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Revolutionary War

During the Revolutionary War, Francis Marion (The Swamp Fox) led a militia unit through the Pee Dee that was one of the most diversified and effective units in American military history.

Marion’s militia was about as eclectic a group as anyone could imagine. Virtually every ethnic group and people from every social stratum in the South played a part with the little band that won so many victories against the greatest military power in the world. Incredible acts of bravery by enslaved men known as Ben and Cudjo prevented the British from stealing horses critical to the army and saved the life of a Patriot officer. Boys, black and white, fighting with the Patriots in the South save high-ranking officers from almost certain death on at least two occasions.

Girls and women served as couriers and spies. French Huguenots, Catawba Indians, Scots, Irish, Blacks, English, Germans, tri-racials (Black-White-Indian mix), biracials, and others fought together. Many were small farmers, some were tradesmen, some enslaved individuals, some freemen, a few were aristrocrats, clergy, and trappers. 

Francis Marion
Painting by Edward Arnold, c. 1858 entitled "Marion Crossing the PeDee"

This painting by Edward Arnold, c. 1858 entitled “Marion Crossing the PeDee” shows the diversity of Marion’s men. Oscar Marion can be seen holding the reins of the swimming horse.

Photo courtesy of the Florence County Museum, where the oil painting is on display.

Joshua Braveboy, an African American and landowner in Williamsburg, risked everything in 1780 to join Francis Marion’s militia and fight the British. Joseph Willis was born a slave and later freed. He fought with Marion and after the war became a Baptist minister known as The Apostle to the Opelousas. Willis started many Baptist churches, including 23 in Louisiana and was the first Baptist minister west of the Mississippi River. Oscar (or Buddy) Marion was Francis Marion’s lifelong companion and friend as well as his servant. Tradition says that Oscar fought alongside Marion and saved his life on at least one occasion.

More information regarding the important part African Americans played in the Revolutionary War under the leadership of Gen. Francis Marion may be found at the Francis Marion Trail Commission. Please visit http://departments.fmarion.edu/fmutrailcommission/ or call (843) 661-1847.

Note: Excerpt from “Unlikely Heroes – Miracle from the Swamps” by Randy McAllister and Bob Barrett, published in Call and Response: News from the South Carolina African American Heritage Commission, Spring/Summer 2010.