Francis Marion and the Snow’s Island Community

On February 15, the Society hosted an engaging book talk at The Old Exchange Building in Charleston presented by Dr. Steven D. Smith, author.

Dr. Steve D. Smith, Author

Sixty guests enjoyed learning more about Marion’s men and their movements in and around the Snow’s Island Community as well the results of recent archeology digs in the area.

The Society partnered with The Old Exchange Building to present a book talk as part of the efforts to celebrate and promote South Carolina’s role in the American Revolution by educating, engaging, and inspiring South Carolinians and visitors. Brig. Gen. Francis Marion was a direct Huguenot descendant and well known patriot in the Revolutionary War. He was part of a broader community of Huguenot descendants, Scots and others who were loyal to him and to each other, many being relatives and childhood friends.

“This community of partisans had joined the rebellion as early as 1775 and had stubbornly refused to surrender, even when Charleston fell in 1780. They had supplied food, forage, and blood to the rebellion and, under the leadership of General Francis Marion, had become an obstacle to British control of the southern colonies. This book is their story,” Francis Marion and the Snow’s Island Community.

Dr. Smith is currently finishing a book on Ft. Motte and we look forward to inviting him back when it publishes.

Dr. Smith is the former Director of the South Carolina Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology and has over 40 years' experience in historical archaeology, largely focused on military sites of the American Revolution in the South. He has conducted excavations associated with Francis Marion and American Revolutionary War battlefields including the siege of Fort Motte, Parker's Ferry, Black Mingo, Snow's Island, Camden, the siege of Ninety Six, and the battle of Williamson's Plantation. He is the author or co-author of six books, among them, Partisans, Guerillas, and Irregulars: Historical Archaeology of Asymmetric Warfare, Francis Marion and the Snow's Island Community, and Leading Like the Swamp Fox: The Leadership Lessons of Francis Marion. With over 40 years of experience in historical archaeology, Smith largely focused on military sites of the American Revolution in the south.