Harper's Encyclopedia of United States History
Benson Lossing, Ed.

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Tarleton, Sir Banastre 1754-1833

Military officer; born in Liverpool, England, Aug. 21, 1754; purchased a commission in the

Sir Banastre Tarleton.

British army (dragoons). At the beginning of the Revolutionary War he came to America, and was concerned in the capture of General Lee late in 1776. After the evacuation of Philadelphia, 1778, he commanded a cavalry corps called the “British Legion,” and accompanied the troops that captured Charleston in May, 1780. He was one of Cornwallis's most active officers in the Carolinas and Virginia, in 1780-81, destroying Colonel Buford's regiment at Waxhaw Creek. “Tarleton's quarter” was synonymous with wholesale butchery. He was one of the prisoners at the surrender of Cornwallis. He published a history of his campaign in 1780-81. He died in England, Jan. 23, 1833.