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JJDESIGNS NEWS UPDATE 10th OCTOBER 2022
THE AMERICAN WAR OF INDEPENDENCE 1775 – 1783
THE BATTLE OF COWPENS, JANUARY 17[SUP]th[/SUP], 1781.
THE BRITISH LEGION – “TARLETON’S RAIDERS
The Battle of Cowpens was an engagement during the American Revolutionary War fought on January 17[SUP]th[/SUP] 1781, near the town of Cowpens, South Carolina, between American forces under Brigadier General Daniel Morgan, and British forces under Lieutenant Colonel Banastre Tarleton, as part of the campaign in the Carolinas.
The battle was a turning point in the American reconquest of South Carolina from the British.
Tarleton’s force of 1,000 British troops were set against 2,000 troops under Morgan. Morgan’s forces suffered casualties of only 25 killed and 124 wounded. Tarleton’s force was almost completely eliminated with almost 30% casualties and 55% of his force captured or missing, with Tarleton himself and only about 200 British troops escaping.
Morgan’s forces conducted a double envelopment of the British forces, the only double envelopment of the war.
The British Legion was a British provincial regiment established during the American Revolutionary War, composed of British loyalist American infantry and dragoons. It was known as Tarleton’s Raiders after the British officer who led most of its day to day activities, Lieutenant Colonel Banastre Tarleton, and the green uniform coats. It was an unit the size of a regiment consisting of infantry, cavalry, and artillery, and able to operate independently.
The unit was raised in New York in July 1778 by Sir Henry Clinton in order to merge combined infantry and cavalry forces and a battery of light artillery.
The regiment was commanded by William Lord Cathcart, as colonel.
Once the unit left New York, Banastre Tarleton was commissioned as Lieutenant colonel, and took full operational command.
The Legion’s peak operational strength was approximately 250 cavalry and 200 infantry.
SIR BANASTRE TARLETON, (21[SUP]st[/SUP] August 1754 – 15[SUP]th[/SUP] 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 19[SUP]th[/SUP] 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.
The British Legion was disbanded on October 10[SUP]th[/SUP], 1783. Most of those discharged settled in Nova Scotia.
Best wishes and many thanks,
john jenkins
THE AMERICAN WAR OF INDEPENDENCE 1775 – 1783
THE BATTLE OF COWPENS, JANUARY 17[SUP]th[/SUP], 1781.
THE BRITISH LEGION – “TARLETON’S RAIDERS
The Battle of Cowpens was an engagement during the American Revolutionary War fought on January 17[SUP]th[/SUP] 1781, near the town of Cowpens, South Carolina, between American forces under Brigadier General Daniel Morgan, and British forces under Lieutenant Colonel Banastre Tarleton, as part of the campaign in the Carolinas.
The battle was a turning point in the American reconquest of South Carolina from the British.
Tarleton’s force of 1,000 British troops were set against 2,000 troops under Morgan. Morgan’s forces suffered casualties of only 25 killed and 124 wounded. Tarleton’s force was almost completely eliminated with almost 30% casualties and 55% of his force captured or missing, with Tarleton himself and only about 200 British troops escaping.
Morgan’s forces conducted a double envelopment of the British forces, the only double envelopment of the war.
The British Legion was a British provincial regiment established during the American Revolutionary War, composed of British loyalist American infantry and dragoons. It was known as Tarleton’s Raiders after the British officer who led most of its day to day activities, Lieutenant Colonel Banastre Tarleton, and the green uniform coats. It was an unit the size of a regiment consisting of infantry, cavalry, and artillery, and able to operate independently.
The unit was raised in New York in July 1778 by Sir Henry Clinton in order to merge combined infantry and cavalry forces and a battery of light artillery.
The regiment was commanded by William Lord Cathcart, as colonel.
Once the unit left New York, Banastre Tarleton was commissioned as Lieutenant colonel, and took full operational command.
The Legion’s peak operational strength was approximately 250 cavalry and 200 infantry.
SIR BANASTRE TARLETON, (21[SUP]st[/SUP] August 1754 – 15[SUP]th[/SUP] 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 19[SUP]th[/SUP] 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.
The British Legion was disbanded on October 10[SUP]th[/SUP], 1783. Most of those discharged settled in Nova Scotia.
Best wishes and many thanks,
john jenkins
