CWBL-001 Lieutenant Colonel Banastre Tarleton

SIR BANASTRE TARLETON, (21st August 1754 – 15th January 1833), was a British genaral and politician. He was best known as the Lieutenant Colonel leading the British legion towards the end of the American Revolution. He was later to serve in Portugal and held commands in Ireland and England.

After returning to Great Britain in 1781 at the age of 27, Tarleton was elected a member of Parliament for Liverpool and returned to office in the early 19th Century. He became a prominent Whig politician.

In South Carolina his British Legion were harried by Francis Marion, “The Swamp Fox”, an American militia commander who practiced guerilla warfare against the British. Throughout the campaigns, Tarleton was unable to capture the “Swamp Fox” or thwart his operations. Marion’s local popularity among anti-British South Carolinas ensured continual aid and comfort for the American cause.

In contrast, Tarleton alienated the colonial citizens with arbitrary confiscations of cattle and food stocks.

The fictitious Colonel William Tavington, played by Jason Isaacs, in the 2000 film “The Patriot” was based on Tarleton.

Scale 1:30 / 60MM