Waxhaw massacre

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Waxhaw Massacre

Date	May 29, 1780
Location	South Carolina
Result	British victory

Combatants

Britain
17th Lancers{then called Dragoons}
British Legion (1778)

United States
3rd Virginia Detachment composed of 2nd and 7th Virginia Regiments

Commanders

Lieutenant Colonel Banastre Tarleton

Colonel Abraham Buford

Strength

270

400

Casualties

5 killed
12 wounded
{11 horses killed
19 horses wounded}

113 killed
150 wounded and paroled;
53 captured

Sketch of the Waxhaw Massacre thought to be for a 19th century lithograph

The Waxhaw Massacre is an alternative name for the controversial Battle of Waxhaws that took place during the American Revolution on May 29, 1780, in South Carolina, between a Patriot force led by Abraham Buford and a mainly Loyalist force led by Banastre Tarleton.

1 Background
2 Battle
3 Aftermath
4 External links

[edit] Background

Colonel Buford led a force of between 350 and 380 Virginian Continentals—the 3rd Virginia Detachment (composed of the 7th Virginia Regiment, two companies of the 2nd Virginia Regiment and an artillery detachment with two six-pounders)—to assist the Patriot forces in the Siege of Charleston. Before arriving, they learned that the city had already been captured by the British, and they turned back to Virginia.

However, British Colonel Banastre Tarleton heard that South Carolina's Patriot Governor John Rutledge was traveling with Buford. Anxious to capture Rutledge, Tarleton pursued with a force of roughly 230 men, consisting of 130 Legion dragoons, 100 Mounted British Legion infantry, and a three-pounder cannon. In the event, only an advance force of 60 dragoons from the 17th Light Dragoons and the British Legion cavalry, 60 mounted infantry from the British Legion, and an additional flanking force of 30 British Legion dragoons and some infantry actually engaged in the main attack. 1

[edit] Battle

On May 29, 1780, Tarleton caught up with Buford in the Waxhaws, at a crossroads in what is now Buford, South Carolina. By then, Governor Rutledge had already separated from Buford's detachment.

While waiting for his reserves to move up, Tarleton sent Captain David Kinlock to demand Buford's surrender. In his message, Tarleton hugely exaggerated the size of his force—claiming he had 700 men—hoping to sway Buford's decision. Buford refused with the message: "I reject your proposals, and shall defend myself to the last extremity." 2

Despite this, Buford made the unwise decision to keep marching rather than prepare for battle. When Tarleton's attack came, Buford waited until the enemy was within ten yards to give the order to fire. This had minimal effect on the charging cavalry and resulted in a rout of the Virginians. According to Tarleton's after battle report, the Patriots lost 113 men killed, 147 wounded and released on parole, and the 2 six pounders and 26 wagons captured. The British lost 5 killed, 12 wounded, and 11 horses killed and 19 wounded. 3

[edit] Aftermath

The battle has always been controversial, since after breaking Buford's line Tarleton's men slaughtered many of the Virginians who surrendered, hacking them down with their sabres. Some sources, such as Buford's Adjutant Henry Bowyer and Surgeon's Mate Robert Brownfield, claim that Buford belatedly raised a white flag but was ignored by Tarleton. In Tarleton's own account, he virtually admits the massacre, stating that his horse had been shot from under him during the initial charge and his men, thinking him dead, engaged in "a vindictive asperity not easily restrained."4

Before the massacre, popular opinion held that the Southern states were lost to the Patriot cause and would remain loyal to Britain. The reports of the Waxhaw Massacre, however, may have changed the direction of the war in the South. Many who might have stayed neutral flocked to the Patriots, and "Tarleton's Quarter!" became a rallying cry for the Whigs. The massacre was also directly responsible for the over-mountain men (from what is now Tennessee) forming a volunteer force that utterly destroyed Major Patrick Ferguson's command at Kings Mountain, North Carolina.