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Sir Banastre Tarleton, 1st Baronet, GCB (21 August 1754 – 15 January 1833) was a British soldier and politician. He was eventually ranked as a General years after his service in the colonies during the American War of Independence, but he never led troops into battle after that.〔 He is probably best remembered for his military service during that war, which he started at the age of 21. He was the subject of a rebel propaganda campaign claiming wrongly that his men had slaughtered surrendering Continental Army troops at the 1780 Battle of Waxhaws in South Carolina. It was not until the 19th century that this event became known in American history as the Waxhaws Massacre. In the American biography ''The Green Dragoon: The Lives of Banastre Tarleton and Mary Robinson'' (1957) by Robert D. Bass, Tarleton was referred to as 'Bloody Ban' and 'The Butcher.' In popular culture these became his nicknames; as noted in this book, his reputation in the United States was for 'brutality' during the war,〔(Review by: Hugh F. Rankin; Reviewed Work: ''The Green Dragoon: The Lives of Banastre Tarleton and Mary Robinson'' by Robert D. Bass, ''The North Carolina Historical Review,'' Vol. 34, No. 4 (October, 1957), pp. 548-550 )〕 while the colonial Loyalists and British hailed Tarleton as an outstanding leader of light cavalry, praising him for his tactical prowess and resolve, even against superior numbers. Tarleton's cavalrymen were frequently called 'Tarleton's Raiders'. His green uniform was the standard of the British Legion, a provincial unit organised in New York in 1778. After his return to Great Britain in 1781 at the age of 27, Tarleton was elected a Member of Parliament for Liverpool, being returned to office into the early 19th century. He became a prominent Whig politician despite his reputation as a young man as a ''roué.''〔 Given the importance of the slave trade to the shipping industry in Liverpool, Tarleton strongly supported it. == Early life == Banastre Tarleton was the third of seven children born to the merchant John Tarleton (1718–1773), who served as Mayor of Liverpool in 1764 and had extensive trading links with Britain's American colonies.〔Scotti p.14〕 His paternal grandfather Thomas Tarleton had been a shipowner and slave trader.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Banastre Tarleton; Biography, Part 1 )〕 Banastre's younger brother John (1755–1841) entered the family business. He was elected as a Member of Parliament (MP). Tarleton was educated at the Middle Temple, London and went to University College, Oxford University in 1771, preparing for a career as a lawyer. In 1773 at the age of 19, he inherited £5,000 on his father's death. He squandered almost all of it in less than a year on gambling and women, mostly at the Cocoa Tree club in London. In 1775 he purchased a commission as a cavalry officer (Cornet) in the 1st Dragoon Guards, where he proved to be a gifted horseman and leader of troops. Due to his abilities, he worked his way up through the ranks to Lieutenant Colonel without having to purchase any further commissions. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Banastre Tarleton」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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