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Published on 7/24/2008

The National Parks Service American Battlefield Protection Program (ABPP) has awarded grants in the amount of $82,000 to fund comprehensive studies of two groups of important Francis Marion sites located in Florence, Georgetown, Marion and Williamsburg counties.

ABPP awarded $43,000 to the Francis Marion Trail Commission (FMTC) through Francis Marion University for a study of the Black Mingo battlefield and related sites in Georgetown and Williamsburg counties, and approximately $39,000 to the University of South Carolina Research Foundation for a similar study of the sites related to Marion's presence at Snow's Island and related areas in Florence and Marion counties in 1780 and 1781.

The FMTC is a supporting entity with regard to the Snow's Island grant, which will continue work that was previously undertaken by the University of South Carolina on behalf of the FMTC.

"This is a tremendous development in our efforts to locate and interpret these sites and to understand their significance," said FMTC Chairman Ben Zeigler of Florence.

"We are excited that these resources will be available for intensive and comprehensive research, and we feel that the grants also highlight the national significance of the sites and the Francis Marion story."

FMTC Executive Director Bob Barrett said the Black Mingo Grant will fund historical, genealogical and land records research as well as archaeology relating to the Battle of Black Mingo, which was fought in September 1780.

At Black Mingo, Marion attacked a large group of Loyalist troops camped around Dollard's Tavern on Black Mingo Creek, which now serves as a boundary between Georgetown and Williamsburg counties, winning a decisive victory that was one of the earliest and most significant of his partisan campaigns.

"The Black Mingo grant will help us learn more about the battle site itself, the people involved and hopefully the location of Dollard's Tavern," Barrett said. Barrett added that Francis Marion University will provide logistical and administrative support to the Black Mingo project.

"FMU personnel were critical to the success of this grant application, and the university can be proud of its role in preserving this fascinating chapter in our nation's history."

The Snow's Island grant will fund a similar research program with respect to the area of Snow's Island, where Marion maintained a primary camp from late 1780 to the spring of 1781.

Prior efforts to locate a camp on Snow's Island, which is located in what is now Florence County, have been unsuccessful, although a number of sites, including a camp and earthwork across the Great Pee Dee River from Snow's Island at Dunham's Bluff, have been located by the FMTC.

"Further work on and around Snow's Island will be exciting and productive for a couple of reasons," Zeigler said.

"First, Snow's Island is the most legendary of the Marion sites, portrayed in literature and popular culture as a mysterious hideout of Marion's partisan band. But some scholars now question whether Marion actually had a camp on Snow's Island, or whether it was instead just a point of reference for a general area. To the extent possible, we want to put some historical flesh on the bones of these myths and legends," Zeigler added.

"Second, Snow's Island was possibly the hub of a number of sites relating to Marion's partisan campaigns in 1780 and 1781, including Port's and Witherspoon's Ferries in Florence County, Dunham's Bluff, Woodbury and Blue Savannah in Marion County, and Indiantown and Kingstree in Williamsburg County.

"If we can understand what was going on at Snow's Island during this time, we can better understand the interrelationships among these sites as well as the strategic aspects of Marion's movements."

The work funded by the Snow's Island Grant will be undertaken by the University of South Carolina.

"We are looking forward to working further with FMTC in seeking to better understand the history associated with this legendary site," said Steven D. Smith of the University of South Carolina, principal investigator on the Snow's Island Project.

According to Barrett, work funded by the Black Mingo Grant will be put out for bid in the next few months in accordance with the requirements of the ABPP. The ABPP funds projects conducted by federal, state, local and tribal governments, nonprofit organizations and educational institutions.

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The ABPP's mission is to safeguard and preserve significant American battlefield lands for present and future generations as symbols of individual sacrifice and national heritage.

Since 1990, the ABPP and its partners have helped to protect and enhance more than 100 battlefields by co-sponsoring 360 projects in 41 states and territories. An ABPP grant previously funded work on Fort Motte, another Francis Marion site in Calhoun County. In 2008, the ABPP awarded approximately$1,367,000 in grants for 32 projects.

According to Barrett, Smith, and Zeigler, awards from the ABPP represent an important recognition of the national importance of the Francis Marion story. "When you have 6 percent of a major federal grant program going to fund work on two Marion sites, you have a clear indication that, as we have been told before, we are fortunate to have a nationally significant historical resource in our own back yard," Zeigler said.