born in his father's house in Water Street, Liverpool, on 21 Aug. 1754. He was educated at Liverpool and Oxford University, and was entered in one of the inns of court, but on 20 April 1775 a commission as cornet in the king's dragoon guards was purchased for him. He obtained leave to accompany Lord Cornwallis [see Cornwallis, Charles, first Marquis] as a volunteer to North America, when he took out reinforcements, in Sir Peter Parker's squadron.
Tarleton sailed from Portsmouth on 26 Dec. 1775, and from Cork harbour on 12 Feb. 1776, arriving on 3 May at Cape Fear, North Carolina, where Sir Henry Clinton the elder [q. v.], with his small force, awaited this reinforcement. He accompanied the army under Clinton to the attack of Charleston, arriving there on 4 June; took part in the unsuccessful operations of 28 and 29 June, re-embarked with the troops on 15 July, and sailed on the 21st for Staten Island, where Clinton's force joined the main army under Sir William (afterwards fifth Viscount) Howe [q. v.], commander-in-chief. Tarleton served, under Sir William Erskine [q. v.], who commanded the cavalry, in the operations against New York at the end of August, and was present at the capture of that city on 15 Sept., at the battle of White Plains on 28 Oct., at the capture of Fort Washington on 16 Nov., and of Fort Lee on 18 Nov.
Tarleton commanded the advanced guard of the patrol under Colonel (afterwards Lord) Harcourt, which on 13 Dec. made a successful dash and captured the American general, Lee, who, reconnoitring three miles away from his army, had stopped with his escort for breakfast at a farmhouse. He took part in the operations in January 1777, under Lord Cornwallis, in the neighbourhood of Brunswick, Princeton, and Trenton. His merits led to his rapid promotion in the local forces, and he was promoted to be captain in Harcourt's horse, and appointed a brigade major of cavalry.
In July 1777 Tarleton proceeded by sea with the army under Sir William Howe, to the Delaware and Chesapeake, disembarking in the Elk river on 25 Aug. He took part in the battle of Brandywine on 11 Sept., in the capture of Germantown on the 25th, and of Philadelphia on 27 Sept.; in the action at Germantown on 4 Oct., and in the operations connected with opening up communication with the fleet by the Delaware. He was in Philadelphia during its occupation by the British, and took part in the various raids against Washington's force. He was promoted to be captain in the 79th foot on 8 Jan. 1778.
War with France necessitated concentration of the British forces in America, and on 18 June Sir Henry Clinton, who had succeeded Howe in the chief command, evacuated Philadelphia, and commenced his march to New York. Tarleton took part in the cavalry skirmishes along the line of march, and in the battle of Freehold Courthouse on 28 June, and arrived in New York with the army on 5 July 1778. He was engaged in the various expeditions from New York, and was singled out by Clinton for the arduous post of lieutenant-colonel commandant of the British legion. A force originally of light infantry (first raised and commanded by Captain Sutherland, one of Clinton's aides-de-camp, under the name of the ‘Caledonian volunteers’), the British legion, towards the close of 1778, was commanded by Sir William Schaw Cathcart (tenth Baron Cathcart) [q. v.], under whom its organisation was changed to a mixed force of cavalry and light infantry. The legion cavalry acquired, from the colour of its facings, the name of Tarleton's ‘Green Horse.’ Tarleton was promoted to be brevet major in the British service on 11 Aug. 1779.
Tarleton sailed for New York in command of the British legion with the expedition under Clinton against Charleston on 26 Dec. 1779, and lost nearly all his horses on the voyage, owing to tempestuous weather. He disembarked on John Island, thirty miles from Charleston, on 11 Feb. 1780. With difficulty Tarleton supplied the places of the lost horses. At the close of the month of March the whole force crossed Ashley river, and ground was broken within eight hundred yards of the enemy's works. By a skilful movement Tarleton surprised three regiments of the enemy's horse (Pulaski's legion, Washington's horse, and Bland's or White's dragoons) on 14 April, at Bigging Bridge, near Monk's Corner, and again on 6 May at Lenew's Ferry, and destroyed them, capturing all their stores and baggage and four hundred horses. He was thus enabled to horse his legion in an efficient manner. These enterprises were attended with innumerable difficulties; rivers had to be crossed and a strongly posted enemy dislodged. Tarleton scoured the country and cut off all communication with Charleston by his light troops, although the place was not completely invested by the army. Charleston capitulated on 12 May. Tarleton was mentioned with high praise in Clinton's despatch.
Lord Cornwallis now moved on Camden in pursuit of a force under the American Lieutenant-colonel Burford. Finding him, however, too far advanced to be overtaken
