WAR AT SABRE POINT: Banastre Tarleton and the British Legion

1-226590

The British Legion frequently overwhelmed the Continental forces they fought, becoming the most feared British regiment of the war. Banastre Tarleton and the Americans he led have always been characterized as brutal, immoral villains -- most recently in the movie, The Patriot. But this study subverts our pre-conceived notions. The men who filled the Legions ranks were not weak-willed collaborators or treacherous renegades, but free men as motivated by conscience as the Patriots they battled. Few were wealthy. None had a vested stake in the British Government. Each believed that in defending the Crown; they were upholding the rule of law and preserving individual liberty. These men followed Banastre Tarleton clear across America for years, sacrificing not only their families, homes, and lives. Self-interest could not have persuaded them to do this. Patriotism and fidelity did. Uses first-hand accounts such as letters, diaries, and journals to tell the Legion's story and the man who led it.