Banastre Tarleton after the American Revolution

 

 Lieutenant Colonel Banastre Tarleton who led the fearsome Loyalist British Legion returned to England in triumph at the end of the American Revolution.  He was universally acclaimed for his legendary exploits in the American war and became a close friend of the Prince of Wales (the future King George IV).  In 1787 Tarleton wrote History of the Campaigns of 1780 and 1781 in the Southern Provinces of North America.  In 1790 he was elected to Parliament, where he served for over twenty years. In the Napoleonic Wars, Tarleton served under the Duke of Wellington reaching the rank of lieutenant general in 1801.  In 1815, he was awarded a baronetcy.

 In 2006, four Patriot regimental colors captured by Tarleton in 1779 and 1780 were auctioned by Sotheby’s in New York City on Flag Day.  Lot No. 1 consisted of one flag.  Lot No. 2 consisted of the three regimental colors of the 3^rd Virginia Detachment that Tarleton captured at the Battle of Waxhaws (also known as The Waxhaws Massacre).  Passed down in Tarleton’s family for almost two hundred and fifty years these battle flags were the last American Revolutionary War colors known to remain in British hands and the last such colors to remain in private hands anywhere.  The fiercely contested auction lasted fourteen minutes and raised $17.3 million. The three Virginia flags sold for $5.0 million.  The private buyer remains anonymous, but the flags have occasionally been exhibited publicly.

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