Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-02-13

Ger looked for a man of towering figure.
His astonishment was great when he saw
a man weighing less than 100 pounds and
was told this was Marion. That SO Slight
a person and so gentle voiced and modest
a man should command the reverence of
not only the big. powerful men he saw
about him, but should be SO feared by the
Tories and the English, amazed him.
After Marion had read the letter the
young man brought and had written an
answer the visitor arose as If to depart.
Marion remarked that the journey was
long one and it would be well to refresh
himself before starting. Dinner was III
the general announced. The
young officer gladly accepted. Marions
calm dignity and utter lack of military
pretenson charmed the officer and he
asked many questions. Soon the dinner
was served. The one course was potatoes,
but it was served in style. For plates the
negro servant had pieces OF bark. Marion
apoogized because he had no salt to offer
his guest. The last lot he had captured
from the British had been consumed.
But surely. general said the young
officer, after eating Is much potatoe as
he thought pol4teness required, this Is
not your ordinary fare"
Indeed 1t is, was the earnest reply.
Tradition has il that when the young
officer returned to Georgetown he resigned
his commission. Men who endured piiva-
lions such as Marion and his men were
willing to undergo never could be SUBJ
dued, he declared.
And he was right.
Greene had a high opinion of Marion
and early in 1IS1 sent Lieut.. Col. Lee
and his legion to join the general and
serve under him. This made Marion )
game. and one o. the first things Marion
and Lee did was to capture Fort Motto.
the principal depot of conveys between
Charleston and Camden. This was
hard blow for the British. Then Marion
invested and captured Fort Watson At
Parkers Ferry he had sharp encounter
with the British cavalry under MAJ
Frazier and put them TO rout and then
Joined Greene's army neO Eutaw
Springs In the battle Of Eutaw Springs
Marion commanded the right wing OF
the militia. No troops that day did bet
ter service than the men or the swamp
Fox In the retreat the British were
pursued by Lee and Marion. who gave
them little rest.
Early in November came news Of the
surrender Of CORVALLIS at Yorktown, but
before that had been received came a
message Of thanks from Congress to
Marion for This gallant conduct in de-
tense of the country and for his distin-
guished services In the battle of Eutaw
Springs
with the surrender of CORVALLIS the
game of the royalists practically was up
in the Carolinas but nevertheless the
British fought doggedly. trying to pre-
vent the Americans from driving them
into Charleston and coping them up
there, and the Americans just per-
sistently forced the British back step by
step. In all this there was plenty OF
work for Marion and his men.
With the dawn of peace Marion was
the same mill, gentle man that he had
been In camp. If he bore any resent
ment against the Tories or the British
for the destruction of his plantation AMI
the financial ruin in which the war left
him, he did not show II, for a state
senator he used all his influence to heal
the wounds of tories and wings. A
greater surprise than Francis Marion
sprung on Tarleton, CORVALLIS or any
Of the British commanders was sprung
by the general upon his friends when he
was well past fifty
Then he married Miss Mary Videau.
one Of Charleston's most attractive
daughters. Like himself. she of the
Huguenot stock. She was wealthy and
thereafter .Iarion had no reason to worry
about finances. The marriage of Marion,
like that of Washington, was without
issue. He lived until he was sixty-three.
The state of South Carolina named
county in his honor, and most fittingly
the capital of that county is named in
more honor to the commander Of the
ragged band. the state named the county
the county of Marion in honor
of MariOn'S favorife liautenants ha