aced them that valor was the only requisite. A swamp,
right or left, or in his rear; a thicket beside him;--any spot in which
time could be gained, and an inexperienced militia rallied, long enough
to become reconciled to the unaccustomed sights and sounds of war,--were
all that he required, in order to secure a fit position for fighting in.
He found no difficulty in making good soldiers of them. It caused him
no surprise, and we may add no great concern, that his raw militia
men, armed with rifle and ducking gun, should retire before the pushing
bayonets of a regular soldiery. He considered it mere butchery to expose
them to this trial. But he taught his men to retire slowly, to take post
behind the first tree or thicket, reload, and try the effect of a
second fire; and so on, of a third and fourth, retiring still, but never
forgetting to take advantage of every shelter that offered itself. He
expected them to fly, but not too far to be useful. We shall see the
effect of this training at Eutaw, where the militia in the advance
delivered seventeen fires, before they yielded to the press of the
enemy. But, says Johnson, with equal truth and terseness, "that distrust
of their own immediate commanders which militia are too apt to be
affected with, never produced an emotion where Marion and Pickens
commanded."* The history of American warfare shows conclusively that,
under the right leaders, the American militia are as cool in moments of
danger as the best drilled soldiery in the universe. But they have been
a thousand times disgraced by imbecile and vainglorious pretenders.

* History of Greene, p. 225, vol. 2.--

Marion was admirably supported by his followers. Several officers of the
brigade were distinguished men. Of Major John James we have already
seen something. All the brothers were men of courage and great muscular
activity. The Witherspoons were similarly endowed. His chief counsellors
were the brothers Horry, and Postelle,--all like himself descended from
Huguenot stocks. To the two last (the brothers Postelle) it has been
remarked, that "nothing appeared difficult."* Captains Baxter and
Conyers were particularly distinguished,--the first for his gigantic
frame, which was informed by a corresponding courage; the latter by his
equal bravery and horsemanship. He was a sort of knight-errant in the
brigade, and his behavior seemed not unfrequently dictated by a passion
for chivalrous display. An anecdote, in con