The Swamp Fox: How Francis Marion Saved the American Revolution, Paperback

A popular, comprehensive biography of Francis Marion, the Swamp Fox, covering his famous engagements as well as a private side of him that has rarely been explored

In The Swamp Fox, the first major biography of Marion in more than forty years, John Oller compiles striking evidence and brings together much recent learning to provide a fresh look both at Marion, the man, and how he helped save the American Revolution.

In the darkest days of the Revolution, Marion and his band of militia freedom fighters kept hope alive for the patriot cause during the critical British ``southern campaign.`` Employing insurgent guerrilla tactics that became commonplace in later centuries, Marion and his brigade inflicted enemy losses that were individually small but cumulatively a large drain on the highly trained, better-equipped British forces arrayed against him.

In this action-packed biography we meet many colorful characters from the Revolution: Banastre Tarleton, the British cavalry officer who relentlessly pursued Marion over twenty-six miles of swamp, only to call off the chase and declare (per legend) that ``the Devil himself could not catch this damned old fox,`` giving Marion his famous nickname; Thomas Sumter, the bold but rash patriot militia leader; Lord Cornwallis, the imperious British commander; ``Light-Horse Harry`` Lee, the urbane young Continental cavalryman; and most of all Marion himself, ``the Washington of the South,`` a man of ruthless determination yet humane character, motivated by what his peers called ``the purest patriotism.``