Book Report/Review: Swamp Fox of the Revolution - Landmark Books

The Swamp Fox of the Revolution is about Brig. Gen. Francis Marion and the Southern Campaign of the American Revolution. Even though one of my most favorite topics in history is the Revolutionary War, most of the battles in the book were unknown to me. The only battles I knew were Charleston, South Carolina; Cowpens, South Carolina; Kings Mountain, South Carolina; Guildford Courthouse, North Carolina; Yorktown, Virginia; and Eutaw Springs, South Carolina (no wonder it was called the Southern Campaign!). The book starts when Banastre Tarleton tried to defeat Marion. But he couldn't go past a swamp, and he called Marion the "Swamp Fox" and left. Now Horatio Gates, the hero of the great American victory at Saratoga, came south to defeat Charles Cornwallis, the hero of the great British victory at New York. The result was...

CAMDEN, A BRITISH VICTORY.

Now George Washington sent his most courageous general, Nathaniel Greene, to the South. And with him came Colonel Daniel Morgan. Once they went south, they had two choices:

1. Don't fight in the winter

2. Fight in the winter

"I'd better fight than hole up all winter," said Morgan, and so it was decided. Meanwhile, backwoodsmen from Tennessee and West Virginia attacked British and Tories (Americans supporting the British) under Patrick Ferguson. They killed Ferguson and defeated his force in...

KINGS MOUNTAIN, AN AMERICAN VICTORY. 

Daniel Morgan was getting ready. He had one row of sharpshooters, one row of militias, and one row of Continentals. Banastre Tarleton could come at any moment now. And...
There he came with his British Dragoons! They dissolved the sharpshooter and militia lines, but Morgan knew that they were not ready for the Continentals. The Continentals were pushing the Dragoons back. The Dragoons attacked Colonel William Washington. Washington attacked them with a sword. The Dragoons turned and fled. It was...
COWPENS, AN AMERICAN VICTORY. 

Now Cornwallis caught up with Nathaniel Greene in North Carolina, near Guildford Courthouse, so the battle was called the Battle of Guildford Courthouse. Greene modeled his lines on Morgan's successful Cowpens plan. But something went wrong. The Continentals, seeing the militias fleeing, fled too. Cornwallis won. 

Greene told Marion to capture two British forts, Ft. Watson and Ft. Motte. How could they capture Ft. Watson? It was on a hill! One of them had an idea. Most of Marion's men were once loggers. They felled all the trees that were around until they made a ramp high enough to reach the fort. And then, Marion's men went up the ramp and captured the fort. Now it was time for Ft. Motte. Ft. Motte was on a Native American mound. There was no place to build a ramp. How could they capture Ft. Motte? They had a risky idea. Private Nathan Savage was a bow-and-arrow expert. Marion's men dug a tunnel under the fort. Savage went through and shot at the fort. British soldiers tried to douse the flames. But Marion captured the fort. 

Cornwallis caught up with Greene again at Eutaw Springs.  Marion fought bravely at Eutaw Springs. At first, the Americans were winning. They were almost in the British camp! But the British fought harder and harder. And finally they succeeded in pushing the Americans back and winning at...

EUTAW SPRINGS, A BRITISH VICTORY

Though Cornwallis had won at Guildford Courthouse and Eutaw Springs, he was tired of chasing Greene through the Carolina wilderness. So he went northeast until he reached the coast, on the Chesapeake Bay and York River.

The French admiral Comte de Grasse was leading a fleet from the Caribbean to...

Chesapeake Bay! General George Washington was interested. He knew that Cornwallis was camped on the York River, and that he established a settlement called "Yorktown" where he camped. Washington and Comte de Rochambeau, another French admiral, set out south. De Grasse blockaded Yorktown on sea, while Washington and Rochambeau blockaded by land. Cornwallis sent a message to British headquarters at New York, pleading for supplies. But it was too late. The Americans won at...

YORKTOWN, THE FINAL BATTLE
RATING: 100/100
STATUS: READ
Here is a photo of Marion:

http://teachers.greenville.k12.sc.us/sites/ekrezdor/South%20Carolina/Francis%20Marion-%20Swamp%20Fox.bmp  

(Though it's underlined and blue, you can't click on it)

Activity/Project: Rhyme Maker

Can you make a rhyme about tables?

Words rhyming with table:

stable, label, able, cable, Mabel

 Can you make a rhyme about snakes? Or cakes?

Words rhyming with snake:

 bake, cake, fake, Jake, lake, make, quake, rake, take, wake, (Sir Francis Drake??)

Can you make a rhyme about bays?

Words rhyming with bay:

May, sundae, sway, away, play, gray, highway, San Jose, Subway, tray, pay, NBA, LA, hay, lay, Chile, way, stay, x-ray, Paraguay, Uruguay, sun ray, quay, stingray, jay, cay, say, whey, (Dr. Tay??) clay, day, hooray, yay, USA

Do you have any more suggestions for rhymes?

Search: Grandster Queen of Bicycling

GRANDSTER
SEARCH/MAIL/MAPS/IMAGES/VIDEOS/MORE

Queen Of Bicycling

Queen of bicycling

A Queen of Bicycling (Maphitea Masturas) is a creature which only eats the haert fruit (Which is only found in Xerkopa, a planet 328 quadrillion light-years from where the Queen of Bicycling lives in Tonga). It lives for 1 nanosecond and doesn’t know what 1+1 is.

Quadrillion - a very large number

Nanosecond - a billionth of a second

Poem: Africa Continent Rhyme

In Africa there were many empires and civilizations,
Like Mali ruled by Mansa Mosa,
Over time they became nations,
With languages like Zulu and Xhosa.

Poems: Country Rhymes

Country Rhymes

1. Bulgaria

He went to Bulgaria
But didn’t like the area

2. Ukraine

He went to Ukraine
But there was too much rain

2. Paraguay
He went to Paraguay
But it was a cloudy day

3. Chad
He settled in Chad
Because there was more money than he ever had

4. Niger
He went to Niger
And became a miser

Poems: Extremes in the U.S.

Extremes in the U.S.

Wet: Mount Waialele, Hawaii

There is a huge amount of rain on Mount Waialele,

Much more than you can imagine there may be.

Not far away it is very dry,

And the amount of rain goes down by two times five.

Dry: Death Valley, California/Nevada

In Death Valley it is very dry,

And the temperature is very high,

It is also very low,

To Death Valley lots of people go.

Hot: Death Valley, California/Nevada

In Death Valley it is very hot,

Unlike Minneapolis where it is not.

It is also very low,

To Death Valley lots of people go.

Cold: Barrow, Alaska

In Barrow it is very cold,

So unless you are Amundsen, Roald,*

Never ever ever go there,

It is probably too cold for a polar bear.

*- Roald Amundsen was the first person to reach the South Pole.

High: Mount McKinley, Alaska

McKinley is the tallest mountain in the USA,

On it, it'll always be a cold day,

Oh, Oh, it is cold and high,

On it your eggs will never fry.

Low: Death Valley, California/Nevada

In Death Valley it is very low,

To Death Valley lots of people go,

It is also very dry,

And the temperature is very high.

MOUNT WAIELELE (OR WAHILILI)

DEATH VALLEY

DEATH VALLEY

BARROW

MOUNT MCKINLEY

DEATH VALLEY

Poem: He kicked the ball away

He kicked the ball away

It was hot May,

He was eating a sundae,

And looking at the trees sway,

He kicked the ball away,

On to parks where children play,

On to roads of gray,

On to a highway,

Into downtown San Jose,

Into a restaurant tray,

In Subway,

And into the chefs’ pay,

Into the office of Dr. Tay,

When she was using a x-ray,

Into the playoffs of the NBA,

Where Boston defeated LA,

Into some yellow hay,

Where a sleeping horse lay,

Into the country of Chile,

Where it was struck by a sun ray,

Then into Paraguay,

And then into Uruguay,

Onto the bay,

Where a potter was baking clay,

And where it was chased by a stingray,

But it bounced on to a quay,

Then to a cay,

Where it was pushed by a blue jay,

Now our song is over - yay!

Have a wonderful day!