British Legion (American Revolution)

British Legion (American Revolution)

The British Legion was the name given to a British provincial regiment established during the American Revolutionary War and composed of Loyalist American infantry and cavalry. "Legion" was an 18th-century term for a military unit the size of a regiment but consisting of infantry and cavalry, or infantry, cavalry, and artillery, all under one command, to make it more flexible for scouting or irregular operations than a regiment that consisted of infantry or cavalry alone. It was colloquially known as Tarleton's Raiders, after the man who led most of its day-to-day activity, Lieutenant Colonel Banastre Tarleton.

Read more about British Legion (American Revolution):  Formation, The Legion in The Carolinas, The Legion in The Virginia Campaign, The End of The Legion

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