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Revolutionary Road Trip - TPR's In Focus - July 7, 2026 · In Focus with Carolyn Hutcheson

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  Support comes from Troy University's Trojan Cafe,
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  offering handcrafted Starbucks beverages and a wide assortment of meal and snack options,
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  located on Troy University's Montgomery campus, across from the Rosa Parks Library and Museum.
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  From Troy Public Radio, this is In Focus, and I'm Carolyn Hutcheson.
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  Darley Newman is the well-known host of Public Television's Travels with Darley series,
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  and she visits today with a story from her new book, Revolutionary Road Trip, about the famous
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  patriot known as the Swamp Fox and the Alabama town and military institute that bear his real
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  name. She joins us for the storyline book series. Darley, welcome back.
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  Hi, Carolyn. Excited to be on today.
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  You have been discovering some little-known stories about our nation's history.
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  Well, I've actually been traveling to sites related to the American Revolution since 2021,
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  so thinking early on about that we have this 250th of the United States of America,
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  and also that there is so much history whenever you look at these great time periods that goes
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  undiscovered and is lesser known. So I wanted to go to the locations that people can still
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  discover today. I just think it's remarkable that people are able to travel to these historic sites
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  and enjoy the history, learn about the history, but also that the history is constantly changing
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  at these sites. So I didn't know I was going to write the book when I started doing this project.
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  I was filming it for Travels with Darlie. I have 12 half hours devoted to Revolutionary Road Trip,
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  so I've filmed 12 half hours on the subject. But even in doing those episodes, Carolyn,
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  I just found that there was so much that I couldn't even put in the episodes,
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  and I felt compelled to write the book, even though it took a lot of time, because I thought
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  these are stories that need to be documented. There's so many that haven't been, and I was
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  surprised by that. It's a rare treat to have so many of these stories in book form and
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  concentrating on the American Revolution. There's a section of your book devoted to Francis Marion,
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  the Swamp Fox, and I immediately thought about Marion, Alabama and its famous military institute
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  and wondered if you'd been there too. It's a remarkable story because Francis Marion is
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  seen throughout South Carolina in particular, and it's not until we had this meeting today,
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  Carolyn, that I knew that there was a Marion. Actually, you know what? I've been to Marion.
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  So now that you said that, I just drew the conclusion because we filmed there for Travels
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  with Darlie. So I've been to Marion, and at the time I was there, it was before I was doing this,
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  I didn't draw the conclusion to Francis Marion. But in fact, his name is seen throughout the
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  United States in its parks and their schools named after Francis Marion or Marion. There's
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  parks. As I learned from Keith Gordon in visiting Francis Marion's grave site in South Carolina,
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  he truly has a name that has really carried on.
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  But how did he get the name, the Swamp Fox in South Carolina?
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  So first of all, he was pretty remarkable in the way that he thought about this American
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  Revolution and these battles, because he had different ideas. And I think it's that kind of
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  out of the box thinking that you'll find in South Carolina and in many southern states,
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  I would say. There were very organized tactics on the British side and for the Americans in a lot of
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  places. But Francis Marion decided to do things differently. And he was looking at these defeats
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  that were happening throughout the southern states. And he wanted to go out in the swamps
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  and bring people through this different terrain that they were not used to. So he raised these
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  kind of guerrilla warfare tactics in the forests, in the swamps of the low country.
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  And the soldiers weren't equipped for it. They didn't know this terrain. He definitely,
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  he and his troops had a big advantage. But it was British Lieutenant Colonel Bannister
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  Tarleton that actually said to have given him the name. On one of the many occasions when Francis
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  Marion did not get captured, they were going for miles, it says, and hours. And finally, Tarleton
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  said, as for this damned old fox, the devil himself couldn't catch him. So that was where
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  they say the Swamp Fox's name came from. And as you look at history, we have many Hollywood movies
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  and The Patriot with Mel Gibson, a lot of fodder for stories that grew out of the exploits of
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  Francis Marion. I noticed that February 27th is commemorated as Francis Marion Day. Can you tell
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  us more about him? I would call him an innovator. Obviously someone who wasn't afraid to get dirty.
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  If you look at the chapter that I have on South Carolina, you will see Francis Marion's name
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  in many locations. And one of them that I think is really interesting is at Old Santee Canal Park,
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  which is right outside of the city of Charleston in Berkeley County. It's in Monk's Corner.
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  And it is a place where you can actually walk through the swamps. You're on kind of boardwalk,
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  so you're not really in the mud as the troops would have had to do. But you can really go
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  through this area and you hear the frogs. We were out there when it rained and the frogs were singing
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  and you see the difficult conditions that Francis Marion and his troops had to go through
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  in navigating the low country of South Carolina, which is not for the faint of heart, especially
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  in the summertime when those mosquitoes are swarming, which I've experienced more than a few
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  times. If you're doing these tracks, I would tell you to definitely bring your bug spray.
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  You'll need that bug repellent. But you can walk through this cypress swamp and really get a sense
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  of the conditions that both sides were contending with, but that the British were really not
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  prepared for. And that I think shows something about his personality of perseverance and not
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  giving up and really being able to rally people together, kind of a ragtag group of patriots to
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  fight. What was his grave like? So it's not a place that everybody goes because it's in a very
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  remote location in Pineville, South Carolina. It's right beside what was his older brother's
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  plantation called Bell Isle. It's about 30 minutes from Monk's Corner and it's around the same
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  distance or a little bit more from places like Metkin Abbey, which I think is a great site to
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  visit as well, an hour from Charleston. But you're in the woods and you drive down a long road.
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  There's a historical marker on the roadside and some historical signage. And you kind of walk
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  through a dirt path to get to his grave site, which is pretty elaborately done, though. There
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  is a gate around it. He's got his grave site along with other family members. And you can read the
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  different placards and things. There's usually American flags up there, no matter, I think,
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  what time of year you're going because people do still go there to commemorate Francis Marion.
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  And as you talked about, Carolyn, with February 27th, that's Francis Marion Day, the date of his
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  death. They have some pretty big commemorations happening that time of the year. You know, he
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  changed the course of American history. So I think it's pretty neat that there is this
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  local interest, but also, as we see, his name translates all the way to Alabama and beyond.
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  Well, Dolly, your book is written as if we are with you on your revolutionary road trip.
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  So briefly, what are the areas you covered?
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  I wrote this book in a way that I wanted it to be immersive.
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  That's kind of how I do all my shows. I want to bring you on the journey because I think it makes
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  it more interesting and fun when you can experience it with all five senses, the sights, the smells,
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  the tastes of it all. And I want to describe that in detail when I put out any type of content and
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  especially want to do it with this book. So you can read this and just be immersed in the story
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  and kind of visualize these locations. But you could also use the book as your own little guide
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  book to go to these locations. I start up in New Jersey and Princeton and Saratoga and down
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  through Delaware and Pennsylvania and then down to North and South Carolina. So you could chart
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  your own trip, I say, either by going to each place individually or doing a road trip, going
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  from north to south or south to north. I had a great time writing it. I hope to do more. I mean,
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  the stories from Saratoga, South Carolina, Princeton, all these different places,
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  they're really remarkable places that many people don't think about for the revolution.
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  So I'm glad to bring some of the lesser known stories out and hope people find new places to go.
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  Well, I want to thank you for taking us with you on your road trips and
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  we will look forward to more stories.
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  Thank you, Carolyn. I appreciate it. You know, I love Alabama.
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  Joining us for the Storyline book series was Darliey Newman, host of public television's
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  Travels with Darley series and the author of the new book, Revolutionary Road Trip,
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  Hidden Stories from America's Founding Journey. Thanks for joining us for In Focus,
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  which is a podcast wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Carolyn Hutcheson and this is
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  listener-supported Troy Public Radio.