Battle of Waxhaws

Battle context

The Battle of Waxhaws, fought near Lancaster, South Carolina on May 29, 1780, resulted in severe casualties for Abraham Buford's Continental force at the hands of Banastre Tarleton's British Legion. With 113 to 150 Americans killed from a force of approximately 420, the engagement effectively destroyed the Patriot unit engaged. The battle's broader impact on the American Revolution stemmed less from its tactical outcome than from the circumstances of the killing. After an unknown number of Buford's men attempted to surrender, Loyalist troops continued attacking, a disputed episode attributed by Patriot accounts to Tarleton's horse being shot and falling on him during the cease-fire. The incident generated the rallying cry 'Tarleton's Quarter' among Patriots across the Southern theater, hardening resistance and inflaming recruitment sentiment at a moment when British forces had recently taken Charleston and were consolidating control of South Carolina.