At the Brandywine the
regiment bore the brunt of the attack of the British army, led by
Cornwallis in person.
John Marshall was born in a region so thinly settled as to be almost cut
off from civilization. The people were plain and even rough in their
habits, and the mode of life which prevailed in his native county
doubtless did much to lay the foundation of those habits of simplicity
for which he was noted in after life. Schools were almost unknown in
this region, and such as were in operation were so rude in character
that Colonel Marshall, who was a man of education and culture, decided
not to attempt to train his children in them. Being unable to raise the
means of sending them to better schools in other parts of the Colony, he
determined to become their teacher himself, and applied himself to his
task with a devotion which was signally rewarded by the brilliant career
of his eldest son. He laid especial weight upon their acquiring a
thorough knowledge of the English language and of history, and sought to
cultivate in them a love for the poetry of their native tongue.
Referring in after life to his father's devoted labors, Judge Marshall
once said, with great feeling, "To him I owe the solid foundation of all
my success in life.
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