Battle of Waxhaws - Aftermath

Aftermath

After the battle, the wounded were treated at nearby churches by the congregants, one of whom was a young Andrew Jackson. Tarleton claimed that after the battle ended, the wounded of both sides were treated "with equal humanity" and that the British provided "every possible convenience". Due to the large number of wounded, people from all over the countryside came to assist in their care. They learned of what had happened, and news of the apparent violation of quarter on Tarleton's part spread rapidly through the region.

The battle, at least temporarily, consolidated British control over South Carolina, and Patriot sentiment was at a low ebb. General Clinton, among other acts before he left Charleston for New York, revoked the parole of surrendered Patriots. This affront (technically violating accepted "rules of war"), and reports of this battle, may have changed the direction of the war in the South. Many who might have stayed neutral flocked to the Patriots, and "Tarleton's Quarter!" and "Remember Buford" became rallying cries for the Whigs. News of the massacre was also directly responsible for the creation of volunteer militia forces among the "over-mountain men" (from the Wataugan settlements at and near Sycamore Shoals). These militia participated in actions against British Loyalists at both the Battle of Musgrove Mill on August 18, 1780 (near present-day Clinton, South Carolina) and in the decisive defeat of British Major Patrick Ferguson's command on October 7, 1780 at Kings Mountain (near present-day Blacksburg, South Carolina).