’s ‘Wonderful World of Color’ mini-series ‘Swamp Fox;’ running from 1959 to the early 60’s, staring a young Leslie Nielsen. Watch for fun, but ignore the careless treatment of history and dated stereotypes, such as the ‘loyal slave’ African American.
But there is one early account that scholars give more weight to than others; William Gilmore Simms’ 1857 text The Life of Francis Marion. If you excuse his lavish treatment of patriot passions and occasional slips of facts, in this case the total number of combatants and casualties at Black Marion, his descriptions of what occurred prior to and once the first shots were fired are invaluable. Leaning on Simms’ attentive pen, and a couple other early sources by Horatio Moore (1845) and William James (1821), we get a good idea of Marion’s movements and sheer determination once the ‘sword is laid’ upon his enemy.
Marion’s Movements
After the debacle at Camden, August 16th, the remains of the American southern army licked its wounds at Hillsborough, North Carolina; tucked away closer to the Virginia border. Marion remained in South Carolina, harassing British supply routes. After burning supply boats on December 14th on the Santee River to acquire arms, he attacked a detachment of British troops transporting Continental prisoners from Camden. His victory at this, the Battle of Nelson’s Ferry, Aug. 25th , in which he was able to release sixty Continental prisoners, infuriated British commanding General Charles Cornwallis. He dispatched fifteen hundred men, including Banastre Tarleton’s Legion, to hunt down Marion and his company, who at that time numbered around sixty men. When Marion learned of this, knowing he was grossly outnumbered, he broke camp in the Black River region and headed north into the White Marsh District of North Carolina.
For the rest of August and early September, he remained in the low country of Bladen County, North Carolina; 50 miles west and north of coastal Wilmington North Carolina and about 40 miles northeast from the South Carolina border. With reports of British aggression, burning patriot plantations and hunting down rebel militiamen, he felt compelled to head back south. With the promise of large numbers of South Carolina rebel recruits eager to join him, he rode out from the White Marsh district of Bladen County with his company on September 24th. He and his men made good time, arriving the next day at Kingston (now Conway), South Carolina, about 65 miles distant. That evening, they camped along the Waccamaw River, fifteen miles from the coast at present day Myrtle Beach and halfway between Wilmington, North Carolina and Charleston, South Carolina.
Learned of Loyalist Company and Planned to Attack
The next morning, September 26th, they remounted and slowly entered the Little Pee Dee Swamp, then crossed the Little Pee Dee River. On September 28th, late in the afternoon, they reached Port’s Ferry and crossed the Great Pee Dee River in flatboats. From there they rode on to Witherspoon’s Ferry, about 40 miles inland from the coast. At sunset, they crossed Lynches Creek, where they were met by Capt. John James, Jr. and Capt. Henry Mouzon with about twenty more militiamen. They informed Marion of the presence of a large number of Loyalists at Shepherd’s Ferry, near a public roadhouse owned by a Patrick Dollard, called the Red House Tavern. This was on the south side of Black Mingo Creek, about 15 miles south of Marion’s position.
The Tories who camped at Black Mingo Creek the evening of September 28th were comprised of a detached company of the Craven and Berkeley County Regiment of Loyalist Militia, commanded by Colonel John Coming Ball; in all just under 50 men. Colonel Ball was a member of the Ball Dynasty; an old and very wealthy family spread over several plantations in and around the Charleston, South Carolina region. With the addition of James and Mouzon’s company, Marion decided to immediately move their direction and stage a midnight attack. Mouzon was particularly eager for action as his plantation on the Black Creek had been burned by Loyalist Partisan Legions on August 5th; he and his family barely escaping into the swamp.
The Battle
Since the Tories were strongly posted at Shepherd’s Ferry, on the south side of the Black Mingo Creek, opposite Marion’s approach from the north, his men could not ford the deep stream to make a direct attack. A mile north from the loyalist position, through a boggy causeway, was the Willtown Bridge. Colonel Marion’s troops approached the bridge just before midnight. As they crossed over the planks, the bridge began to rumble under the horse’s clomping hoofs. The sound carried on down the creek and as the rebel’s began to clear the bridge, a sudden explosion split the night. One of Ball’s sentries had fired an alarm shot. Without missing a beat, Marion spurred his horse to a gallop to be followed by the rest of his men as they rode hard towards Dollard’s Tavern, a mile distant.
When Marion’s troops reached the main road, about three hundred yards from the enemy, the whole force, with the exception of a small body remaining as cavalry, dismounted. Marion decided to launch a frontal attack on Dollard’s tavern, believing that Colonel Ball would fight from within the inn. A body of men on foot under Captain Thomas Waties was ordered down the road to attack the Dollard house directly. Lt. Colonel Hugh Horry [some accounts name Peter Horry], with two companies of infantry, attacked on the right while the cavalry was sent to the left of the tavern. Marion brought up the reserves.
Unknown to Marion, upon hearing the sentry’s warning shot, Ball withdrew from the tavern and chose a strong position in a field west of the inn and on the right of Marion’s line, facing Lt. Horry’s troops. As Horry’s infantry charged through the field, Colonel Ball’s men fired a full volley at thirty yards, surprising the rebels. Captain George Logan was instantly killed while Captain Henry Mouzon and Lt. John Scott were severely wounded. Horry’s men fell back in confusion, but were promptly rallied by Captain John James. Marion’s reserve joined Horry’s men and began creeping forward, loading and firing at every moving shadow. While the battle, bloody and obstinate, raged on Marion’s right, Captain Waties and some of the cavalry were able to flank the inn on the left and suddenly appear in the rear of the Tories. Finding themselves between two fires, the Tories quickly gave way in all directions, leaving behind horses and baggage and fleeing into the neighboring Black Mingo Swamp.
Aftermath
The fire fight lasted fifteen minutes. Accounts vary but it is believed the patriots suffered 2 killed and 8 wounded. The loss of one of Marion’s outstanding officers, Captain George Logan killed, was particularly felt. Captain Mouzon and Lt. Scott were so severely wounded that they were unfit for future service. Of Ball’s loyalists, it is believed that 3 were killed and 13 were wounded, among them captive. Some accounts state that additional bodies were found in the swamp. Marion was able to collect many of the enemy’s guns, ammunition, baggage, and importantly, horses. Colonel Ball’s horse was of particular interest to Marion. Ball’s wealth was well known, and his mount was of a very high quality. Marion claimed the horse as his own and would ride the animal for the duration of the war and beyond. The Swamp Fox would remain a thorn in Cornwallis’ side, never having been caught. It is thought that Marion received the nick name ‘Swamp Fox’ at the Battle of Ox Swamp, November 8, 1780. Colonel Banastre Tarleton, after a fruitless 26 mile chase, gave up claiming, “Let’s go back and fight the gamecock. As for the old fox, the devil himself could not catch him.”
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RESOURCE
Groen, Peter J. Webmaster and contributor. Historic Clarendon County, South Carolina. “Historic Battles.”
James, William Dobein. A Sketch of the Life of Brig. Gen. Francis Marion. 1821: Reprint 2008: Dram Tree Books, Wilmington, North Carolina.
Moore, Horatio Newton. The Life and Times of General Francis Marion. Containing biological notes of Greene, Morgan, Pickens…and other distinguished officers of the southern campaign of the American Revolution. 1845: Philadelphia
Oller, John. The Swamp Fox. How Francis Marion Saved the American Revolution. 2016: Da Capo Press, Boston, MA.
“Revolutionary War, Southern Campaign. With General Francis Marion the Swamp Fox.” Swamp Fox Murals…Clarendon County, South Carolina…Mural Society. Manning, South Carolina.
The American Revolution in South Carolina. “Black Mingo.”
Simms, William Gilmore. The Life of Francis Marion.. 1857: Derby & Jackson, New York, NY.