To understand who Francis Marion was you have to look at his nickname, Swamp Fox. A swamp is an area of low ground filled with water or a marsh, and a fox is a group of small, wild, flesh eating animal of the dog family or a sly, cunning, deceitful person. In this case the definition of a sly, cunning, deceitful person is used. So you can assume that Francis Marion knew the swamplands very well, and that he was a very clever person. As you can see this is very true.
Francis Marion was born in 1732 in St. John's Perish, Berkley County, near Georgetown, South Carolina. He was the first generation of his ancestors to be born in America. His ancestors were originally descendants of French Huguenots who settled on the Santee River. As a young boy, Francis enjoyed exploring the swamps and wooded areas around where he lived. Sometimes he would be gone for hours on end just wandering around with his brothers or playing games in the swamps. (Bodie 21) When Francis turned fifteen he had dreams of becoming a sailor. Against his parent's wishes, Francis set sail on a voyage from South Carolina to the West Indies. His boat sank a quarter of the way there, and he floated around on a lifeboat for a week. After this expedition, he decided that he would rather become a farmer than a sailor. (32).
In 1753, when the French and Indian War began, Marion joined a militia company led by his older brother Gabriel. For eight years their company saw no action. In the early sixties, Lieutenant Francis Marion led thirty men as an advance into a known ambush. In this advance Marion was part of a very small group that actually survived. (Patriot) He had proved himself as an amazing soldier, and everyone in his community showed great respect towards him. (Diedre) After the war ended Marion settled down as a planter in St. John's Parish. He prospered as a planter and in 1773 he bought a plantation on the Santee River about four miles north of Eutaw Springs.
