Lt. Colonel Banastre Tarleton
After Sir Joshua Reynolds, PRA, 1782. Oil on canvas, 4 x 8 ft.
Private collection, Devon, Pennsylvania.

Lt. Colonel Banastre Tarleton (1754–1833), is shown in action as commandant of the British Legion cavalry in the War of American Independence. He was a skilled and aggressive cavalry commander, known for his “Tarleton’s Quarter” policy of showing no mercy to enemy combatants. He played a significant role in several major battles, including the Battle of Cowpens in South Carolina in 1781, where he led a British force against a larger American army.