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Early lifeBanastre 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 entered the British army. As a young man, he had inherited £5,000 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. American Revolution
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 soldiers on horseback, overtook a detachment of 350 to 380 Virginia Continentals led by Abraham Buford. Buford refused to surrender, or even 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 mercilessly massacred his prisoners. 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, more than one hundred Americans were sabred to death in what became known as the Waxhaw massacre. The placement and extent of blame has been disputed since. However, 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." 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" and "no quarter" became rallying cries for American Patriots for the rest of the war.
Tarleton materially helped Cornwallis to win the Battle of Camden in August of 1780. 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, Tarleton's forces were virtually destroyed by American Brigadier General Daniel Morgan at the Battle of Cowpens. Tarleton, however, managed to escape. Image:Dragoon-illustration.jpeg A Continental light dragoon from the American Revolution. 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. That exception was Banastre Tarleton. PoliticsIn 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 especially 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, with exception to when the Fox-North Coalition came to power, he gave his support to 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). LegacyDespite being married to an illegitimate daughter of the 4th Duke of Ancaster since 1798, Banastre died childless at Leintwardine, Shropshire, England. For some time, he lived with the actress Mary Robinson (Perdita), whom he seduced on a bet. Despite their 15 year relationship, Tarleton and Robinson had no children, although in 1783 Robinson had a miscarriage. 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 favorably 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. 2006 Captured American battle flags to be sold at auctionIn 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 "Beaver" Standard and two other flags {Possibly Grand Division colors} were apparently captured at the Waxhaw Massacre. The flags were sold at auction on Flag Day in the United States (June 14, 2006). In fictionThe Hollywood movie The Patriot (2000) controversially portrayed a character (Colonel William Tavington played by Jason Isaacs) based on Tarleton as a cruel, sadistic commander who massacred prisoners of war and innocent civilians. [1] "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. [2][3] This controversial portrayal prompted Edwin Clein, the mayor of Liverpool, to demand an apology from the filmmakers for what he regarded as a misrepresentation and vilification of a Liverpudlian "hero". [4] Banastre Tarleton is also portrayed in the 2006 film Amazing Grace (played by Ciarán Hinds) as the main opponent in the British Parliament to the abolitionists, led by William Wilberforce. Tarleton is additionally mentioned in the Bernard Cornwell novel Sharpe's Eagle, and is represented as being "related" to Sir Henry Simmerson, colonel of the South Essex Regiment. Source
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