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 Chapter 8: Tarleton vs Tallmadge The summer campaign of 1779 officially began in May. Clinton ordered his troops to begin an offensive in the direction of the New York highlands, focused on controlling the Hudson River. The British were convinced that if they could gain control of the Hudson, they would be able to divide the colonies in two, splitting the rebels apart, and quickly end the rebellion. However, the plan was doomed to fail. The British did not possess the manpower needed to fulfill this grandiose scheme. Despite knowing this, Washington moved his troops to New York to thwart Clinton’s efforts. To Clinton’s great frustration, Washington pushed his troops into the mountains around West Point rather than facing Clinton’s men head-on. This created a stalemate in the war and Clinton initiated a series of raids in Westchester County, attempting to draw the Continentals out. The Neutral Ground in Northern New York held most of the leaders on both sides of the war’s attention and became the most-fought-over area throughout the entire Revolution. Clinton soon learned of American militiamen camping near Pound Ridge who were also harassing Loyalist farmers. They had been ordered by General Washington to block any British advances toward Connecticut, aggravating the British general. In retaliation, Clinton ordered that the legion be prepared “to march on the shortest notice.” He intended for the legion to capture Major Ebenezer Lockwood, commander of the local patriot militia. For this endeavor, Clinton selected Banastre Tarleton over the more-experienced John Graves Simcoe. He also selected specific troops from various regiments, creating a specialized unit and placing them under Tarleton’s command. Why was Banastre selected over Simcoe? It was likely due to Tarleton’s impressive performance during the Stockbridge massacre. Clinton may have desired to reward Tarleton by giving him command of his very first independent operation. The men under his command consisted of seventy of the 17th Light Dragoons, elements of the Queen’s Rangers, and Hessian jagers, 200 men in total. Tarleton’s instructions were to subdue the 2nd Light Dragoons who were under the temporary command of Major Benjamin Tallmadge, one of Washington’s rising stars. On the 28th of June, Tallmadge moved to Pound Ridge just shy of Connecticut. He considered Pound Ridge to be “pretty strong ground” despite his knowledge of nearby British cavalry. As head of intelligence for General Washington, Tallmadge ran a network of spies, many of whom were behind British lines. He is described as being diminutive, but underneath his gentle appearance, Tallmadge was a fierce cavalry officer. His unit, the 2nd Continental Dragoons, wore dark blue jackets with buff facings, buff breeches, tall black boots, and brass helmets with long white horsehair plumes. They made for an impressive-looking force as they operated along Pound Ridge. However, on the 30th of June one of Tallmadge’s spies, Luther Kinnicutt, rode hard toward his camp to warn them of Tarleton’s approaching force. Tallmadge readied his men immediately and began to move. Accused of harassing loyalists in the Neutral Ground, Clinton was eager to not only deal a decisive blow against the rebels, but also to send a clear message regarding their actions. Tarleton took to the new command with his usual vigor and implemented a plan that would soon become his signature attack move. He drove his men forward from Mile Square, through Bedford, and toward Pound Ridge. His intent was to surprise Tallmadge’s dragoons while they were foraging, however, Tallmadge’s spy interrupted this plot. Unaware that Tallmadge had received warning of his arrival, Tarleton’s troops left camp at 11:30 pm on July 1 in the middle of a vicious storm. The storm slowed their progress, frustrating Tarleton. He paused when he observed a civilian, John Crawford, standing outside of his home and asked the man for directions. Crawford, a loyalist, complied immediately, but Tarleton misunderstood his directions. He led his men in the wrong direction for about half a mile before he realized his mistake and turned them around: a fateful decision. As Tarleton’s men rode south, they ran head-first into Tallmadge’s forces approaching on the very same road. The two units collided into one another, Tarleton’s men reacting immediately and charging at Tallmadge’s troops. Tallmadge later recalled in his memoir that the attack was “violent,” and that the lane allowed “for no more than seven or eight in front.” Tallmadge quickly realized he and his men were outnumbered and turned his unit around, fleeing for Colonel Sheldon’s camp while Tarleton and his unit pursued them eagerly, “standing in their stirrups and shouting and whirling their swords over their heads.” Sheldon’s men were unprepared for the unexpected arrival of Tallmadge’s troops. Although they were mounted, they were still forming up with Tarleton’s men raced in, running right into the stationary cavalry unit. Unable to withstand the momentum of Tarleton’s charging force, Tallmadge and Sheldon’s men fled. Tarleton pursued them for four miles on slick, muddy roads as the storm raged on. A British dragoon neared one of Tarleton’s men and exclaimed, “Surrender you damned rebel, or I’ll blow your brains out.” Sheldon later reported that Tarleton “pushed hard on our rear for more than two miles. In the course of which a scattering of fire was kept up between their advance and our rear, and a constant charge with the sword.” Fueled on adrenaline, Tarleton tried to encircle the retreating rebel forces, but the rocky ground soon made the pursuit dangerous. Tarleton finally ordered his men to stop the chase and return to Pound Ridge, later recalling this encounter “trifling.” Tarleton left a surgeon at the scene to tend to his wounded dragoons as the rest of his forces marched back to camp. On their way back, the men passed the house of John Crawford, the Loyalist who had given them directions before. Tarleton immediately ordered that the man’s home to be burned in revenge for what Tarleton perceived was intentional deception by the Loyalist. He also ordered the burning of Major Lockwood’s house, but there was one minor issue with this order: the surgeons on both sides were treating wounded soldiers inside the house. Two of the British doctors protested Tarleton’s order, much to his aggravation. Tarleton ordered the injured be removed from Crawford’s home so they could search the residence. He also secured twelve of the American dragoons’ horses, including Tallmadge’s horse which had both his saddlebags and standard. Inside the saddlebags were twenty guineas intended to be given to Woodhull from Washington, alongside letters concerning Tallmadge’s intelligence work. In Tallmadge’s own memoir, he carefully avoided mentioning the letters that were stolen an instead simply stated: “I lost in the affray a fine horse, most of my field baggage, an twenty guineas in cash, which were taken in my valise with my horse.” After securing their new prizes, the British forces burned down the home, as well as the local meetinghouse, and stole Lockwood’s cattle. The citizens of Bedford fired upon Tarleton and his men, forcing them to abandon their stolen cattle as they made their way back to camp. In retaliation, Tarleton burned Bedford’s church and a Patriot-owned tavern. Shortly after, Sheldon’s Dragoons and an infantry unit re-formed and pursued Tarleton’s raiders up to North Castle Church, three miles west of Bedford. Despite their efforts, they were unable to overtake Tarleton’s lightning-fast unit. Tarleton and his men finally arrived back at their camp at 10:00 PM. Despite his exhaustion from the riding and fighting over the past nearly-24 hours, Tarleton sat down to write his report. He marked only one soldier killed and one other wounded, the losses minimal at best. He wrote the action as a British victory, although he did not actually achieve the original goal of routing the American cavalry nor did he capture Ebenezer Lockwood. Tarleton’s explanation for the damage he and his unit left in their wake was that “the inveteracy of the inhabitants of pound ridge and near Bedford in firing from houses and outhouses obliged me to burn some of their meeting and some of their dwelling houses with stores. I proposed to the militia terms that if they would not fire shots from the building, I would not burn them. They interpreted my mind proposal wrong imputing it to fear.” The American Forces had ten soldiers injured and four soldiers captured, including Major Lockwood’s son-in-law. Within Tallmadge’s saddlebags were correspondence with General Washington concerning his intelligence activities in New York. The entire ordeal was a great embarrassment to the American Forces. The correspondence contained information that revealed there was indeed an active spy by the alias of “Culper” and that Tallmadge was in charge of the intelligence service, likely operating a spy network on Long Island. Tarleton later wrote, “their disgrace in the loss of the standard of the regiment…was great.” Although losing a flag in a raid seems like a mild loss compared to giving valuable intelligence to the enemy, it was the first American flag that possessed thirteen red and white stripes. At the end of the war, Banastre smuggled the flag back home and for two centuries it hung in the Tarleton family home with pride. Sir Henry Clinton also took great pride in the moment and, desperate for some good news to send back home, forwarded Tarleton’s dispatch to the British War Office in London to serve as an example of his aggressive war campaign. The report was later published in the London Gazetteer, officially putting the British Legion into the public eye for the very first time. Clinton spent most of the summer marching the British army around New York, but the war in the north had reached stalemate-level. The army marched and camped through the rest of July, with Tarleton’s Legion leading the right vanguard, Simcoe’s Rangers leading the center, and Emmerick’s Chasseurs leading the left vanguard. On August 1, 1779, Clinton returned the forces to their camp at Kingsbridge. Tarleton then rode to New York on August 5th for a conference with his commander in chief and a visit with John Andre. During the time he was in New York, Simcoe controlled both the Legion and the Rangers, leading them around New York fortifications. However, during one of the many minor skirmishes that took place during this time, Simcoe was taken prisoner by the Americans after having his horse shot out from under him in October. This left the Legion and the Rangers under Tarleton’s command. While Clinton did not promote Tarleton for this new position, he did give him the additional title of commandant of the British Legion. During this time, Clinton began to worry over the public’s expectations of his forces, a worry that soon drove him into depression. Tarleton’s success had been one of Clinton’s few victories. The pressure slowly wore on his nerves, evident by the letter he penned to the Duke of Newcastle: “[T]his campaign I will work my utmost, but nothing can be expected from an Army above 20,000 men less than S[ir] W[illiam] Howe had.” As time went on, his confidence evaporated completely: “Your Grace will see that I can not be of the least use here, and shall therefore be permitted to go home…[America] I fear she will be lost.” Clinton dispatched Lieutenant Duncan Drummond to London to deliver his requested recall, but the effort was not successful. The king refused Clinton’s attempt to leave and stated that Clinton was “the only man who might still save America.” However, the king did not send Clinton any additional military resources that he greatly needed. Despite his reservations and negative sentiment, Clinton launched a campaign that would go down in history. In the Autumn of 1779, while the war in the north was at a stalemate, Clinton devised a new plan: he decided to sail down to Charleston, South Carolina to capture the city and then begin a campaign from the backcountry all the way up through North Carolina. This plan came from a letter Germain sent a year prior, pushing for a significant shift in direction. But, the actual carrying out of this massive sea and land campaign rested on Clinton’s shoulders alone. With America’s dependence on southern ports for exports, Clinton knew that controlling this region would cripple the rebel effort. He believed that the best way to annihilate Congress was to run it dry of money. After receiving dispatches claiming that the loyalists in South Carolina had grown weary of the American cause and their “opposition to the government,” Clinton began the military expedition. Tarleton agreed with Clinton’s plan, writing that “the mildness of the climate, the richness of the country, its vicinity to Georgia, and its distance from General Washington pointed out the advantage and facility of its conquest.” Clinton and Tarleton both disregarded the warnings from less-enthusiastic supporters who claimed that the southern colonies were not as passive and loyal as they thought. Clinton’s friend Henry Mellish wrote to him, warning that “The Carolinas are in the possession of the mob, Nova Scotia alone is dutiful.” Despite this warning, and many others, Clinton pressed forward with his plans in the south. In October of 1779, the Legion had returned to Long Island at Jericho and remained there until Clinton issued orders in December to sail south. The Legion left Long Island and disembarked at Savannah, Georgia in February of 1780. And so the infamous southern campaign of the American Revolution began. Sources: Anthony J. Scotti, Brutal Virtue: The Myth and Reality of Banastre Tarleton, 2019; Knight, The War at Saber Point: Banastre Tarleton and the British Legion, 77. John Knight, “Four Battleflags of the Revolution: Captured by Lt.-col. Banastre Tarleton,” Journal of the American Revolution, August 27, 2019. https://allthingsliberty.com/2019/08/four-battleflags-of-the-revolution-captured-by-lt-col-banastre-tarleton/. John Knight, The War at Saber Point: Banastre Tarleton and the British Legion, 77-80. Benjamin Tallmadge, Memoir of Colonel Benjamin Tallmadge, (New York: Kissinger, 1858), 32-43. Jay Harris, God’s Country: A History of Pound Ridge, New York (Chester, CT: Pequot Press, 1971): 38. Sheldon to Heath, The History of the Several Towns, Manors, and Patents of the County of Westchester, July 3, 1779 (New York: Roper, 1848), 2:122. Frederick Shonnard and Walter Spooner, History of Westchester County (New York: History Co., 1900), 457. Alexander Rose, Washington’s Spies: The Story of America’s First Spy Ring, (New York: Bantam Books Trade Paperbacks), 112-113. Frederick Shonnard and Walter Spooner, History of Westchester County (New York: History Co., 1900), 457. Michael Schellhammer, “Tarleton: Before He Became ‘Bloody Ban,’” Journal of the American Revolution, January 29, 2013. https://allthingsliberty.com/2013/01/tarleton-in-new-york/. Tarleton to Clinton, Camp on the Bronx, 2 July 1779, Colonial Office 5/98/257-259 TNA. Henry Clinton to George Germain, New York, 25 July 1779, K.G. Davies, ed., Documents of the American Revolution 1770-1783, Colonial Office Series (Shannon: Irish University Press, 1972), 17:168-170. Robert Bass, The Green Dragoon: The Lives of Banastre Tarleton & Mary Robinson, 1957, 57-58. Letter from General Sir Henry Clinton to H.F.C. Pelham-Clinton, 2nd Duke of Newcastle under Lyne, 3 July 1779, Ne C 2606, University of Nottingham, UK. Letter from General Sir Henry Clinton, New York, to H.F.C. Pelham-Clinton, 2nd Duke of Newcastle under Lyne, 11 July 1779, Ne C 2645, University of Nottingham, UK. William B. Wilcox, Portrait of a General: Sir Henry Clinton in the War of Independence, (New York: Knopf, 1964): 263. Carl P. Borick, A Gallant Defense: The Siege of Charleston, 1780 (Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 2012): 16. Banastre Tarleton, A History of the Campaigns of 1780 and 1781 in the Southern Provinces of North America, 16. Charles Mellish to Sir Henry Clinton, 10 September 1775, Clinton Papers, Vol. 18.
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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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