Election Day 2010

Today, Tuesday, November 2, 2010 is Election Day in the United States.  I live in a state which has experienced voter fraud.  Nevada has had a slew of deceased voters return for one last hurrah.  How ghoulish, and even appropriate for an election following so closely after Halloween.  This is still a democratic society, if I have anything to do with it, and I encourage people to do two things at this very point in time: know what you want, and act upon it.  I know many who simply "don't follow politics," and others who vote like their parents.  Either way, someone else is making the decision.  I'm of sound mind, one I believe God gave to me to use, and prefer to exercise independent thought.  I prefer to think critically.  Where once I was in love with ideas, now I am more interested in action, in implementation.  Something may sound great, but how does it become a reality?  Does it work, once it's out there?  Agree or disagree with me; I wish we'd part ways as friends.  I learned long ago how to connect with people, following an angsty adolescence in which I actually hated my fellow man.  Please, know that hate is a terrible waste of time and a pain in the heart.  Find common ground.  I do reserve special hate for terrorists, for those who will never hear reason and are bent upon the destruction of innocents.  But we are a nation of many different peoples, races, creeds, religions, and ideas.  Can we come together as Americans, or are we too interested in serving ourselves?  This is a government created to be of the people, by the people, and for the people.  I still believe in the Constitution, now more than ever, and hope that our country can be a beacon of hope for a long time to come. 

two anniversaries

The twelve articles of amendment were adopted by Congress on this day, September, 25, 1789.  I remember having to memorize and recite the Preamble to the Constitution for my eighth grade history class, but a child of 13 was kinda not expected to fully grasp the certain inalienable rights of man.  The amendments are cited as rights, all the time.  I believe that knowing our founding principles and developing a discerning ear to ensure that things aren't taken out of context, are as important now in our everybody-sue-everybody world as they were when the documents were drafted.  I'm a deep roots kind of person: I like to get to the heart of the issue, no matter how overboard I go with my own dialogue, and seek simplicity.  The shades of gray, or smoke and mirrors, in the theory of subjective reality, are the detractors which have derailed us as a society.

Article the first ... After the first enumeration required by the first article of the Constitution, there shall be one Representative for every thirty thousand, until the number shall amount to one hundred, after which the proportion shall be so regulated by Congress, that there shall be not less than one hundred Representatives, nor less than one Representative for every forty thousand persons, until the number of Representatives shall amount to two hundred; after which the proportion shall be so regulated by Congress, that there shall not be less than two hundred Representatives, nor more than one Representative for every fifty thousand persons.




Article the second ... No law, varying the compensation for the services of the Senators and Representatives, shall take effect, until an election of Representatives shall have intervened.



Article the third ... Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.



Article the fourth ... A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.



Article the fifth ... No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.



Article the sixth ... The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.



Article the seventh ... No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.



Article the eighth ... In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence.



Article the ninth ... In Suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise re-examined in any Court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.



Article the tenth ... Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.



Article the eleventh ... The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.



Article the twelfth ... The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.



Frederick Augustus Muhlenberg, Speaker of the House

John Adams, Vice-President of the United States and President of the Senate



Attest John Beckley, Clerk of the House of Representatives

Sam. A. Otis Secretary of the Senate

*I would like to take a moment and reflect upon another important item in our history, related closely to our rights as Americans.  Women were granted the right to vote in August 1920, which was 90 years last month.  I do believe in women's suffrage and women's lib, and I also believe that women were made different from men, and bring something wonderful to the world by genuinely being women.  Our sisters before us fought and lobbied diligently for the right to be heard.  Please ladies, vote.
 

Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness

I had the pleasure of seeing a Hollywood blockbuster star portray a real human being in the film The Pursuit of Happyness.   I am writing this blog to encourage people and rally the American spirit within each heart.  So it is that I would love a recent film depicting the rags-to-riches biography of a man who lost everything but his son and his dream.  The United States was founded on dreams, dreams won over by blood and toil.  My family has been on this continent for 400 years, so let me ask you if fighting for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness isn't in my blood?   We have so very much to be thankful for as Americans, as citizens of one of the few nations on earth to be truly "free."  This is the place where a person, irregardless of race, gender, religion, or creed can go after their dream.   We are a country of risk takers, and we are a country which still attracts those who have been oppressed in their own lands. 

I thought about writing a blog entry for September 11th, but then I do not need that day to express what we all felt.  I encourage you to open your hearts and feel, to stay in the awareness of, what it means to have your rights and way of life nearly taken away.  Terrorism isn't necessarily about death: terrorism is a threat, an "our way or else," which is exactly why the United States of America was founded.  We are living in a safe haven for freedom from tyranny.  We are living in a place where a man and his young son, who have nothing, can hold these truths dear and rise above. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bklNWWoJyzE&feature=related
Please copy and paste this clip's URL into your browser and watch. 

Tenacious

I would like, very much, to discuss the founding document of our country.  We are a nation divided at this time in our history, just as we have been torn on issues in the past.  I would like to add that this country was founded by immigrants and descendants of immigrants.  What's so great about freedom?  I've begun to scratch the surface with this blog.  One of the most important founders, Thomas Jefferson, had a separate family with a slave woman, and upon his death was so riddled with debts that he could not free everyone.  The "founding fathers," were a group of people who believed that slavery would eventually come to an end.  I am speaking of this issue, because I do, with all of my heart, contend that every person is created equal under God.  Enslaving another person, keeping them under one's heel so to speak, does not match the right of equality for all.  It is not what you have or what your status might be: it is the content of your character which is your value.  This is how men are not equal: character matters.

"We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."
-The Preamble to the Constitution

The word "tenacious" was given to me by my friend, Geri, to speak to my relentless clinging to morales and ideals.  It is a compliment to be considered tenacious for standing my ground: integrity is a very important thing.  Standing one's ground and following through, being accountable, are rare things these days, but ordinary people can act upon integrity and be considered heroic.  The founders of this great country said, "Enough!" and took their desire for freedom to the next level.  I'm speaking of everyone who joined the fight, not just the fellows whose names are signed at the bottom of the paperwork. 

"In the Spirit of Our Gallant Fathers"

I have been looking for a way to tie-in the rallying of my family's spirits by the recovery of my Uncle Bill with my writings on patriotism.  A person of charisma, of a certain manner of engaging an audience, may indeed influence emotion and, in some cases, a call to action.  A good leader could do that, even a reluctant war veteran and seemingly quiet farmer like our hero. 

Parson Weems claims in his biography of Francis Marion that none of Marion's brothers fought for the cause.  No, no, he insists, they contributed to society as farmers, etc.  Common sense would tell you that the Marion children were told the stories of what had happened to their family in France, indeed the whole of the French community, from the original eighty families which crossed the Atlantic and settled in Charleston proper, all had the same misfortune.  It is the perseverance that a person learns, and carries in their heart, which becomes courage in the necessity of survival. 

French Huguenot Church in the French quarter of Charleston

I once heard that in order to survive in a life-threatening situation you must do, and not think. We all admire those who seem so courageous, but the humblest of responses is "I did what I had to do." So simple, and as applicable today as in the time of Francis Marion, and the other patriots I have discussed in this blog.  Indeed, these men of war were not the only ones with passion in their hearts.  Simms, in his biography, quotes a letter written by Issac Marion, brother of Francis, who resided in the community of Little River.  Skirmishes were flaring up between the British and the colonials, and Issac was asked to dispatch news of the battle of Lexington (Spring 1775) to what was then a committee of community elders, to warn that the dangers of war with England were very real.  He also made it clear where his feeling lied when he wrote,

"I request FOR THE GOOD OF YOUR COUNTRY, AND THE WELFARE OF OUR LIVES, LIBERTIES, AND FORTUNES, you'll not lose a moment's time.." 

Issac Marion, in speaking of "your country," and the importance of holding on to "our lives, liberties, and fortunes," was guilty of treason.  A Tory would say that South Carolina was a colony of England solely, not a separate and free country.  Issac was no Tory: he believed in freedom just as strongly as his brother.  The reply Issac received was swift action: Georgetown and Charleston were quickly notified, and a meeting of the Continental Congress was called to decide on the pertinent question:

remain loyal to England or go to war.

Benjamin Franklin's call the cause

"The actual commencement of hostilities against this Continent by the British troops, in the bloody scene of the 19th of April last, near Boston--the increase of arbitrary imposition from a wicked and despotic ministry--and the dread of insurrections in the Colonies--are causes sufficient to drive an oppressed people to the use of arms. We, therefore, the subscribers, inhabitants of South Carolina, holding ourselves bound by that most sacred of all obligations, the duty of good citizens to an injured country, and thoroughly convinced, that, under our present distressed circumstances, we shall be justified before God and man, in resisting force by force--do unite ourselves, under every tie of religion and honor, and associate as a band in her defence,

against every foe--hereby solemnly engaging, that, whenever our Continental and Provincial Councils shall deem it necessary, we will go forth, and be ready to sacrifice our lives and fortunes to secure her freedom and safety. This obligation to continue in force, until a reconciliation shall take place between Great Britain and America, upon Constitutional principles--an event which we most ardently desire. And, we will hold all those persons inimical to the liberty of the Colonies, who shall refuse to subscribe to this association."

South Carolina's version of Ben Franklin's snake

I know that the screenwriters and directors of The Patriot played up the reluctant spirit of the colonials to sign up for war with a fearsome enemy, but Simms found that Marion was not a fine debater, and nor did he cast a vote for "nay."  He hated the British, his own dealings with them aside, for what they'd done in Boston and for how oppressive they were.  Deep in his heart, indeed in the hearts of each of his siblings, dwelt the longing to be free.  They did what they had to do.

Brother Bill

We nearly lost our beloved Bill Barnwell, my dad's best friend from NC State design school and my mom's big brother, on Tuesday July 13, 2010 to a heart attack.  I have not blogged much lately for lack of interest, and for some time my heart was in my throat for Bill's journey from ambulance ride to quadruple by-pass surgery.  Bill was named for his father, who was a great storyteller.  This gift for engaging people is something which comes easily for my Uncle Bill, and I would like to dedicate a good bit of the spirit of my research and writing about the family to him.  He is, for all of him, a blessing in our lives.  There is no doubt that his survival over the past 2 weeks is a miracle. 

I love you, Uncle Bill.  This one's for you.

p.s. Jarvis has lost over 20 lbs since these pictures at my wedding were taken.

Patriots: the Carolina Gamecock

Thomas Sumter (1734-1832) was one tough fellow.  He outlived all of my other patriots in this segment, surving to his 97th year!  He was the son of a Welsh immigrant, who settled in Virginia.  He was gifted in diplomacy, and grew to work well with the Cherokee Nation, along with his friend and fellow Virginian Brigadier General Joseph Martin, Jr.  I believe that the company hired to write the spoiler for The Patriot left out Martin's name in the list of men who inspired the film's hero.  Both Thomas and Joseph learned a great deal from the Cherokee, having a taste for warfare over the quiet and peaceful life of a planter.  Each fought first in the French and Indian War, and later in the Revolutionary War. 

The story goes that at the end of the Cherokee Campaign Thomas Sumter went with a Cherokee chief, Henry Timberlake, an interpreter, and a servant to the Overhill villages of the Cherokee Nation, at the request of the Chief.  Chief "Old Hop" lead them to the villages in the cold, to prove to them that the Cherokee and the British were at peace.  The journey itself cost them for provisions and later horses to get back to Virginia, and the bill was footed by Thomas.  He went to London briefly, and then took a boat to South Carolina.  He asked the British army for reimbursement for his money spent in the Cherokee Campaign, but instead they locked him in jail.  His friend, Joseph Martin, came to see him, and slipped him some money and a Cherokee tomahawk.   Did Thomas Sumter raise hell and escape from the jail, or did he pay the bill and walk out free?  Where facts are few, it's best to use your imagination.  I see it as one of those "choose your own adventure" novels.  But you must remember, by this time, Thomas was fluent in the Cherokee dialects and warfare.  He knew how to use that tomahawk.  He and Joseph Martin would meet again 30 years later, and Thomas would repay him.

Brigadier General Joseph Martin, Jr.

Thomas Sumter married a wealthy widow, just as Benjamin Martin did in The Patriot, and had several businesses and plantations.  His neighbor?  Francis Marion. 

I would like to portray Thomas Sumter as a spirited, no-holds-barred type of soldier.  He is, afterall, the original gamecock.  Lord Cornwallis himself would call Sumter his "greatest plague" because Sumter came at him with all of his might, unhindered by his own small stature. 
"Tho he be little, he be fierce."  -Shakespeare
Here was the man who rose to the rank of General, and commanded the militias which drove Cornwallis out of South Carolina and into the coast of Virginia, to Yorktown, where Cornwallis was forced to surrender. 

Cornwallis's surrender at Yorktown

Thomas, and later his son, would serve in Congress and as a Senator in South Carolina.  I worked at the fort in the mouth of Charleston's harbor, which was named for him, and in his grandchildren's lifetime would host the beginning of the Civil War.  I am not related to the Old Gamecock, but 2 outta 5 ain't bad.

Patriots: the Old Wagoner

I must confess on the need for a refresher course in the battles and names of the American Revolution. I had never heard of Colonel Daniel Morgan (1736-1802) until research for this book began. He was a captain early in his military career, so in reading of his life I began thinking of Captain Morgan rum. In fact, he was related to the pirate Daniel Morgan!!  Arrrgh.  Only this guy was no pirate. He was a brilliant military strategist, and he was the one who relentlessly and repeatedly pursued British General Tarleton, the venomous beast and warmonger.

Morgan was a large, bawdy fellow, whose parents immigrated from Wales to colonial New Jersey.  Young Daniel had a falling out with his dad, and ran away from home at 16.  He went to Virginia, barely literate, and worked at sawmill until eventually joining the British militia and acting as a wagoner in the French and Indian War.  This is where "Old Wagoner" comes from, but I have to tell you I have no clue what a "wagoner" is.

The trouble with Morgan was that he was outspoken (also loved to gamble and fight), and in the heat of an argument he bunched his superior officer in the face.  He was nearly lashed to death for insubordination, and he hated the British from that point forward. 

Morgan joined the cause during the time of the Boston Massacre, and took orders from General Washington.  He played key roles in the successful battles of Saratoga and Cowpens.  He had sciatica, which made warfare and extensive traveling very painful.  He, like Francis Marion, tried to retire by 1780.  But he was needed, so he switched from Washington's mid Atlantic to General Nathaniel Greene's Southern Army.  He destroyed General Tartleton's Tory legion of fighters by organizing and successfully lauding a double envelopment of the enemy.  He also designed Greene's battle plan for the Battle of Guilford Courthouse here, in modern day Greensboro. 

Morgan retired in 1782 to his 250,000 acre estate in Winchester, Virginia which he named Saratoga.  He had 2 daughters with his housekeeper, don't worry, he did marry her, and one love child named Willoughby whom he fathered while in Charles Towne.  Oh, you scallywag, you.

Patriots: the Family Man

Elijah Clarke (1732-1799), hero with a hook nose.  I have a thing for noses.  General Elijah Clarke was one of the men of whom fictional character Benjamin Martin in The Patriot was based.  We get the man closely tied to his seven children, whose home was burned by the Tories, in Elijah Clarke.  One of his younger daughters was named Susanna, which is where the screenwriters had a field day creating a tear-jerking traumatized little girl who could not speak after losing her mother.  Gets me everytime.

 

Hannah Arrington was Elijah Clarke's wife.  She was a strong, muscular woman of Scots Irish descendent, whose parents settled at Winyah Bay, where the Marions built Goatfield.  They say that Hannah was a quiet woman, but when she spoke she spoke with authority.  She followed her husband from camp to camp during the Revolutionary War, bringing the children with her.  The Tories burned their home to the ground while they were away.  Hannah refused to let the enemy break her spirit.  She nursed the wounded on both sides of the battles.  Sounds like a great lady.  Unfortuately I am not descended from her.

Elijah Clarke was from the Outer Banks, son of immigrants.  He was born the same year as both George Washington and Francis Marion.  Elijah wasn't schooled and had no money, so he took his new bride to the free and newly ceded lands from the treaty which ended the French and Indian War in the mountains of Georgia.  This guy fought both Indians and the British during the Revolutionary War.  He survived mulitple wounds, Small Pox, and the Mumps.  He fought under Andew Pickens in Georgia, leading a successful charge to win the battle at Kettle Creek.  Pickens and Clarke fought together again in the two month battle for Augusta.  The British took over a good bit of South Carolina and Georgia in 1780, so Clarke had to travel through Indian country to try to retake Augusta.

Elijah's son John left school at 14 to fight alongside his father, and by 16 he was a captain.  I believe the Gabriel Martin character has some John Clarke in him.  The Clarkes led guerrilla style raids on the British and colonial Loyalists at Musgrove's Mill, Cedar Springs, Wofford's Iron Works, Fishdam Ford, Long Cane, and Blackstocks, in addition to Augusta.  Elijah Clarke was rewarded at the close of the war with a plantation.  He served in the Georgian government, as did his son John.  Elijah was something of a libertarian, insteadof something like a sandwich: he got into trouble trying to create an independent republic on Creek Indian land.  I guess you can't win them all.

5 Patriots: The Fighting Elder, the Wizard Owl

Hello again.  I try to take breaks, really, but then when I return to the research I get excited again.  To be an artist is to doubt one's self, indeed, but to embrace your gifts is an indescribable bliss.  I only wish that everyone could work from their heart, out of goodness of course. 

I read a more indepth description of the story behind The Patriot, and in lieu of how completely whacked out Mel Gibson is right now, I would choose to bring attention to the distinguished patriots whose stories emboldened screenwriters to memorialize them into one man: fictional Benjamin Martin.  Mr. Gibson, please get some help, and have some shame.

Our patriots, to commense this series, are Captain Daniel Morgan, Brigadier General Francis Marion, Colonel Elijah Clark, General Thomas Sumter, and Brigadier General Andrew Pickens.  It would not suprise me to find that I am in some way related to each of these men.  Look out, DAR, I've got another whammy for you.

Slap him a little bit harder, Senator Kerry, he's about to make a huge mistake.

Former Senator John Edwards, the former trial lawyer and seemingly happily married man, is the 7th great grandson of a great patriot of this country: Brigadier General Andrew Pickens (1739-1817).  Who?  Yes, to the point he's not exactly a well-known fellow, but he did some fine things in his day.  And I think he didn't start rolling over in his grave when John Edwards cheated on his wife and used his constituents money to do it, no, no.  I think Andrew Pickens began rattling his bones at the words "trial lawyer." 

Perhaps someone else in the family could do his memory justice.

"The Fighting Elder"

Andrew Pickens's beginnings were very much like that of Francis Marion: his ancestors were persecuted Presbyterians who eventually left England for the New World.  Pickens's parents, surname originally Picon (French), were Ulster people who immigrated from Northern Ireland.  They settled in the Pennsylvania back country as indentured servants, where Andrew Pickens Jr. (our hero) was born in 1739.  The Pickenses migrated South in 1754, in classic Scots-Irish fashion, following their release from service and undoubtedly some hostile encounters with Native Americans.  They were strict in their faith, so much so that Pickens was given the nickname the "Fighting Elder." 

His parents remained in Waxhaw, which today is a suburb of Charlotte, but Andrew Jr. sold his property in 1764 following the final treaty of the French and Indian War, and pushed further south to Abbeville.  Remember Abbeville?  It's all coming together.  Andrew Jr. married Rebecca Calhoun, of the same French descent as Andrew's great grandparents, in Abbeville.   They may have been on the same boat as the Marions: they were also from La Rochelle.  Pickens built Hopewell Plantation on the Savannah River, where many a Cherokee treaty was signed.  Andrew and Rebecca had 14 children: Andrew III would follow in his father's political footsteps, and his brother Floride would father the politician John C.Calhoun.  But my heart belongs to his eldest child, a girl named Mary.  Mary is my great grandmother.  That's right: this time draw a straight line connecting me to a famous revolutionary. 

Andrew fought in the Cherokee Campaign, and may very well have known Francis Marion by name, if not by reputation.  Where Marion rose from nothing to Lietenant, Pickens began as Captain and became a Brigadier General.  His relocation following the war to the Georgia border brought him into the Revolutionary War battles in Georgia, where my mom's relative Randal Ramsay fought in the Continental Army.  Remember how Francis Marion fled Charleston before it was seized by the British in 1780?  Andrew Pickens was taken prisonner.  So what did this guy do to put his name on that list?  He led a 300 man militia against the Tories, who had shown up in Georgia to gather support for the British.  They didn't like him so much.  Sounds like my kinda guy.  He was put under parole, and his men the same, swearing under oath that they would sit out the war.  But the Tories ransacked his home and spooked his children.  I hate to repeat myself, but don't mess with a bull, you might get the horns.

Pickens was also a guerilla fighter, and a brave soldier.  He'd traded with the Indians, and learned how to fight like them during the Cherokee Campaign.  His strategies in warfare helped to win the battles of Cowpens, Ninety-Six, Augusta, and Eutaw.  Eutaw was in Francis Marion's backyard, and they both took orders from Nathaniel Greene. 

Andrew Pickens served as a congressman following the Revolutionary War, worked on relations with the Cherokee Nation, and later sympathized with the Cherokee when they were driven from their land to Oklahoma.  The Cherokee named him "Wizard Owl" for his wise diplomacy.  He is buried at Old Stone Church in Clemson.

Ok, can I talk about his nose?  What is going on with the long French noses?  I wonder if the other 3 patriots had honkers like Pickens and Marion.  I've got French eyes and a French nose, and a [distant, thank God] cousin named John Edwards.

sleeping with the enemy

I'd like to flip the coin, if I may, and speak of a story I remembered from my grandfather Mays's family whose place in the puzzle recently connected for me. The Mays family came over with Reverend William Mease, who sailed from Belfast in 1611 to become part of the lesser-known Roanoke colony above John Smith's Jamestown. You could call him a Scots-Irish Presbyterian because he sailed from Northern Ireland during the Calvinist Protestant Reformation. But he wasn't Scots Irish. He was a Dutchman whose family had lived along the river Maas and had traded with the English. We found the name appearing in Flanders around 1479, when people began adopting last names. Trickle down in time with me to the southern migration of the Scots Irish in the New World colonies. My grandfather's great uncle was William Mayes, who settled in what is now Sumter County, South Carolina in 1759. See above.

Salem Black River Church was built in 1759, and while its original structure has been rebuilt and renovated several times, the cemetary and Sessions house remain.  William Mayes of the parish married a Cherokee chief's daughter.  My previous post addressed the bloody Cherokee campaign, with the Cherokee as the decided enemy of the colonials, and here I find my dad's father's family sleeping with the enemy.  I believe that William married for love.  His descendants founded what is now Mayesville, South Carolina, and prospered therein. 

The Cherokee Campaign ended in 1761, with a treaty.  I was able to find the final page of said treaty, with the marks and seals of the English and Cherokee. 

The French and Indian war ended in 1763, and the 13 colonies were divided by the Blue Ridge from the French and Indian territory.  England maintained its choke-hold until the colonists organized against them, eventually declaring their independence.  Wait for it.

Cherokee Campaign

My dad created an old-fashioned wrestler named "The Sidewinder," whose temper lurks just beneath the surface.  I have mentioned the sleeping monster within the heart of Francis Marion, which, in its fits and starts as a would-be peaceful farmer, cannot be denied when truly challenged.  Indeed, says Simms,

"It was only subdued, and slumbering for a season, ready to awaken at the first opportunity, with all the vigor and freshness of a favorite passion."

Opportunity arose out of a skirmish following the close of the French and Indian War. 

The Cherokee had allied with England, and as they were traveling south through Virginia on their way home as victors, they helped themselves to the settlers horses, to replace their own.  This did not go over well: the Virginians retaliated, and the Cherokee responded in kind.   South Carolina's Governor Lyttleton insisted on stepping in to help the Virginians, and so in 1759 South Carolina entered "The Cherokee Campaign."  Able-bodied men were asked to enlist, and Francis Marion, then 27, joined the cavalry unit lead by one of his brothers.  A delegation of 32 Cherokee chiefs came to Charleston to beseech Governor Lyttleton not to go to war with them.  Lyttleton wasn't buying it, and, taking the delegation as prisoners, brought them to Congaree, where his own forces were waiting.  Lyttleton was an idiot: this delegation came in peace and now they were captives, which offended the Cherokee into all-out war.  They unleashed hell on Fort Prince George and its surrounding settlements, mentioned in The Patriot as "Fort Wilderness," brutally slaughtering all whites they encountered. 

Units from Charleston, the Carolinas, and Virginia perished in their attempt to retake the fort, until they learned from their enemy and began to anticipate them.  They drove the Cherokee from Fort Prince George, and into the village of Etochee, then retreated.  But the Cherokee came back "with great vigor."  They took back their word on every treaty, forged an allegiance with the French, and learned how to use European weapons.  It was sticky business, not to mention horrific.  Francis Marion rose to the rank of Lieutenant, and fought under the command of General Moultrie.  The same men would later fight the English together at Fort Moultrie.  Moultrie described Marion in his memoirs:

"He was an active, brave and hardy soldier, and an excellent partisan officer."

Francis lead his regiment to victory, unrelenting in their pursuit of the Cherokee and gaining ground, as many died on both sides, until the Battle of Etochee was won.  The victory of the whites broke the spirit of the Cherokee nation, as the rest of the Campaign resulted in the destruction of and burning of many villages.  Benjamin Martin, the fictitious Francis Marion, said,
"I have longed feared that my sins would return to me,  and the cost is more than I can bear."

It is recorded of him, that the severity practised in this campaign filled him, long after, with recollections of sorrow.   How can a man drown out the screams of the innocent, long after numbing one's self to the war-woop of the enemy, whose destruction came at the orders of the commanding officer?  I'm trying to tell you that the horrors of warfare not only wearied Marion's soul:  they haunted him.  What he did in the Cherokee Campaign made him legend, but what he did to defeat the Cherokee did not end on the battlefield.  I believe that he had kindness within him, that beyond his hardened exterior of dry bread beat a heart of compassion for the innocent.  He would rally to the protection of the innocent once again in 1775. 

Family connection note: there was a small pox epidemic in Charleston during the Cherokee Campaign.  Job's first wife, my great grandmother Elizabeth de St. Julien, died of small pox in 1759.  Job and Elizabeth's son, Job, would be so close to his uncle Francis that he would name his first child after him.

Francis and the Whale

Parson Weems writes, "I have it from good authority, that this great soldier, at his birth, was not larger than a New England lobster, and might easily enough have been put into a quart pot."  I think we've established that Weems took a lot of liberties in his fantasty novel about the life of General Francis Marion.  Let's interpret this statement from its fable, and try not to imagine a newborn child being cooked for lunch. 

Francis was born to a 37 year old woman who'd been giving birth since age 16.  The baby was probably very small and sickly, and was coddled by the family until he overcame his ailments, his weak and crooked legs and tendency to be sick, at puberty.  He told his mother, who begged and pleaded with him, just as George Washington's mother had done up in Virginia, that he longed to be sailor.  Young Francis went to work on a ship bound for the West Indies around 1747.  Simms describes the scene in his biography of Marion:

"The waters of the Gulf of Mexico, in particular, were covered with pirates. The rich produce of New Spain, the West Indies, and the Southern Colonies of the English, were rare temptations. The privateers of Spain and France, a sort of legalized pirates, hung about the ports of Carolina, frequently subjecting them to a condition of blockade, and sometimes to forced contributions."

Infamous pirates Blackbeard and Charles Drake terrorized the Carolina coastline, when they weren't fighting on the open sea or stirring up mischief in the Carribean.  I think Johnny Depp was trying for a Blackbeard look, but it may have been a challenge to have smoke coming out of his dreadlocks. 
The British had special war ships in place to defend the coastline and thwart the attacks on merchant vessels, such as the one carrying young Francis.  Sometimes civil "cruisers" were retro-fitted with ammo to fight the pirates as well.  Francis's one and only voyage was made upon an armed vessel.
The journey was fraught with danger. 

"She [the ship] foundered at sea, whether going or returning is not said; in consequence, we are told, of injuries received from the stroke of a whale, of the thornback species. So suddenly did she sink, that her
crew, only six in number, had barely time to save themselves. They escaped to the jolly boat, saving nothing but their lives. They took with them neither water nor provisions; and for six days, hopeless of succor, they lay tossing to and fro, upon the bald and cheerless ocean."

Their ship was rammed by a whale, causing the vessel to sink, and the crew lept into a life boat with no provisions.  They were stranded at sea for six days, without drinking water or food, or shelter from the sun.  They ate the ship's dog as their only meal.  Perhaps P.E.T.A. would've suggested cannabalism over the poor dog, but then two of the crew lept into the ocean in absolute madness, and drowned.  How traumatizing!  Another ship discovered and rescued the survivors, nursing the distressed sailors to health.  Was Francis saved by providence, while grown men, stronger than he, perished at sea?  Yes.  He was bound for greater things.  Indeed, he had only begun.

Gabriel Marion, Jr. passed away in 1747, and when Francis returned from the sea he tilled the earth of the family farm and cared for his mother for ten years.  Francis's brothers and sister, except Job, were married with families of their own.  He planted indigo and rice on the Santee canal with his brother Gabriel, until Gabriel had enough money to build Belle Isle plantation, and Francis had enough to create his homestead of Pond Bluff next door.  Francis was not very well educated, and his family did not have much money.  He learned from the land, from the Indians, and made due.  I will speak of his character in the next blog.  I will also speak of the young man he retained from his parents estate, a boy who grew to be a great soldier and fought alongside Francis during the Revolutionary War.  His name was Oscar Marion, and he was loosely portrayed as Occam, played by actor Ray Arlen Jones in The Patriot.   

the lost cause

I'd like to take our story to the convening of the Continental Congress, featured here in The Patriot.  I watched the film again yesterday, and read several reviews which were harsh on the interpretation and presentation of history.  Yes, it's a movie: movies are entertaining, and tell a story.  You want a more accurate play-by-play?  Try a documentary.  I love documentaries, but they don't reach the entire audience, so a regular movie can be used as a decent teaching tool.  This concept will repeat when I speak of the Civil War, a subject as deeply entrenched in the cause for freedom as that which my Uncle Francis fought for, for both the Revolutionary War and the Civil War were civil wars.  Freedom to be, freedom to be free.  Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence, which was signed in early July of 1776: a powerful document whose words laid out what the Colonials believed as truth, and would prove with much bloodshed.  The guarantee by the words "for all," were challenged by circumstance and situation, spearheading when Abraham Lincoln was elected in 1860. 

Betsey Ross of Boston would sew this flag, a symbol of an established free nation.  To speak of, write of, such a thing prior to the Declaration of Independence, was treason.  My grandfather, Job Marion, represented St. John's Parish in the Continental Congress in Charleston in 1775, and his brother Francis would take his place in 1776.  I have no doubt, given what happened to the French Huguenots in France, at the hands of the Catholic Church in the Religious Wars and thereafter, that the Marions LOATHED tyranny.  The only reluctance, on behest of both brothers, was in how tired they were of war.  Each had fought in the French and Indian War, and their older brother Gabriel Marion III, a grandfather by this time, enlisted in the local militia in 1774.  Parson Weems, in his sweeping-romance-for-young-adults "biography" of Francis claims that none of the other Marion brothers were interested in fighting but were businessmen and farmers instead.  I believe that they defended their families and homesteads.  Their children witnessed the war "with their own eyes," including Job Marion's son Job de St. Julien Marion. 

Young Job was raised by his father and his uncle Francis because his mother died early, and by his teens he had a stepmother and two new children in the house.  Job Marion's father married a family friend, Elizabeth Gaillard, in middle age.  Charleston was seized by the British in 1780 when Job was my age.  His first cousin Gabriel Marion, son of one of his uncles, was captured and murdered in Georgetown by the Tories.  Remember that the Tories were colonists loyal to England. 

The murder of the above mentioned Gabriel Marion was an act of civil war.

The intial battles and skirmishes of the Revolutionary War were pitiful: the English slaughtered the Americans to the point where freedom was deemed "the lost cause."  And from these doubts arose our hero, an underdog, a fighter hardened and wizened by war.  The Sandwich arrived as quickly as he was needed, but no one could follow him or find him.  He was like a ghost, like a clever fox. 

I am beginning to read the accounts of this man, disseminating him from the school yard rhyme and the fabled sanguine warrior, making him more like the rest of us.  A Francis Marion could very well be among us: the gumption, wherewithal, and courage may very well beat within the heart of a man or woman today.  As Martha Washington said, "It is not the greater or lesser things which happen [to us], but our disposition toward them which matters most."  How will you pick your battles, how will you respond when your life and freedoms are threatened?  You could go along with it, obedient like a dog, or play dead.  Or you could act.  I do not encourage violence, but I do believe that it is a right of every American to defend themselves.

  Francis Marion was called to the meeting of the Continental Congress in 1776, and eventually promoted to the status of Captain and manner of the cannon at Fort Moultrie, the first time the British tried to sack Charleston in 1778.  He was already legend for his service in the French and Indian War, where he'd defeated the French and Cherokee in the Carolina and Georgia backwoods. 

Quiet farmer he was not.

The attack on Fort Moultrie by the British, Sullivan's Island

South Carolina's flag: crescent moon and the color blue symbolize liberty.  The Palmetto tree was used to make walls for Fort Moultrie, a lumber so spongy that a cannon ball cannot pierce it.