to which he
clung, while his horse passed from under him. He was no swimmer, and,
but for timely assistance from his followers, would have been drowned.
Another story, which places him in a scarcely less ludicrous attitude,
is told by Garden.** He was ordered by Marion to wait, in ambush, the
approach of a British detachment. The duty was executed with skill; the
enemy was completely in his power. But he labored under an impediment
in his speech, which, we may readily suppose, was greatly increased by
anxiety and excitement. The word "fire" stuck in his throat, as "amen"
did in that of Macbeth. The emergency was pressing, but this only
increased the difficulty. In vain did he make the attempt. He could say
"fi-fi-fi!" but he could get no further--the "r" was incorrigible. At
length, irritated almost to madness, he exclaimed, "SHOOT, d----n you,
SHOOT! you know what I would say! Shoot, and be d----d to you!" He was
present, and acted bravely, in almost every affair of consequence, in
the brigade of Marion. At Quinby, Capt. Baxter, already mentioned, a man
distinguished by his great strength and courage, as well as size, and
by equally great simplicity of character, cried out, "I am wounded,
colonel!" "Think no more of it, Baxter," was the answer of Horry, "but
stand to your post." "But I can't stand," says Baxter, "I am wounded
a second time." "Lie down then, Baxter, but quit not your post." "They
have shot me again, colonel," said the wounded man, "and if I stay any
longer here, I shall be shot to pieces." "Be it so, Baxter, but stir
not," was the order, which the brave fellow obeyed, receiving a fourth
wound before the engagement was over.

* MS. Memoir, p. 51.

** Anecdotes, first series, p. 30.--

It was while Marion was lying with his main force at the camp at Snow's
Island, that two circumstances occurred which deserve mention, as
equally serving to illustrate his own and the character of the warfare
of that time and region. One of these occurrences has long been a
popular anecdote, and, as such, has been made the subject of a very
charming picture, which has done something towards giving it a more
extended circulation.* The other is less generally known, but is not
less deserving of the popular ear, as distinguishing, quite as much as
the former, the purity, simplicity, and firmness of Marion's character.
It appears that, desiring the exchange of prisoners, a young officer was
dispatched from the Brit