Banastre Tarleton

Sir Banastre Tarleton, 1st Baronet (August 21, 1754–January 25, 1833) was a British soldier and politician. His alleged ruthlessness earned him the nickname "Bloody Ban" and "Butcher".

Early life

The fourth of seven children born to the money lender, merchant, slave trader and former Lord Mayor of Liverpool John Tarleton, Banastre Tarleton was educated at Oxford University and then entered the army. Several Tarletons had served as mayors of Liverpool, although his brother Clayton would be the last of the line. Tarleton Street in Liverpool (Postcode L1 1DS) is named after John Tarleton.

American Revolution

In December 1775, he sailed as a volunteer to America with then-Earl Cornwallis, and his services to the British during the American War of Independence in the year 1776 gained for him the position of a brigade major of cavalry. Although he was accused of a habit of killing prisoners, which earned him an enduring place among the villains of American and Irish history, this is contested by British sources.

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. (identified as Banister Tarleton by David McCullogh in "1776")

Tarleton was present at the Battle of Brandywine and at other engagements in 1777 and 1778, and as the commander of the British legion, a mixed force of cavalry and light infantry 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 700, caught a band of 350 Virginia Continentals led by Abraham Buford. Facing much larger numbers, Buford insisted on joining Tarleton in battle. Only after sustaining heavy casualties did Buford order the surrender. What happened next is cause of heated debate. According to American accounts, Tarleton simply mercilessly massacred his prisoners. According to the British account, an American soldier shot Tarleton's horse after a treaty flag was raised and chaos erupted. In the end, more than one hundred Americans were shot in what became known as the Waxhaw massacre. The placement and extent of blame has been disputed since. Nonetheless, the Waxhaw massacre became an important rallying cry for the revolutionaries. Many people who had been roughly neutral became ardent supporters of the Revolution after the perceived atrocities. "Tarleton's quarter" and "no quarter" became rallying cries for American patriots for the rest of the war.

Tarleton's nemesis in South Carolina was Francis Marion, whom he could never capture or neutralise because Marion had the loyalty of the populace. Tarleton had guaranteed this 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 his 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.

He materially helped Cornwallis to win the Battle of Camden in the succeeding August. He was completely victorious in an engagement with Thomas Sumter at Fishing Creek, or Catawba Fords, but was not equally successful when he encountered the same general at Blackstock Hill in November 1780; then in January 1781, in spite of much personal valour, he was defeated with heavy losses at the Battle of Cowpens.

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 the Virginia legislature. The raid was mostly 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. 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.

Politics

In 1790, he entered the Parliament of Great Britain, succeeding Richard Pennant as member for Liverpool, and, with the exception of a single year, he remained in the House of Commons until 1812. Tarleton had impressed Pennant at a 1788 anti-abolitionist rally, and continued his work. Tarleton worked to preserve the slavery business of his brothers Clayton and Thomas, becoming well known for his taunting and mockery of abolitionists.

In 1794, he became a major-general; in 1812, a general; and he held a military command in Ireland and another in England. In 1815, he was made a baronet.

Legacy

Despite being married to an illegitimate daughter of the 4th Duke of Ancaster since 1798, Banastre died childless at Leintwardine, Shropshire, England. For some time, Tarleton lived with the actress Mary Robinson (Perdita), whom he seduced for a bet.

His portrait was painted both by Joshua Reynolds and by Thomas Gainsborough.

Sir Banastre wrote a History of the Campaigns of 1780 and 1781 in the Southern Provinces of North America (London, 1781), which, although of some value, is marred by the author's vanity and by his attacks on Cornwallis. It was criticised by Colonel Roderick Mackenzie in his Strictures on Lieutenant-Colonel Tarleton's History (1781) and in the Cornwallis Correspondence.

2006 return of captured American battle flags

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 are the Guidon of the 2nd Continental Light Dragoons, captured in 1779; and a "beaver" standard - possibly a Gostelowe List Standard # 7 dating from 1778.{ref-Commander S. Tarantino of 2nd Regiment Light Dragoons-Sheldon's Horse}. The flags were sold at auction on Flag Day in the United States {June 14, 2006}.

In fiction

The Hollywood movie The Patriot (2000) controversially portrayed a character (Colonel William Tavington) based on Tarleton as a cruel, sadistic commander who massacred prisoners of war and innocent civilians. "Tavington" is shown burning an American church with the villagers locked inside, an atrocity based on an infamous Nazi war crime from World War II. ^*

Source

"A Sketch of the Life of Brig. General Francis Marion" (By William Dobein James, A.M. (Member of Marion's Militia)

External links

Banastretarleton.org Online Website on Tarleton and online transcription of his account of 1780-1781 (for reference only)
Find-a-grave: Banastre Tarleton
PDF download {For reference only}