British Commanders

British Commanders. . Lieutenant General Charles, Lord Cornwallis (1738 - 1805) , Lord Cornwallis, a member of one of England’s most prominent noble families, began his military career in 1756. He distinguished himself during the Seven Years' War (1756 - 1763). At the start of the American Revolution, Cornwallis held the rank of major general. He served in the South Carolina, New York, and New Jersey campaigns of 1776, the Philadelphia campaign of 1777, and at Charleston in 1780. , In June 1780 he assumed command of British forces in the South. He won battles at Camden in August 1780 and at Guilford Courthouse, North Carolina, in March 1781, but that October he was forced to surrender to General George Washington at Yorktown, Virginia. , Lieutenant Colonel Francis, Lord Rawdon (1754 - 1826) , The son of a noble Irish family, Lord Rawdon entered the British army in 1771. He fought in the June 1775 Battle of Bunker Hill, and served in the New York, New Jersey, and Hudson River Highlands campaigns of 1776 - 1777. In 1778 he was appointed colonel of a provincial regiment, the Volunteers of Ireland. , Rawdon participated in the 1780 siege of Charleston commanded the left wing of the British army at Camden that August. Headquartered at Camden, Rawdon exercised field command of British forces in South Carolina from January to August 1781, when illness forced him to return to England. , Lieutenant Colonel Banastre Tarleton (1754 - 1833) , Son of the mayor of Liverpool, England, Tarleton joined the British army in 1775. He participated in the South Carolina and New York campaigns of 1776, and that December played a key role in capturing American Major General Charles Lee. Tarleton served in the 1777 Philadelphia campaign and in 1778 assumed field command of a Loyalist unit, the British Legion, with the rank of lieutenant colonel. , He won several small battles during the 1780 siege of Charleston. On May 29, 1780, Tarleton crushed American forces at the Waxhaws, South Carolina, and was accused of perpetrating a massacre. He fought successfully at Camden but was routed at the Battle of Cowpens in January 1781. Tarleton served until he was taken prisoner at Yorktown.