Banastre Tarleton facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Sir Banastre Tarleton, Bt
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![]() Lieutenant-Colonel Banastre Tarleton by Sir Joshua Reynolds, in the uniform of the British Legion, wearing a "Tarleton Helmet".
National Gallery, London. |
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Nickname(s) | Bloody Ban, the Butcher, the Green Dragoon |
Born | 21 August 1754 Liverpool, Lancashire, England, Great Britain |
Died | 15 January 1833 Leintwardine, Herefordshire, England, United Kingdom |
(aged 78)
Allegiance | ![]() ![]() |
Service/ |
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Years of service | 1775–1812 |
Rank | General |
Unit | 1st Dragoon Guards |
Commands held | British Legion |
Battles/wars | American Revolutionary War
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Awards | Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath Baronet |
Spouse(s) |
Susan Bertie (m. 1798)
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Relations | Mary Robinson |
Sir Banastre Tarleton, 1st Baronet, GCB (21 August 1754 – 15 January 1833) was a British soldier and politician. Tarleton was eventually ranked as a general years after his service in the colonies during the American Revolutionary War, and afterwards did not lead troops into battle.
Tarleton's cavalrymen were called 'Tarleton's Raiders'. His green uniform was the standard uniform of the British Legion, a provincial unit organised in New York, in 1778. 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. As such, Tarleton became a prominent Whig politician. Given the importance of the slave trade to the British shipping industry in Liverpool, Tarleton strongly supported slavery as an economic means.