Buford's Bloody Massacre at the Waxhaws - History Traveler Episode 491

When it comes to movies that are based on the American Revolution, well, there aren't many. The one that probably comes to mind to people the most is The Patriot, which is a 2000 film starring Mel Gibson that is loosely based on the story of Francis Marion, who was a partisan or militiaman down here in South Carolina, where I currently am. And if you watch that movie, you will remember the villain in the movie is a guy by the name of Colonel Tavington. Well, Tavington was actually based on a real life individual, a guy by the name of Bannister Tarleton. Tarleton was a cavalry commander of something called the British Legion, which were American loyalists to the British crown. And this guy was ruthless, and he was aggressive. And he is going to get the reputation as a butcherer right here, where I'm standing right now, at a place called the Waxhaws. So just to set up the Battle of Waxhaws, in 1780, the American Revolution had shifted to the south out of the northeast. There had been a siege that had been laid on Charleston. Charleston, South Carolina, fell on May 12th of 1780. And at that point, the commander, General by the name of Clinton, for the British, went back up to New York, left command to Lord Cornwallis. And under Cornwallis, the plan was to set up a bunch of British outposts in South Carolina to recruit loyalist militia, and then move up into North Carolina and Virginia. Well, to relieve the forces at Charleston, there was a guy with the 3rd Virginia Detachment, Colonel by the name of Abraham Buford, who was moving down with 350 men. When they heard that Charleston had fell, well, they turned around and started heading back north. And Cornwallis was going to send his attack dog, this guy named Bannister Tarleton, to overtake them and knock them out. The road that you see ahead of us, where we now have modern traffic, in 1780 was a dirt road. And this is the road that Abraham Buford and his men are using to try and escape to the north. So this direction right here is south, so Buford and his men are coming in this direction right here. And a couple miles in this direction, on May 29th, he had stopped his column to rest. And what he didn't know is that Bannister Tarleton was right on him. To be fair, Tarleton had made an incredible ride. Remember, this is a very, very aggressive man. And they had ridden over 100 miles in just over 50 hours. Just really an incredible feat. So Tarleton sends a representative to Buford demanding their surrender. And Buford, to be fair, kind of just doddles around a little bit to give his men time to get a little bit of a head start. They get a couple miles up the road, and then he sends a reply. He says, Sir, I reject your proposals and shall defend myself to the last extremity. And that's all that Tarleton needs to hear. I mean, that's like blood in the water to him. And Buford's men are going to get up to the spot where we are right now when Tarleton catches up with him. The Waxhaws battlefield is along what is called the Liberty Trail, which traces the American Revolution through South Carolina. And at different sites along the Liberty Trail, well, you can stop and learn more about the Revolution in South Carolina. And they have some incredible interpretive signs along the way. So this is the result of a partnership between the American Battlefield Trust and some local preservation organizations. And here we can see a map for the battle that takes place here. So on the left side of the road, Tarleton is going to be involved in this battle. And then the bulk of the fighting is going to take place on the right-hand side. So if we look out here, so we're on the side of the road. We're looking at things from the British Loyalist point of view. And right there where those trees are now is where Buford's men are going to form their line of battle. So Tarleton is advancing right up through here. Most of his men are on the other side of the road. And Buford is going to make a fatal mistake. So you can imagine these aggressive cavalrymen charging through, I was getting ready to say this field, but it was open woods at the time. It wasn't a field. But they're charging through these open woods, and Buford makes a fatal error. He commands his men not to shoot until they are ten yards away. Now, had he commanded them to take their first shot a little further out, it could have maybe broke up this cavalry attack a little bit. But by waiting until they are ten yards away, that allows Tarleton's men, this British legion, to get right in among them. Now, Bannister Tarleton is going to go down somewhere in this vicinity, and his horse is going to land on him. And he's going to be stuck. And his men are going to get among these Virginia troops. And what results is an absolute slaughter. So, right off the bat, Tarleton is out of the fight. He's out here in the woods with his horse on top of him. And like I said, what results is an absolute slaughter. Now, keep in mind, the British legion, these aren't like British regulars. These are American colonists who are part of the British legion. So these are people like fighting amongst themselves, like a civil war. Now, there's some debate over whether this was a massacre or not. There's one account that says that a white flag of surrender was offered, but it wasn't accepted. What we do know is that out of Buford's 350 men, 113 are killed and 153 are wounded. So, massacre or not, this was a lopsided victory for the British. Here along Buford's line of battle, they have a monument that says Buford's Massacre, May 29th, 1780. On this site, Colonel Abraham Buford's force of about 350 American patriots, while returning to Hillsborough, North Carolina, following the fall of Charlestown, were overtaken by British troops commanded by Colonel Bannister Tarleton. It's historically told that the Patriot's white flag of surrender was disregarded as Tarleton's forces massacred the Americans. And then, if we walk over here, well, inside this fencing, we have this white granite monument and this ring of stones where a mass grave of 84 of these Continental soldiers are buried. Yeah, pretty crazy. Now, whether this was a massacre or not, I lean to say that it was, but whether it was a massacre or not, here's one thing that is undeniable. The American patriots are going to latch onto this story, and it is going to become a rallying cry for the rest of the war. At places like Cowpens and Kings Mountain, you would hear militiamen and patriots yelling out, Tarleton's quarter, meaning that they weren't going to take any prisoners. That if Tarleton wasn't going to give quarter to wounded troops or troops that had been defeated, then they weren't going to either. But anyway, that was a little bit on Bannister Tarleton, Abraham Buford, and the Battle of Waxhaw.