Remembered in America as a villain and celebrated in Britain as a hero, cavalry officer Banastre Tarleton is a case study in how historical reputations are built. This episode follows the Liverpool merchant’s son, whose family wealth was tied to the sugar and slave trades, from his purchased cornet’s commission to merit-based promotions and the capture of General Charles Lee in his dressing gown.

We revisit the chaos of the Battle of Waxhaws, where Tarleton’s horse fell during a surrender attempt, the propaganda power of Tarleton’s quarter, and Daniel Morgan’s trap at Cowpens. We then follow Tarleton’s postwar media war, his portrait by Sir Joshua Reynolds, his decades as a member of Parliament for Liverpool defending the slave trade, and the 20th-century origins of the Bloody Ban nickname.

• How Tarleton’s British Legion of American loyalists used shock cavalry tactics
• Why Waxhaws may reflect the fog of war more than a deliberate order
• How Daniel Morgan’s defense in depth turned Tarleton’s aggression against him
• How Tarleton’s 1787 history shifted blame toward Cornwallis
• Why the Bloody Ban nickname and the Yorktown dinner snub story do not appear in 18th-century records