Battle of Tearcoat Swamp (also known as Tarcote and Tarcot), fought Oct. 25, 1780, was one of a string of battles that highlighted the military ingenuity of what legend has labeled, the Swamp Fox. By the fall of 1780, it became apparent that the new American Congress had blown it in selection of commanders of her southern army. First, General Robert Howe, after three feeble attempts to grab East Florida from the British, had turned belly up when Lt. Colonel ‘Archie’ Campbell showed up in December 1778 with his regiment of raging berserkers; the 71st Highlanders. End result – the loss of Savannah with all of Georgia soon to follow. Then, Major General ‘life of the party’ Lincoln, in full cautious form, allowed himself to be backed into a corner on Charlestown Peninsula where, on May 12, 1780, he surrendered the largest army in the war; throwing in most of South Carolina to boot.
Adding fuel to the fire and saving the best for last, in struts Major General Horatio Gates. The darling of Congress, he grabbed all the credit for the Battle of Saratoga from the hands of a despiteful Benedict Arnold. Gates would soon add the finishing touch to the southern army’s demise, proving he was way out of his element and one whose honed skills were more akin to ‘professional quill sharpener,’ than commanding general. Gates gave up the ghost that fateful morning, Aug. 16, 1780, when at the Battle of Camden, he laid it all on the line and placed his untrained ‘which end of the musket do you point,’ militia at a critical point in front of British steel. By the time Camden was history, so was the rest of the south. What was left of the southern army slithered into the swamps; opening up Gates to such memorable quotes as, “Never was victory more complete, or a defeat more total” and without literary embellishments, “…the most disastrous defeat ever inflicted on an American army.”
Finally, by October 5, 1780, the ‘too well fed’ politicians stuffing Independence Hall in Philadelphia figured out maybe, just maybe, they weren’t so keen on military decisions and should ask ole George who he thought should grab the reins of what had become a run-away wagon. The very next day, the Commander-in-Chief wrote the order, sending his favorite prodigy and second-hand man packing his bags south; Rhode Island Quaker General Nathanael Greene.
But in an age when roads were shabby, if at all, and travel took months, instead of hours, it would be some time before Greene found his way from West Point to the Pee Dee to work his magic. Therefore, in the meantime, who would carry the torch and keep the southern cause alive? Though what was left of his army was scattered to the wind, General Gates was still officially in charge. Far from British guns, he tried to salvage his command and consolidate commanders in the field. Among some outstanding militia leaders, like Brigadier General Thomas Sumter, one officer stood out among them all.
One who could organize a resistance and strike hard, then fade among the marshes. Who would elude capture, time and time again. Who would become the British army’s greatest ‘pain in the butt,’ as he wore his enemy down. Who would be the stuff of legends, and gain perhaps the preeminent feather in his cap, the star role of Walt Disney’s 1950’s ‘Wonderful World of Color’ TV mini-series set in the Revolution. –None other than Lt. Colonel Francis Marion. Better known as “Swamp Fox.”
A Bit on Lt. Colonel Francis “Swamp Fox” Marion
Historian Sean R. Busick wrote the introduction to a 2007 edition of William Gilmore Simms’ 1857 biography, The Life of Francis Marion, considered an early and accurate history of the Swamp Fox. He stated that “Though things looked bad for the Americans after Charleston fell [May 12,1780], Marion’s cunning, resourcefulness and determination helped keep the cause of American independence alive in the south.” If one were to believe half the tales of Marion’s Revolutionary War feats handed down over the generations, one could forgive the Mel Gibson movie Patriot portrayal of Francis Marion as an 18th century Rambo.
But we can trace the source of the outlandish anecdotes and superhero antics as well as romantic chivalry that thickened Marion’s legacy; going back to the resourceful guy who in 1800, gave us young Washington and the infamous Cherry Tree. In the name of book sales, he was ‘damn the facts and full speed ahead’ Mason Locke ‘Parson’ Weems. Writer Amy Crawford confirms the source of the shimmering aura that veiled one of America’s Romantic Heroes of the Revolution stating, “Many of the legends that surround the life and exploits of Brigadier General Francis Marion were introduced by M. L. Weems.” We can imagine that the ‘Parson’ would have flourished in politics.
Weems himself is quoted in 1807, writing to his co-author and fellow Marion soldier, Lt. Colonel Peter Horry: “I have endeavored to throw some ideas and facts about Genl. Marion into the garb and dress of a military romance“. Therefore, Weems treated Marion’s life with the same fictional approach that he had done with Washington in 1800; inventing whimsically, apocryphal tales of wonder.
Putting fantasy aside, Marion was born around 1732 on a plantation in Berkeley County, S. Carolina and died on February 27, 1795 on his plantation, Pond Bluff, S. Carolina after a long illness, age 63. He was the youngest sibling and rather small in stature, born with malformed legs. At 25, he left the farm and fought the Cherokee in the French and Indian War. He was a man of his time, owning slaves and not faltering from fighting a brutal campaign against Native Americans. It was during these informative years that Marion observed the keen skills of his backcountry enemies. Their use of natural landscape to conceal themselves and set up ambushes was particularly noted. After the war, Francis returned to the plantation. However, when sabers rattled and war once more gripped the land, the guerilla tactics he learned as a youth fighting the Cherokee was something Marion would remember and put to good use against the British.
By 1775, Marion took up the rebel cause and became a political leader. So too, his experience in the French and Indian War earned him the captaincy of a company of state militia. He pretty much stayed in Charleston, S. Carolina for the first three years of the war, training troops and complaining about the drunken rabble he had under his command. When British strategy focused on the south, Marion’s backcountry skills soon shined. After Savannah and Charleston fell, and with his militia friends who barely escaped the travesty at Camden in August [Marion was on detachment and not present at the battle], he formed his own militia of hard core patriots. Though often outnumbered, Marion’s continued to use guerilla tactics to surprise British and Loyalist regiments with great success. His knowledge of the terrain abled him to fade into the countryside, only to emerge again unexpected.
Prior to Battle
The Battle of Tearcoat Swamp was between two partisan militia forces. Lieutenant Colonel Samuel Tynes (1746 – ?) commanded approximately 200 Loyalists (though some accounts number it lower- as much as 90 men). Lt. Colonel Francis Marion gathered 152 rebels to assault Tynes’ militia. The surprise attack, resulting in a complete patriot victory, took place after midnight on October 25, 1780 in present day Clarendon County, South Carolina, near Tearcoat (Tarcote) Swamp in the vicinity of where U.S. Highway 301 now crosses Black River.
On October 24th, British Lt. Colonel Nisbet Balfour issued orders to Lt. Col. Tynes. [Note: In most accounts, Balfour is mistakenly listed as general but was not commissioned until 1793 – Scotsman, Balfour was among British southern army commander General Charles Cornwallis’ most trusted officers, having been severely wounded at Bunker Hill]. Lt. Col. Tynes, and his militia were to recruit, arm, and train additional Loyalists in the High Hills area between Salem and Nelsons Ford, S. Carolina; this to strengthen his militia. That night, Tynes bivouacked his men in the fork of Black River, effectively placing Tearcoat Swamp at his back, believing it would shield his men from the enemy.
Besides training loyalist recruits, Tynes’ men were singularly armed as well as carrying a large cache of armaments and supplies that had been procured from the Camden battlefield. The additional weapons were to arm new militiamen. Contrary to present popular beliefs, most militiamen recruited for either the patriot or loyalist cause did not show up with their own musket or rifle. Firelocks were very expensive, a year’s or more earnings, and most farmers did not hunt, acquiring their meat from livestock. See Revolutionary War Journal’s Most Americans Did Not Own Guns at the Start of the American Revolution for more on this.
American commanders, including Marion, were always looking to raid British supply routes to seize much needed firearms and ammunition. Note: Several internet and historical texts incorrectly state that Marion was able to arm his 150 militia prior to Tearcoat by one such raid on a British supply boat on the Santee River at Nelson’s Ferry. The successful raid on Nelson’s Ferry, amounting to many stands of arms and ammunition and destruction of the boat, occurred on Dec. 14, 1780, nearly two months after the battle.
Unknown to the Loyalists, Marion’s scouts had spotted Tynes’ movements. Marion had correctly reasoned their purpose was to recruit additional troops loyal to the crown. He decided to move rapidly and attack; according to Marion, “to break up the party, before its newly made converts should become confirmed…” He and his militia crossed the Pee Dee River at Port’s Ferry, then Lynches Creek [present day Lynches River) at Witherspoon’s Ferry and arrived at Kingstree. He then crossed the lower ford of the northern branch of the Black River at Nelson’s plantation where he met with scouts. They had tracked Tynes’ force to Tearcoat Swamp where they reported the enemy had encamped “in the fork of Black River.” They also told Marion that the Loyalists had made no preparations for safety; no sentries kept guard while they “feasted and others were at cards.”
Loyalist Force
- Lt. Col. Samuel Tynes – Commanding Officer
- Capt. Amos Gaskens (killed)
- Capt. William Rees
- Capt. Benjamin Rees
- Total Loyalist Force 90 – 200
Patriot Force
- Lt. Colonel Francis Marion – Commanding Officer
- Kingstree Regiment of Militia Detachment – Seven Companies led by
- Lt. Col. Hugh Horry
- Lt. Col. Peter Horry
- Major John James
- Cheraws Dist. Regiment of Militia detachment – One company led by Lt. Col. Lemuel Benton
- Berkeley County Regiment of Militia detachment – Two companies.
- Camden Dist. Regiment of Militia – detachment – One company
- New Acquisition Dist. Regiment of Militia detachment – One company
- Total Patriot Force – 152 men
Battle and Casualties
Marion decided to await his attack until after midnight when he believed the enemy would be most vulnerable. He roused his men shortly after midnight on the 25th and split them into three groups as he had done prior to his victory at the Battle of Black Mingo; Sept. 14, 1780 where a rebel surprise attack drove loyalists into the swamps with considerable losses. The attack would come from all three groups attacking simultaneously from left, right, and center with Marion commanding the center.
After taking positions, Marion signaled the attack with the discharge of his pistol, and the groups charged in on horses yelling and firing their weapons. To Marion’s satisfaction the attack succeeded exactly as planned, as the Loyalists were caught completely by surprise. Lt. Colonel Peter Horry recalled, as recorded by Weems, “The roar of our guns first broke their slumbers; and by the time the frightened wretches had got upon their legs, man and horse, we were among them hewing down.” It was a total rout except for a few shots returned by the loyalists that struct two patriot horses. Lt. Col. Tynes and his men were scattered into the swamp. Of loyalist casualties; 6 dead, 14 wounded, while another 23 were captured. As mentioned, Marion’s force lost only two horses.
Aftermath
Tynes escaped, only to be chased down, along with a few of his officers, three days later in the High Hills (near Stateburg), by one of Marion’s detachments led by Capt. William Clay Snipes. The elusive loyalist commander would be imprisoned in North Carolina, only to escape and come up once more at the head of more Loyalists to haunt Marion. Tearcoat Swamp was a morale booster for Marion’s militia. With the success of the attack, the Patriots were able to gather supplies totaling over 80 muskets, a number of bridled and saddled horses, as well much needed foodstuffs. Of the 23 captured Loyalists; with the threat of brutal imprisonment and confiscation of their homes and estates, even death, they were suddenly and miraculously astonished and impressed by Marion’s troops, resulting in a number of defections to the Patriot cause.
After the Battle of Tearcoat Swamp, the Loyalist movement in the Salem area was nullified. Following Lt. Col. Tynes’ defeat, General Charles Cornwallis dispatched fifty regulars from Charlestown to Moncks Corner, while maintaining patrols covering his line of communication along the Santee River. Marion would continue his hit and run tactics for the duration of the war, teaming up and maintaining communications with Nathanael Greene’s Continental Troops when the new commander of the southern army arrived on the field.
As to Marion’s colorful nickname, we credit British Dragoon commander and all around ‘bad guy’, Lieutenant Colonel Banastre Tarleton. You will recall Tarleton as the devil incarnate in Mel Gibson’s movie Patriot. When an escaped prisoner informed the dreaded dragoon commander of Marion’s whereabouts, he chased the patriot leader for seven hours, covering some 26 miles. Marion escaped into a swamp and Tarleton gave up, cursing, “As for this damned old fox, the Devil himself could not catch him.” Perhaps Mel Gibson got it wrong and Tarleton wasn’t Satin’s ‘best buddy’ after all. But the legend was established. Soon patriot locals—who loathed the British occupation—began referring to Marion as that Swamp Fox.
Oscar: African American Slave and Soldier
Writer Amy Crawford wrote, “In December 2006, two centuries after his death, Marion made news again when President George W. Bush signed a proclamation honoring the man described in most biographies as the ‘faithful servant, Oscar,’ Marion’s personal slave. Bush expressed the thanks of a ‘grateful nation’ for Oscar Marion’s ‘service…in the Armed Forces of the United States.’ Identified by genealogist Tina Jones, his distant relative, Oscar is the African-American cooking sweet potatoes in John Blake White’s painting at the Capitol. Oscar likely helped with the cooking and mending clothes, but he would also have fought alongside Marion,’ says historian Busick.”
It was right and far overdue for President Bush to honor Oscar for his service as a soldier who fought for Liberty as one of our founding fathers. However, for generations, Americans have looked beyond the African American man or woman whose conscious and self worth led them on a path for liberty, by propagating romanticized tales about the ‘faithful servant.’ Envisioning enslaved African Americans who rewarded the kindness offered to them by benevolent masters by sticking beside their white owner no matter what. The dynamic duo of loyal slave and heroic white. A symbiotic relationship whereas the slave’s devotion was so strong, he or she would never dream of running, whereas the white’s dependence on his human ‘property’ became sacrosanct. Think of George Washington and his slave Billy, who was forever seen riding at the general’s side. It was, and remains to this day a current theme in novels, movies, and politics; labeled the ‘White Savior’ or the ‘Magical Negro.’
Leaving behind all the poppycock of Marion’s personal slave’s enduring fidelity, Oscar was his own man. He, and other African Americans, both freemen and slaves, bravely joined Marion’s militia to take up the rebellion’s cause as soldiers and fight alongside one another. It is proper that Oscar received recognition for his bravery and dedication to the cause, but not dedication to his white owner; filling the role as a racist archetype. Slavery was then, as it is now, humanity’s plague upon itself. And as they would say in England, casting Oscar and Marion in such a romantic bonding duo – Bullocks!!
You Tube Presents Walt Disney’s Episode 1: “The Birth of Swamp Fox,” staring a young Leslie Nielsen – 50 minutes of nostalgic entertainment. Sit back and enjoy, but spoiler alert of the rather ‘loose’ treatment of facts and over the top stereotypes. Appears that besides politics, ‘Cherry Tree’ Weems would also have done well in Hollywood.
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OF SIMILAR INTEREST ON REVOLUTIONARY WAR JOURNAL
RESOURCE
Chesney, Alexander, Edited by E. Alfred Jones. “The Journal of Alexander Chesney, a South Carolina Loyalist in the Revolution and After” Provincial Archives of New Brunswick.
Crawford, Amy. “The Swamp Fox Elusive and crafty, Francis Marion outwitted British troops during the American Revolution.” June 30, 2007. Smithsonian Magazine Online.
Simms, William Gilmore. The Life of Francis Marion. 1857: Derby & Jackson, New York, NY.
“Tearcoat Swamp.” The American Revolution in South Carolina.”
Weems, Mason L ‘Parson’ & Horry, General Peter who supplied some facts and disclaimed writing. The Life of General Francis Marion. 1809: 1882: John W. Lovell Company, New York, NY.