Francis Marion’s War in South Carolina
Thursday, October 27, 2016 to Sunday, October 30, 2016
Tour guided by Charles B. Baxley
HQ: Georgetown, SC
This tour is sold out but we have a waiting list for cancellations.
Remember the stirring adventures of the “Swamp Fox” portrayed by Leslie Neilson in Walt Disney’s episodic series in the late 1950s? Again in 2000, Mel Gibson starred as the composite Swamp Fox character in the movie “The Patriot.” The authentic Swamp Fox story is even more exciting than either of its modern day adaptations.
Ride along the military career and partisan exploits of Brig. Gen. Francis Marion, a true American hero who challenged the might of the British army in South Carolina during the Revolutionary War with a few loyal men, along with a hearty supply of guts and guile.
On Thursday evening we’ll have a “meet and greet” with Charles B. Baxley who will provide an introductory talk on South Carolina in the American Revolution.
On Friday we will take a tour to Marion sites in and around historic district Georgetown, South Carolina. After lunch, we will take a boat trip with the tidal flow down the Great Pee Dee River to see the relics of the Southern rice culture and to retrace Gen. Marion’s and Lt. Col. Henry “Light Horse Harry” Lee’s January 1781 bold raid on Georgetown.
On Saturday we will tour sites of Marion’s “Bridges Campaign;” see the “War of the Posts” site of Ft. Watson; tour the Eutaw Springs battlefield where Marion led his militia to stand and fight like Continental soldiers in a linear battle; visit Pond Bluff Plantation, the site of Marion’s post-bellum home; pay our respects at the General’s tomb; and visit colonial St. Stephens Parish Church, one of Marion’s favorite campsites.
On Sunday we visit the site of Marion’s fight with Lt. Col. John Watson at the Sampit River Bridge; the Tarleton v. White Battle at Lenud’s Ferry; the Tarleton, Ferguson and Webster fight against Gen. Isaac Huger at Moncks Corner and Biggin Bridge; Colleton’s Fair Lawn Barony near Moncks Corner, SC with its extant Revolutionary War redoubt and the site of the Colleton mansion – a British hospital controversially burned by Marion’s men; the Avenue of the Cedars battlefield and where Marion discharged his legendary militia regiment to return home after the British evacuated Charlestown; and Goatfield Plantation where legend records where Marion was born. We follow Marion’s troops on the “Dog Days of Summer” Campaign from Biggin Church and Wadboo Bridge to fight at Quinby Bridge and Shubrick’s Plantation.
Learn about Marion’s troops’ defeats at Wambaw Bridge and Tidyman’s Plantation; his successful Parker’s Ferry ambush; his several raids on Georgetown; and his victories at Blue Savannah, Thomas Sumter’s home on Great Savannah, Tearcoat Swamp, and Dollard’s Tavern at Black Mingo Creek. We will discuss the controversies with the British over sniping sentries on the Bridges Campaign, the British detention of Capt. John Postell under a “flag” of truce, and the composition of his 1780-1782 partisan militia brigade. We will thematically cover Marion’s early life and military training in the French and Indian War; his career as a South Carolina State Troop and Continental Line commandant; and his post-war political career. We will discuss Marion the man, the myths, and the amazing realities of his service to his State and Country.
You will join other Marion scholars along the way to share their expertise. The fall weather in South Carolina is splendid for “battlefielding.” Charles Baxley’s expertise on Marion promises a thorough exploration of beautiful areas where America’s freedom was torn from the British by cunning and grit. It will be a collegial group guided by the Southern Campaigns of the American Revolution’s principles of fun, fellowship and scholarship. We will see and know, ask, and learn about Gen. Francis Marion and his partisan warfare against the British, on-site where he and a hand full of men, dominated one-fourth of South Carolina, with little support from any government, and kept the dream of Liberty alive despite the extreme British oppressive measures and through erupting civil war.
Reserve your seat today as space is limited! The registration fee: $495.00. Register online with a credit card at www.AmericasHistoryLLC.com by clicking the Register link or phone: 1-703-785-4373; or you may send a check to: America’s History, LLC, P. O. Box 1076, Goochland, VA 23063.
Included: Motor coach transportation, a boat ride on the Great Pee Dee River, three lunches, beverage and snack breaks, a map and materials package, all admissions and gratuities, and the dynamic passion of our tour leaders. The hotel will provide a complimentary breakfast each day. Tour goes out rain or shine. Please see America’s History, LLC’s website’s policy page for information about cancellations.
Hotel: Tour participants are responsible for transportation to the headquarters hotel, and securing a room reservation, if necessary. We have arranged with the Hampton Inn by Hilton-Georgetown Marina, 420 Marina Drive, Georgetown, SC 29440 for a group rate of $99 (single or double occupancy. Please call the hotel at 845-545-5000 and ask for the America’s History group rate. This rate will be guaranteed until September 27, so please make your reservations soon.
Our Tour Leader: Charles B. Baxley is the publisher of and co-founder of Southern Campaigns of the American Revolution, an on-line journal. His recent article on Gen. Nathanael Greene’s attack on Dorchester; his support of Cols. John Laurens’ and Henry “Light Horse Harry” Lee’s attack on Johns Island, SC; and move to protect South Carolina’s General Assembly at Jacksonborough was published in the recent issue of Army History national magazine. He has planned many symposia on the Revolution, is a founding member of the Southern Campaigns Revolutionary War Roundtable, has conducted dozens of public and private tours and military staff rides, and is the co-editor of the Papers of Gen. Francis Marion.
This tour is co-sponsored by America’s History, LLC and Woodward Corporation d/b/a Southern Campaigns of the American Revolution.