Banastre Tarleton
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| Sir Banastre Tarleton, 1st Baronet | |
|---|---|
| 21 August 1754 – January 16, 1833 (aged 78) | |
 "Lieutenant-Colonel Banastre Tarleton" by Sir Joshua Reynolds |
|
| Place of birth | Liverpool, England |
| Place of death | Leintwardine, Shropshire, England |
| Allegiance | England |
| Service/branch | British Army |
| Years of service | 1775-1781 |
| Rank | General |
| Unit | 1st Dragoon Guards |
| Commands held | British Legion |
| Battles/wars | American War of Independence Battle of Camden, Battle of Cowpens |
| Awards | GCB |
General Sir Banastre Tarleton, 1st Baronet, GCB (21 August 1754 – 16 January 1833) was a British soldier and politician. His reputation for ruthlessness and his involvement in the Waxhaws Massacre earned him the nickname "Bloody Ban" and "Butcher" amongst American revolutionaries. The British and American loyalists hailed him as an outstanding leader of light cavalry.
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[edit] Early life
Banastre Tarleton was the fourth of seven children born to the merchant, ship owner and slave trader, John Tarleton of Liverpool (1719 – 1773), who was mayor of Liverpool (1768). Tarleton was educated at the Middle Temple, London and went up to University College, Oxford University where he matriculated in 1771, after which he entered the British army.
As a young man, he had inherited £1,000 on his father's death, but squandered it all on gambling. In 1775 he purchased a commission as a cavalry officer in the 1st Dragoon Guards, and proved to be a gifted horseman and leader of troops.
[edit] American War of Independence
In December 1775, he sailed as a volunteer to America with Earl Cornwallis, and his services to the British during the American War of Independence in the year 1776 gained him the position of a brigade major of cavalry.
Under the command of Colonel William Harcourt, Tarleton was part of a scouting party sent to gather intelligence on the movements of General Charles Lee in New Jersey. On Friday, December 13th, Tarleton surrounded a house in Basking Ridge, New Jersey and forced Lee, still in his dressing gown, to surrender by threatening to burn the building down.
After becoming the commander of the British Legion, a mixed force of cavalry and light infantry also called Tarleton's Raiders, he proceeded at the beginning of 1780 to South Carolina, rendering valuable services to Sir Henry Clinton in the operations which culminated in the capture of Charleston, South Carolina.
On May 29, 1780 Tarleton, with a force of 150 mounted soldiers, overtook a detachment of 350 to 380 Virginia Continentals led by Abraham Buford. Buford refused to surrender or even to stop his march. Only after sustaining heavy casualties did Buford order the surrender. What happened next is cause of heated debate. According to American accounts, Tarleton ignored the white flag and mercilessly massacred Buford's men. By Tarleton's own account, his horse was shot from under him in the charge, and chaos erupted when his men believed he had been killed. In the end, 113 Americans were killed and another 203 captured, 150 of whom were so badly wounded that they had to be left behind. Tarleton's casualties were 5 killed and 12 wounded [1]. The British called the affair the Battle of Waxhaw Creek, while the Americans knew it as the Buford Massacre or the Waxhaw Massacre. Moravian records from North Carolina indicate, however, that at least one American soldier picked up his musket and fired it at Tarleton after he had already surrendered, thereby provoking the British Legion into its excesses.
In recounting Tarleton's action at the scene one member of the British Army who was there, a surgeon named Robert Brownfield, wrote that "... Tarleton with his cruel myrmidons was in the midst of them, when commenced a scene of indiscriminate carnage, never surpassed by the ruthless atrocities of the barbarous savages." In Tarleton's own account, he virtually admits the massacre, stating that his horse had been shot from under him during the initial charge and his men, thinking him dead, engaged in "a vindictive asperity not easily restrained." The Waxhaw massacre became an important rallying cry for the revolutionaries. Many people who had been more or less neutral became ardent supporters of the Revolution after the perceived atrocities. "Tarleton's quarter", meaning no quarter would be offered to British and Loyalist Soldiers, became a rallying cry for American Patriots for the rest of the war.
One of Tarleton's nemeses in South Carolina was Francis Marion, whom he could never capture or neutralise. Marion remained quite popular with South Carolina residents and continued his guerrilla campaign with their support. Tarleton, by contrast, alienated the citizenry by numerous acts of cruelty to the civilian population. For example, at one plantation of a deceased Patriot officer, he had the man's body dug up, then required the widow to serve him a meal. One of Marion's men later wrote of the incident:
On one expedition (Nelson's Ferry - Nov. 1780), Tarleton burnt the house, out houses, corn and fodder, and a great part of the cattle, hogs and poultry, of the estate of Gen. Richardson. The general had been active with the Americans, but was now dead; and the British leader, in civilised times, made his widow and children suffer for the deeds of the husband and parent, after the manner of the East, and coast of Barbary. What added to the cruel nature of the act, was that he had first dined in the house, and helped himself to the abundant good cheer it afforded. But we have seen before the manner in which he requited hospitality. It was generally observed of Tarleton and his corps, that they not only exercised more acts of cruelty than any one in the British army, but also carried further the spirit of depredation.
Tarleton materially helped Cornwallis to win the Battle of Camden in August 1780. He was completely victorious in an engagement with Thomas Sumter at Fishing Creek, or Catawba Fords, but was less successful when he encountered the same general at Blackstock Hill in November 1780. Then in January 1781, Tarleton's forces were virtually destroyed by American Brigadier General Daniel Morgan at the Battle of Cowpens. Tarleton, however, managed to flee the battlefield and leave his men to their fate.
Having been successful in a skirmish at Tarrants House, and having taken part in the Battle of Guilford Courthouse in March 1781, he marched with Cornwallis into Virginia. Tarleton undertook a series of small expeditions while in Virginia. Among them was a raid on Charlottesville, Virginia in an attempt to capture then-Governor Thomas Jefferson and disrupt the meeting of the Virginia legislature. The raid was partially foiled when Jack Jouett rode 40 miles through the night to warn Jefferson and the legislature of Tarleton's approach. All but seven of the legislators escaped, but Tarleton did destroy arms and munitions and succeeded in his objective of dispersing the Assembly. Another episode in July 1781 was Francisco's Fight - a skirmish between Peter Francisco and 9 of Tarleton's Cavalry which resulted in 1 dead/8 wounded and 8 horses captured. After other missions, Cornwallis instructed Tarleton to hold Gloucester Point, Virginia. This post, however, was surrendered to the Americans with Yorktown, Virginia in October 1781, and Tarleton returned to England on parole.
It is noteworthy that after the surrender at Yorktown, all of the British commissioned officers were invited to dine with their American counterparts, except for one — Banastre Tarleton.[citation needed]
[edit] Politics
In 1784, Tarleton stood for election as M.P. for Liverpool, but was narrowly defeated. In 1790 he succeeded Richard Pennant as MP for Liverpool in the Parliament of Great Britain and, with the exception of a single year, remained in the House of Commons until 1812. He was a supporter of Charles James Fox despite their opposing views on the British role in the American War of Independence. Tarleton spoke on military matters and a variety of other subjects, but he is especially noted for supporting rather than opposing the slave trade, with which the port of Liverpool was particularly associated. In reality, Tarleton was working to preserve the slavery business of his brothers Clayton and Thomas, and he became well-known for his taunting and mockery of the abolitionists. He generally voted with the Parliamentary opposition, except that when the Fox-North Coalition came to power, he supported the government nominally headed by William Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland. He was rewarded with the title of Governor of Berwick and Holy Island.
In 1794, he was promoted to Major-General, in 1801 to Lieutenant-General, and in 1812 to General. He held a military command in Ireland and another in England. In 1815, he was made a Baronet and in 1820 a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath (GCB).
[edit] Legacy
For 15 years, he had a relationship with the actress Mary Robinson (Perdita), whom he seduced on a bet. Tarleton and Robinson had no children, although in 1783 Robinson had a miscarriage. He married Susan Bertie, the illegitimate daughter of the 4th Duke of Ancaster in 1798. They had no children. His portrait was painted by both Joshua Reynolds and Thomas Gainsborough.
Sir Banastre wrote a History of the Campaigns of 1780 and 1781 in the Southern Provinces of North America (London, 1781), which favourably portrays his actions in the Carolinas; it also questions decisions made by Cornwallis. It was criticised by Colonel Roderick Mackenzie in his Strictures on Lieutenant-Colonel Tarleton's History (1781) and in the Cornwallis Correspondence.
Tarleton died in January of 1833, at Leintwardine in Shropshire. [2]
[edit] Cultural Portrayal
In the movie Sweet Liberty Tarleton is played by actor Michael Caine, and portrayed to the history professor Michael Burgess' (Alan Alda) dismay as a romantic, dashing hero.
In the movie The Patriot (2000 film), a fictitious Colonel "Tavington" is portrayed as a skilled but ruthless commander of a cavalry unit. The person is based on Tarleton. [3]
In the movie Amazing Grace, Tarleton is portrayed as supporter of the slave trade and a major opponent of William Wilburforce.
[edit] 2006 Captured American battle flags sold at auction
In November 2005, it was announced that four rare battle flags or regimental colours seized in 1779 and 1780 from American rebels by Tarleton, and still held in Britain, would be auctioned by Sotheby's in New York City in 2006 (see Sotheby's Press Release). Two of these colours were the Guidon of the 2nd Continental Light Dragoons, captured in 1779; and a "beaver" standard - possibly a Gostelowe List Standard # 7 dating from 1778.[4]. The "Beaver" Standard and two other flags (possibly division colours) were apparently captured at the Waxhaw Massacre. The flags were sold at auction on Flag Day in the United States (June 14, 2006).
[edit] Notes
- ^ Boatner, Cassell's Biographical Dictionary, Page 1174
- ^ Sir Banastre Tarleton
- ^ The Patriot: Film Fact or Fiction
- ^ Commander S. Tarantino of 2nd Regiment Light Dragoons-Sheldon's Horse
[edit] Sources
- This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
- A Sketch of the Life of Brig. General Francis Marion by William Dobein James, A.M. (Member of Marion's Militia)
- Redcoats and Rebels by Christopher Hibbert
- Cassell's Biographical Dictionary of the American War of Independence, 1763-1783 by Mark Mayo Boatner (Cassell, London, 1966. ISBN 0 304 29296 6)
[edit] External links
- Banastretarleton.org Website on Tarleton with his account of the Southern Campaigns of 1780-1781 (for reference only)
- PDF download {For reference only}
- Works by or about Banastre Tarleton in libraries (WorldCat catalog)
| Parliament of Great Britain | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Richard Pennant and Bamber Gascoyne |
Member of Parliament for Liverpool 1790–1800 with Bamber Gascoyne, to 1796; Isaac Gascoyne, from 1796 |
Succeeded by (Parliament of Great Britain abolished) |
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
| Preceded by (self, in Parliament of Great Britain) |
Member of Parliament for Liverpool 1801–1806 with Isaac Gascoyne |
Succeeded by William Roscoe and Isaac Gascoyne |
| Preceded by William Roscoe |
Member of Parliament for Liverpool 1807–1812 with Isaac Gascoyne |
Succeeded by George Canning |
| Military offices | ||
| Preceded by The Viscount Howe |
Governor of Berwick-upon-Tweed 1808–1833 |
Succeeded by James Bathurst |
