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There was an insolent arrogance about Tarleton's good-nature, which always led him to consult the whim of the moment at the expense of every other consideration, especially if the whim referred to a member of the canaille whom my aristocratic friend esteemed as a base part of the exclusive and despotic property of gentlemen.
Marion, with his ragged followers, who, untitled, could give such annoyance to His Majesty's officers, a degree of respect which his title might not otherwise have commanded. Tarleton's Campaigns, 4to ed. p. 171. Marion retreats before a superior Force Defeats the Tories at Black Mingo Surprises and disperses the Force of Colonel Tynes at Tarcote Is pursued by Tarleton.
The post-riders from the south bring blood-curdling stories of Colonel Tarleton's doings. 'Tis said he overtook some of Mr. Lincoln's reinforcements come too late. They gave battle but faint-heartedly, being all unready for an enemy, and presently threw down their arms and begged for quarter begged, and were cut down as they stood." "Faugh!" said I. "That is but hangman's work.
On mounting, he turned in his saddle and asked Hays what we had to fear on our road, if indeed we were to apprehend anything. "There is some talk of the Legion Cavalry, sir Major Tarleton's command." "Anything definite?" "No, sir only the talk when men of our party meet. And Major Lockwood has a price on his head." "Oh! Is that all?" "That is all, sir."
The regular English troops, on the whole, behaved reasonably well, but Tarleton's native "Tories" were inflamed by a fanaticism far fiercer than theirs, while atrocity was of course normal to the warfare of the barbarous mercenaries of England, whether Indian or German. It is equally a matter of course that such excesses provoked frequent reprisals from the irregular colonial levies.
There were no gunboats on it that day, no Monitors, or Galenas, or Maritanzas, and if you'd told us up there on Malvern Hill that the next time we climbed it ! At Westover, after supper, they told Indian stories and stories of Tarleton's troopers, and in the night we listened for the tap of Evelyn Byrd's slipper on the stair.
Their renewed fire provoked the massacre of the unresisting. A terrible butchery followed. The British gave no quarter. From that day, "Tarleton's Quarters", implying the merciless cutting down of the suppliant, grew into a proverbial phrase, which, in the hour of victory, seemed to embitter the hostility with which the American strove to avenge his slaughtered comrades.
The fairness and courtesy of the writer toward his opponents is an attractive characteristic of the work, which is written with a simplicity and directness of style highly agreeable to readers of judgment. He attributes them in no degree to his own military ability, but to the superior character of his large, thorough-bred horses, which rode over Tarleton's inferior stock.
I would rejoice to know why Captain Sir Francis Falconnet saw fit to disobey his orders." I was clear of the lee shore and the breakers at last, but I was fain to believe that not Machiavelli himself could hope to weather the storm in the open. How much or how little did Lord Cornwallis remember of Colonel Tarleton's report?
An officer on Tarleton's left was about to strike at the same moment, when Washington's little bugler, too small to wield a sword, wounded the assailant with a pistol ball. Tarleton, who was in the center, then made a thrust at him, which Washington parried, and wounded his enemy in the hand. Tarleton wheeled, and, as he retreated, discharged a pistol, wounding Washington in the knee.
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