The Battle of Blue Savannah, September 4, 1780, was the second victory in as many weeks for Francis ‘Swamp Fox’ Marion leading partisan militia. The former commander of the 2nd South Carolina Continental Regiment had just scored his first victory against British Regular troops near Nelson’s Ferry on the Santee River at the Battle of Great Savannah, August 20th. Fifteen days later and sixty miles to the northeast, he learned of a large gathering of mounted Tory militia. Though outnumbered five to one, Marion, soon to be titled one of the greatest guerrilla fighters of the American Revolution, did not hesitate and rode hard to attack. First a bold and direct assault routed a detached Tory vanguard. When pursued, he and his small band set ambush among the marshes. When sprung, their victory was complete, terrorizing the loyalist militia with heavy sabers and pistols at close range. The survivors were driven into the swamps, followed by the rebel band’s hurled insults.
Swamp Fox Turned Partisan Fighter
At the start of the American Revolution, Francis Marion (1732-1795) was already an experienced ‘Indian Fighter’ and recognized combat militia leader during the French and Indian War (1754-1763). He was commissioned a captain of the 2nd South Carolina Continental Regiment on June 17, 1775 and by November, had risen to the unit’s major. He participated in the Snow Campaign (December 23-30, 1775) and helped aim the cannon during the Battle of Fort Sullivan, Charleston against the British invasion fleet (June 28, 1776). Three months after Fort Sullivan’s successful defense (September 1776) Marion was commissioned Lt. Colonel of the 2nd SC Continental Regiment. When Colonel Isaac Motte resigned on September 19, 1778, Marion resumed command of the regiment on the 23rd. He would later be present during the ill-fated Franco-American Siege of Savannah, Georgia (September 16 – October 18, 1779).
Marion was present with the Southern Army at Charleston, South Carolina, when Commander in Chief of British Forces in America, General Henry Clinton, laid siege to the city (March 29 – May 12, 1780). However, fate had a higher calling for the future Swamp Fox when Marion broke his ankle. He was deemed unfit for duty and ordered to convalesce at his home. He left Charleston in April, thereby avoiding capture when Major General Benjamin Lincoln surrendered the surrounded Southern American Army on May 12, 1780.
A planter and one of South Carolina’s ‘Rice Kings,’ the successful plantation owner did not return home to accept a British parole. Marion, with around a dozen followers, began to recruit a small band of local partisan fighters from the Pee Dee and Santee River regions. When word that a force of Continental soldiers were marching towards South Carolina, (Major General Jean de Kalb leading Maryland and Delaware reinforcements) Marion rode north to meet them and offer his services as both former officer and one who knew the lay of the land as well as any.
A Scout is Given an Independent Command
By July, 1780, the American reinforcements under General de Kalb had reached Deep River, North Carolina. Soon after the continental’s arrival, Marion rode into camp unnoticed at the head of his small band of rebels. Dark completion of slight stature and misshapen knees and ankles, he struck a comical pose to many of the officers. Unimpressed, Colonel Otho Williams of the Maryland 1st Continental Regiment described the appearance of Marion and his band as “distinguished by small black leather caps and the wretchedness of their attire; their number did not exceed twenty men and boys, some white, some black, but most of them miserably equipped, their appearance was in fact so burlesque that it was with much difficulty the diversion of the regular soldiery was restrained by the officers.” However, de Kalb was an able commander and was cognizant of Marion’s prior service. Soon after meeting the smallish continental officer, he sent the partisan fighter into the field to scout out the enemy and report back.
During Marion’s absence, on July 25, 1780, the darling of Congress, Major General Horatio Gates arrived to take over command of the Southern Army. Gates was an obstinate, self-inflated officer who whole heartedly believed the laurels heaped upon him after the American victory over British General Burgoyne at Saratoga (October 17, 1777); a defeat historians have contributed to General Benedict Arnold and Colonel Daniel Morgan. As such, Gates took little advice from his subordinates and decided to march his worn-out troops through a region with little or no forage. His goal, to set up defensive works outside Camden, South Carolina and wait for British General Charles Cornwallis’ army to attack him (as he had done at Saratoga).
When Marion returned to the American camp just prior to the army’s departure for Camden, Gates shared the other officers’ low opinion of the motley band of backcountry riders. Gates quickly dismissed Marion by ordering him detached from the army and into the backcountry to resume scouting and gathering information. Colonel Williams recorded that the “general himself was glad of an opportunity of detaching Colonel Marion at his own instance towards the interior of South Carolina, with orders to watch the motions of the enemy and furnish intelligence.” The decision to send away a valuable mounted resource, one who had extensive combat experience and who also was native to the region upon which Gate’s army were to march through, can only be considered foolhardy. For the Southern Continental Army, on August 16, 1780 at the Battle of Camden, it would prove fatal.
But Marion did not see this rejection as a slight. He had knowledge of Colonel Thomas Sumter’s exploits recruiting and leading partisan militia and therefore looked upon this separate command as an opportunity for similar ambitions. Author John Buchanan wrote, “…militia of the Williamsburg District north of Charleston had asked that a Continental officer be sent to lead them. He [Marion] rode off at the head of his men and boys, white and black, a legend in the making.” And while the remains of the American Army marched 200 miles north to Hillsborough, North Carolina, near the border with Virginia, Marion began to rack up victories against a frustrated enemy.
Prior to Battle
Just over two weeks after Marion’s first victory at Nelson’s Ferry and General Thomas Sumter’s abandoned plantation at Great Savannah, the partisan leader was about 80 miles north then east at Port’s Ferry on the Pee Dee River, just north of Snow’s Island and present-day Marion County. At the time Snow’s Island was occupied by a plantation whose boundaries at this day cannot be identified. Then as now, the region north of Snow’s Island that comprises about five square miles was remote and swampy, bounded by the Lynches and Pee Dee Rivers and Clark’s Creek. With a canopy of cypress and dense cane breaks, vines, and briars, it would prove ideal as Marion’s future base of operations (December 1780 to March 1781) upon which to evade British pursuit.
This region of the lowland backcountry was a Scotch Irish stronghold; immigrants who followed the Great Wagon Road from the Philadelphia area to settle in the Carolinas. As such, many favored the rebellion. Yet so too there was also a strong presence of those who supported the crown; like most of the southern colonies this neighbor against neighbor, labeled bruderkrieg (brother war) by those of German descent morphed into what would become a civil war.
Among the Loyalists was a partisan leader, Major Micajah Ganey, who had been actively recruiting Tory militia and organized them into a 250-man militia. Ganey’s second in command was Captain Jesse Barefield, a farmer and former rebel militiaman, who had switched sides due to the contemptuous treatment towards him by the gentry class of South Carolina’s Continental officers. Ganey learned that Marion was in the area and resolved to hunt down and capture the former Continental officer. On September 4, 1780, Ganey organized his partisan militia into column and headed towards Marion’s last reported location. However, Marion’s local scouts had already notified the rebel leader of Ganey’s gathering the day before. Even though Marion could only muster fifty-three men mounted men (similar in number to his victory at Great Savannah), and facing five to one odds, Marion decided he would attack first, taking the Tory militia by surprise.
Battle
Early in the morning on September 4th, perhaps the same hour that Tory leader Major Ganey set off, Marion headed out with his small band of partisan fighters. As was common among colonial militia who wore similar clothing to their enemy, distinctive trappings were added to hats so to recognize friend from foe in battle. This took the shape of various colored papers, pine twigs, etc., and in this case, Marion’s men added white cockades to headwear. His vanguard was led by veteran officer, Major John James; with picked horsemen and scouts ranging out in front. They rode north, following the Little Pee Dee River.
About two hours into the march, one of James’ scouts galloped up to report that a large number of mounted men, forty-five in total, were just ahead riding towards them. So too, James was informed that this vanguard of the Tory column was led by none other than Major Ganey himself. Without hesitation, the experienced fighter immediately ordered his men to charge the road at a gallop. With heavy sabers unsheathed and pointed pistols they drove down upon their enemy yelling at the top of their lungs.
James knew Ganey personally and reined his horse Thunder directly at the surprised Loyalist. The sudden appearance of rebels tearing towards them with raised weapons shocked and terrified the farmer militiamen. They instantly scattered. Most were cut down while the rest fled into the nearby woods and marshlands. Accordingly, James continued after Ganey for about half a mile whereas the loyalist leader came upon some of his forward column. Author Hugh Rankin’s research indicated the rebel captain, still in hot pursuit and realizing he was alone, tried an age-old ruse. Spurring Thunder on towards his enemy, he shouted, “Come on boys! Come on. Here they are! Here they are!” The demoralized Tories, thinking a host of the enemy was upon them, mounted their horses and fled; their leader Ganey among them.
This first clash of battle resulted in only one wounded among James’ rebels. However, for Ganey’s Tories, the rout was devastating. Of the forty-five riders under his command, thirty were killed or wounded, with only fifteen having escaped. But of those, including Ganey, not one rode to warn Captain Jesse Barefield leading the two hundred plus Tory infantry following behind. From wounded prisoners, Marion learned that Captain Jesse Barefield, with the main body of enemy, was three miles to his front. The rebel leader decided to carry on towards his enemy. Barefield’s skirmishers reported their foe was nearby and the captain ordered his troops into line of battle to await the rebel attack.
Marion, renowned for aggressive and brutal assaults, was also crafty and famed for being cautious. Though never fearful of taking on a superior force, his actions were determined by terrain and the situation. And as such, experience taught him the folly of charging fifty horsemen against two hundred infantry with leveled muskets and rifle. He therefore acted upon another age-old ruse to draw in his enemy. He drew his men back, slowly, then erratically, indicating confusion and fear. Barefield took the bait and ordered his men in pursuit on foot.
Marion did not pull back very far, assuring that the enemy continued on his heels. He stopped at an open sandy area surrounded by scrub pine called Blue Savannah and concealed his men to set ambush; Blue Savannah’s exact site along the Little Pee Dee River remains disputed by historians. Untrained Tory militia farmers strung out in line of battle advanced with little military decorum. The line and column broke down as the infantry pursued Marion’s men in a disorganized mass. Marion ordered his men to remain mounted as Barefield’s militia approached the trap.
Deemed close enough, Marion gave the order and his riders tore out of the brush. Pistols blazed with heavy sabers slicing the air as riders galloped toward the shocked Loyalists. Amazement swiftly turned to terror as many threw aside their weapons and crashed into the surrounding swamp. Scattered Tory fire and a weak volley managed to wound three of Marion’s riders and kill two horses before Barefield’s men waded beyond the horsemen’s reach. Marion wisely did not enter the swamp in pursuit of the escaping loyalists. He was still outnumbered and his men would have been prone to ambush amid the quagmire. Instead, the rebels resolved to send off their foe with shouted insults.
Afterward
Author John Buchanan wrote that “In the short space of two weeks, at widely separated points, Francis Marion had first defeated British and provincial regulars, then routed a Tory force that had a five to one superiority…[following this action] sixty new men rode into his [Marion’s] camp and volunteered to follow him. From a man unknown to the British and ignored by Continental officers, he had almost overnight become a real threat on [General Charles] Cornwallis’ right flank.”
By annihilating Major Ganey’s force, Marion succeeded in squashing a Tory uprising its early stages within the Georgetown region, about 60 miles north of Charleston. Doing so also threatened Georgetown itself (sixty miles north of Charleston), a major port and British strongpoint. Thinking that the lowlands nearer the coast had been placated, with many rebel leaders accepting paroles, Cornwallis could ill afford to allow a new insurgence; especially when planning to pursue his goal of pushing into North Carolina. The British commander decided to take an aggressive approach.
Major James Wemyss was given the task of rounding up partisan leaders throughout the Georgetown region, including the death or capture of the new upstart; Francis Marion. On September 5th, he led his 63rd Regiment of Foot from Camden toward the Pee Dee River. His men were veteran regulars who had campaigned through most of the major battles since war’s beginning; at Bunker Hill on June 17, 1775, they led the third bayonet attack that broke through the redoubt and routed the American defenders. Within a two-week period of destruction, Wemyss followed Cornwallis’ orders as he cut a wide swath of terror; a sixty mile long, fifteen-mile-wide scorch and burn vendetta against rebel supporters.
As for Marion. The crafty rebel commander slipped his small band of fighters over the border into North Carolina and waited out the British assault against backcountry communities. Wemyss, upon completing his task, proved Cornwallis’ gamble had backfired. The British major gained status as one of the most hated English officers of the war; and soon to prove Swamp Fox’s greatest recruiter. After Wemyss left the field and returned to Camden, Marion’s little band of partisan fighters swelled with new recruits anxious to seek revenge against the ‘bloodbacks’. It was not long before the partisan leader struck again, at Black Mingo Swamp, September 28, 1780; another surprise ambush and continued notched victory for the Swamp Fox.
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SOURCE
Buchanan, John. The Road to Guilford Courthouse: The American Revolution in the Carolinas. 1997: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York, NY.
Crawford, Alan Pell. This Fierce People, The Untold Story of America’s Revolution in the South. 2024: Alfred A. Knopf, New York, NY.
James, William Dobein. A Sketch of the Life of Brig. Gen. Francis Marion. 1821: Reprint 2008: Dram Tree Books, Wilmington, North Carolina.
Oller, John. The Swamp Fox. How Francis Marion Saved the American Revolution. 2016: Da Capo Press, Boston, MA.
Rankin, Hugh F. Francis Marion: The Swamp Fox. 1973: Thomas V. Crowell Publisher, New York, NY.
Simms, William Gilmore. The Life of Francis Marion.. 1857: Derby & Jackson, New York, NY.
Williams, Otho Holland. Brigade and Regimental Orders, September 13, 1780 – O.H. Williams Commanding. Manuscripts Collection, Maryland Historical Society.