STORIES OF REVOLUTIONARY WAR SOLDIERS

• Navigation Menu

Colonel Banastre Tarleton of the British Army

Colonel Banastre Tarleton was born in Liverpool, England, on 21 August 1754. He commenced the study of the law, but when the war in America broke out, he entered the British army and came to this country with Lord Cornwallis. Tarleton served with that officer in all his campaigns in the South and, by his daring courage and indomitable energy, significantly contributed to the success of the British arms at Camden. He possessed a sanguinary disposition, as was exhibited in the cruel massacre of Colonel Buford's regiment at the battle of Waxhaws. In tracing his history in America, we look in vain for any redeeming traits in his character. The ardor of his temper and military ambition received a severe check at the battle of Cowpens on 17 January 1781. The capitulation of the British army at Yorktown closed his military services in America. On his return to England, he received, as might be expected, numerous honors. In 1798, he married the daughter of the Duke of Ancaster. He died on 25 January 1833, in the seventy-ninth year of his age, without issue or any lingering affection of the American people.

Source: Sketches of Western North Carolina, Historical and Biographical by C. L. Hunter.