America Untold:
Forgotten heroes, Forgotten Stories
Scarlet Ingstad
Christian, Independent Author, Historian
Christian, Independent Author, Historian
Welcome back to my 14-part series on the life of Banastre Tarleton during the American Revolution! If you missed earlier installments, click the links below and read those chapters first. 1. Meet the Tarleton Family 2. Road to Revolution 3. "I'll Cut off General Lee's Head!" 4. Theater in Theatre 5. Legion Rising 6. Equine Design 7. Jericho 8. Tarleton vs Tallmadge 9: “I Hate Difficulties of any Kind” The voyage south was anything but easy. The winter of 1779-1780 was brutal, with temperatures going well below zero. The day after Christmas of 1779, thirteen British war ships navigated the ice and began to sail south by order of General Clinton. However, even after managing to skirt around the ice, the ships sailed directly into a four-day gale. The voyage should have taken approximately ten days, but for the British forces, it took five weeks to reach Savannah. The gale scattered the fleet, including a ship named the Rebecca which had twelve members of Tarleton’s Legion on board, along with thirty-four horses. It took three weeks before the ship was discovered by privateers and the men from Tarleton’s forces were taken prisoner. As if ice flows and unexpected gales were not enough, once the fleet managed to finally get further south, a warm-weather gulf stream pushed them too far south, lengthening the already-painful voyage. By the time the British fleet made it to Savannah, morale was at an all-time low. While the men survived this perilous journey, their horses did not. Most of the horses died on the journey and were tossed overboard. Many of the surviving horses were lame or fevered, no longer useable for the Legion. In February of 1780, weeks after they should have arrived and much farther south than intended, Banastre Tarleton disembarked from the Romulus. He was now a cavalry commander with bedraggled men, no supplies, and no horses. Disgusted with the situation, Tarleton wrote later in his memoir: “He found the condition of his corps mortifying…the horses of both officers and men, which had been embarked in excellent order were not destroyed.” In total, the British lost 223 horses on their voyage. Tarleton also expressed his feelings on the matter to his theater-loving friend, Major John Andre, in a letter stating, “I hate difficulties of any kind.” He often recorded shortcomings in a manner that alluded to them being out of his control or not his fault. He added in another letter to Andre, “We shall collect by Degrees…Coolness, Apathy & Civil Law will never supply Hussars with Horses.” Tarleton would make good on his ominous letter, acknowledging that by following what was deemed acceptable behavior during wartime would not indeed give him what he needed for his Legion. Tarleton intended to take what he needed by force. Banastre moved quickly. He relocated to Port Royal and, in his words, began “to collect at that place from friends and enemies, by money or by force all the horses belonging to the islands in the neighborhood.” These endeavors were extremely successful, and the British Legion carried out Tarleton’s orders with gusto. Reports from a local reverend by the name of Archibald Simpson stated that he could not get people to come to services because they did not have any horses to ride upon after Tarleton and his men moved through the region. The Legion were not particular either, taking nearly every horse “that could scarce walk.” Within only a handful of days, Banastre Tarleton managed to outfit his entire Legion with new mounts. However, despite this success, Tarleton bemoaned the quality of the horses themselves. They were nothing like the well-bred and professionally trained horses they lost to the sea. In his own words, Tarleton said, “the number was complete, but the quality was inferior to those embarked at New York.” But for now, they would have to do. Those who resisted Tarleton’s efforts to acquire new horses suffered the consequences. In his memoir, Tarleton stated: “The inhabitants of Carolina having heard of the loss of the cavalry horses at sea, had flattered themselves that they could not be speedily recruited.” Not only did he face resistance of the defensive sort, he also faced aggressive resistance in the form of self-made cavaliers. “In order to confine the British troops as much as possible to the line of march, and to prevent their collecting horses in the country, some of them accoutred themselves as cavaliers.” The Legion encountered some of these men on March 17, 1780 in Jacksonborough, killing several and capturing one. The next day they arrived at the Salkehatchie River, they discovered that eighty American militia men destroyed the bridge. These forces, under Lieutenant Colonel James Ladson, currently occupied a nearby tavern after having destroyed the bridge to prevent the British from moving forward. In a series of skirmishes from March 18 through the 23rd, Tarleton’s forces pinned in Ladson’s men, shooting and bayoneting several. A loyalist from Ferguson’s corps later recalled, “Col. Tarleton came up with a party of Rebel militia, dragoons, soon after crossing the river at Gov. Bee’s plantation. He killed ten and took four prisoners.” These early skirmishes and accomplishments quickly set the tone for the southern campaign that was to come, demonstrating Tarleton’s intelligence, determination, and ruthlessness. Soon after arriving in South Carolina, Clinton began to express doubt about the number of troops under his command. He stressed over whether or not there were enough men to lay siege to Charleston and decided that the troops currently in Georgia should return and serve under his command as well. These troops included the British Legion. While this order came through clear enough, Clinton tended to be indecisive, even allowing his subordinates the chance to choose to opt out of his commands when they disagreed with them. This, of course, would later spell doom for the British troops at the Battle of Yorktown, but before then, on March 14, 1780, these qualities came close to destroying his command.
Cochrane, also known for his aggressive tendencies, led a risky night attack against Issac McPhereson, a wealthy and well-known rebel. Without conducting any reconnaissance, Cochrane rushed his men into the camp at full-force. To his shock, he ran right into Major Patrick Ferguson, a fellow loyalist commander, and his troops. According to Tarleton’s report: “judging by the fires that the enemy was still in possession [of the plantation, Cochrane] led his men to the attack with fixed bayonets, when the two commanders, just in front of their respective corps, recognized each other’s voice and suppressed a conflict which might have been both mortifying and destructive.” In this instance, Tarleton was being rather dismissive about a situation that was significantly more severe than he let on. Ferguson received a serious wound from a bayonet, which went through his arm, and was sidelined from battle-action for several weeks. But, as was typical of Cochrane, he gave the man who wounded him a reward. Shortly after this almost-unfortunate encounter, another, even more serious one occurred—this time led by Tarleton himself. On March 27, Lieutenant Colonel William Washington’s light dragoons captured loyalist lieutenant colonel John Hamilton near his plantation. After this success, Washington headed back toward his camp at Bacon’s Ridge. On this journey, Washington learned that Tarleton was pursuing him in an effort to rescue Hamilton and his captured troops. However, Washington chose not to retreat upon hearing this news, but rather have his men turn around and charge headfirst into Tarleton’s Legion. The shocking attack startled Tarleton so much that he quickly ordered a retreat and fled across swampy land to escape the pursuing patriots. Before they were able to fully escape the attack, Tarleton lost twenty of his men. For the first time since arriving in the Carolinas, Tarleton had been defeated—and he knew it. However, he did not give Washington credit for his success, nor did he take responsibility for his own defeat. Instead, Tarleton chose to blame a subordinate for the retreat and cited his previous successes at acquiring horses for the cavalry. The patriots, however, did not revel in their victory either. The British had cut off supply routes from the Edisto River to the Atlantic. It was now only a matter of time before the city would have to surrender to the British. On April 1, Tarleton received orders from General Clinton by way of a note from Major Andre. In this note, Andre stated that Tarleton was to “seek a passage across Ashley river, at or above Dorchestor and Baycon bridge, and by this means to join the army before Charles Town. The General would not have you undertake any excursion out of your route to us…Between your present encampment and the passage you will of course make none, as it would invite opposition.” Tarleton complied with Clinton’s orders and began to march his troops. However, he could not resist a chance at surprising his new-found nemesis. On April 5, he led 500 infantrymen and 50 cavalry in an attempt to surprise Washington, who was still located at Middelton’s at the time. The surprise attack failed, and Washington managed to retreat. Tarleton and his men camped at the Quarter House, about six miles above Charleston. Ferguson and his troops met Tarleton there on April 12 and, together, they marched toward what would become their new primary target: Monck’s Corner. Sources: John Knight, The War at Saber Point: Banastre Tarleton and the British Legion. Maryland Journal, March 14, 1780. Banastre Tarleton, A History of the Campaigns of 1780 and 1781 in the Southern Provinces of North America, 6-9. Robert Bass, The Green Dragoon: The Lives of Banastre Tarleton & Mary Robinson, 1957. Tarleton to Andre, Savannah, 19 February 1780, Clinton Papers, 52:44, CL. George Howe, History of the Presbyterian Church in South Carolina (Columbia, SC: Duffie & Chapman, 1870): 466. Wright to Clinton, 6 April 1780, Report on American Manuscripts, 111. Anthony Allaire, Diary of Lieut. Anthony Allaire of Fergusons Corp, King’s Mountain and its Heroes, ed. Lyman Copeland Draper (Cincinnati: P.G. Thompson, 1881): 8.
1 Comment
LadyTarleton
1/26/2023 07:37:17 pm
Hey Scarlet, I hope you are well :) It's been a while!
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Scarlet Ingstad
I am an independent author and historian seeking to uplift the stories of the lesser-known heroes and heroines of the American Revolution, alongside modern-day heroes and heroines who have served in the U.S. military and continue their service through their historical work. Archives
March 2022
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