Documentary proofs are few, bald and uninteresting.
A simple paragraph in the newspapers,--those newspapers issued not unfrequently in cities where the enemy had power, and in the control of Editors, unlike the present, who were seldom able to expatiate upon the achievement which they recorded;--or the brief dispatches of the Captain himself, whose modesty would naturally recoil from stating more than the simple result of his performances;--these are usually the sum total of our authorities.

The country, sparsely settled, and frequently overrun by the barbarous enemy, was incapable of that patient industry and persevering care, which could chronicle the passing event, give place and date to the brilliant sortie, the gallant struggle, the individual deed of audacity, which, by a stroke, and at a moment, secures an undying remembrance in the bosoms of a people.

The fame of Marion rests very much upon tradition.

There is little in the books to justify the strong and exciting relish with which the name is spoken and remembered throughout the country.

He was not a bloody warrior.