The British Legion was an elite British provincial regiment established during the American Revolutionary War, composed of Loyalist American troops, organized as infantry and cavalry, plus a detachment from the 16th Light Dragoons. The unit was commonly known as Tarleton's Legion, after the British officer who led it on campaign, Lieutenant Colonel Banastre Tarleton. It was a unit the size of a regiment, consisting of artillery, cavalry, and light infantry, and able to operate independently.

Regiment formed

This unit was raised in New York in July 1778 by Sir Henry Clinton in order to merge several small Loyalist units into a single force, a "legion" that combined infantry and cavalry forces and a battery of "flying" (light and fast moving) artillery. The cavalry combined, in whole or in part, elements of Captain Kinloch's independent troop of New York Dragoons, the Philadelphia Light Dragoons, Emmerich's Chasseurs, the Prince of Wales' American Volunteers, and the 16th Light Dragoons.

The Legion in the Carolinas campaign

thumb|alt=Quarter-length portrait|Major [[George Hanger, 4th Baron Coleraine|George Hanger, later Lord Coleraine (1751–1824) in the uniform of the British Legion]]

Elements of the Legion fought at the Siege of Savannah in 1779. The Legion as a whole was part of the British force that besieged and captured Charleston in 1780. The regiment participated in many battles in Clinton's South Carolina campaign, defeating General Isaac Huger and Lieutenant Colonel William Washington at Monck's Corner, dispersing another American force at Lenud's Ferry, and routing an American column under Colonel Abraham Buford at the Battle of Waxhaws.

During 1780, the Legion received reinforcements in the form of more drafts from Emmerich's Chasseurs and the Prince of Wales' American Volunteers and the permanent attachment of the Bucks County Dragoons. From this point forward, the active British Legion was a cavalry force only.

After regrouping, the regiment led Cornwallis' movement into North Carolina in search of the American army under Nathanael Greene, seeing action at Cowan's Ford and Tarrant's Tavern. This made them an official part of the British Army, rather than provincial (local) troops.

On 15 March, the regiment fought at the Battle of Guilford Court House.

The Legion in the Virginia campaign

As Cornwallis shifted his communications to the Chesapeake and abandoned the Carolinas for Virginia, the British Legion cavalry under Tarleton raided ahead of the British army, nearly capturing Virginia Governor Thomas Jefferson and the Virginia General Assembly at Charlottesville. The Legion again engaged in widespread destruction to punish rebel sympathizers and deny material support to the Continental Army and government. Lord Cornwallis sought terms of surrender that would have ensured no reprisals against the Loyalists in his army, but Washington refused to agree to them. Some of the men of the Legion were evacuated, sent with Cornwallis' dispatches to New York after the surrender. Some officers were paroled. Some enlisted men, and at least four officers who volunteered to stay with their troopers, were sent to a prison camp in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Some officers transferred to other regiments of the British Army.

See also

  • American Revolutionary War § War in the South. Places ' British Legion ' in overall sequence and strategic context.

References

  • Index to British Legion History - The On-Line Institute for Advanced Loyalist Studies