Banastre Tarleton was born into a middle-class family in Liverpool, England, in August 1754. On April 19, 1775, while the Battle of Lexington and Concord was raging in the American colonies, Tarleton was studying law at Oxford. The following day, his father bought him a cornet's commission from the King's First Regiment of Dragoon Guards. By 1778, at age 23, Tarleton rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel of the British Legion.
Tarleton's military success during the American Revolution in both the northern and southern theaters merited many illustrious titles. He played an active role in the battles of Monck's Corner, Charleston, Waxhaws, Camden, Fishing Creek, Blackstocks, and Cowpens in the Carolinas. At the Battle of Waxhaws, however, his military career took a turn. Patriot soldiers accused his dragoons of disregarding a Patriot surrender by attacking the Americans after they laid down their arms. Afterward, Americans ascribed the moniker “butcher” to Tarleton and the “Waxhaws Massacre” or “Tarleton's quarter” to the Battle of Waxhaws, shouting the latter as a rallying cry at the ensuing Battle of Cowpens.
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