PARSON WEEMS' LIFE OF FRANCIS MARION

CHARLESTON SOUTH CAROLINA: THE TRADD STREET PRESS. Very Good/Very Good. 1976. First Thus. Hard Cover. 8vo Dust jacket slightly chipped to edges. Blue cloth with bright gilt titling and decoration.Map end papers. viii, 252 pages clean and tight. Francis Marion is a folk hero-a legendary figure whose exploits rank in our imaginations with John Henry's and Paul Bunyan's. It surprises us to realize that the Swamp Fox was a real person and that his mighty deeds are inscribed in our history. The embattled farmers of Concord Bridge and Marion's men are the stuff of which patriotism is made. They symbolize our pride in the triumph of right over wrong no matter what the odds. Marion twisted the British lion's tail until he cried uncle. Like our joy in David's triumph over Goliath, it is this sympathy with the underdog which has made us so ashamed of our role in Vietnam where we played Goliath. Consider the feats of Francis Marion: although he was already in his forties when the Revolution began, frail, small, lame, he led his men during almost three years of unrelieved hardship with courage, prudence, intelligence, even cunning, and compassion. His command was the South Carolina Militia, and militia were held in low esteem. Every man thought himself a general and often chose to melt away when the going got tough. But under his leadership this militia became Marion's men and, as everybody knows, Marion's men were tried and true. .