[ Previous ] [ Next ]

Many American historians dismiss Tarleton's life after the Revolution with generalities suggesting that he wasted the next fifty years. Some writers, like Buchanan, not only have this opinion but go steps further, highlighting all the possible negatives and saying nothing positive at all. Tarleton probably could have taken different paths, and sometimes he probably would have been better off for having done so. But to suggest that the remainder of his life was wasted is either ignorant or prejudiced. Generally, it's a matter of prejudice.

[more information]

Tarleton did a lot of carrying on, gambling, partying, and consorting with ladies of the demi-monde. He also managed to escape debtor's prison, wrote his memoirs, was elected to Parliament four times, finally made General and Knight of the Bath. He enjoyed fifteen years of a relationship which although stormy must have had some satisfaction as proven by the length of it. He married an heiress twenty years his junior and after his late forties enjoyed a life of great social respect and prominence. He died in his sleep of old age in his own bed. If that equates to a wasted life, many should want one. He lost some respect for a while, but he gained it back in the end. Not many historians make note of that.

On January 18th, 1782, Tarleton rode into London...

The homecoming was everything a young man could hope for: presentations to the King and Queen, parties, balls, visits with the young princes who envied the adventures of those who had served in America. The affable Ban was everywhere. On February 2nd a family friend wrote: "The famous Tarleton looks as young as when you knew him at Norwich. He is much en vogue. He is invited, known or unknown, to all the assemblies, and wherever he stands, a circle is formed around him." How Ban must have enjoyed this! In fact, all this attention might have not been a good thing. It would be a hard "place" to leave, but staying in the limelight would take more resources than the young man had available.

At least for awhile Tarleton was in the limelight. It was during this time, freshly arrived in London, that he began sitting for the Reynolds portrait. Bass presumes he met Mary Robinson there for the first time. Reynolds was painting her portrait as well. Nothing happened -- yet.

On February 16th he finally made his way home to Liverpool. As he approached the outskirts, church bells were rung and a thousand men were gathered waiting for his carriage. Unhitching the horses, his admirers pulled the carriage themselves for a mile. Making his way to his sister Bridget's home, then to Liverpool itself, he was met the whole way with well-wishers, bonfires and ringing bells. Officials of the city welcomed him. The Liverpool Advertiser noted: "The Colonel's politeness and affability gain him the esteem of all ranks."

Liverpool could not hold him for long. It was back to London for more rounds of parties and masquerades. Ban rented a house in St. James place and picked up two race horses he named Adrastus and Antiquity. He continued wearing his Legion uniform and became a familiar figure about town. Nor did he neglect his old haunt, The Cocoa Tree. It seemed almost natural that he would fall in with the Whig politicos, friends of the Prince, who gathered there.

The Reynolds portrait was premiered at the Royal Academy on April 29th, along with another portrait of the young lieutenant colonel by Gainesborough. Unfortunately, this last portrait did not survive. Apparently it was never paid for, and as the Reynolds had gotten the most applause by critics, Gainesborough might have painted over it. Modern laser techniques might yet give us a view of this lost portrait, lurking beneath another famous visage of the times.

In early May, Ban was circulating the fashionable parties in company with all the glitteratti of the age. Among these were Lord Malden and the beautiful actress Mary Robinson.

Mary had risen from being the unhappy, but temporarily faithful, wife of a bankrupt philanderer to one of the brightest stars of the London theater. She was presumably a great beauty, but also possessed of a poetic nature. Whether her talent was very great or not, it was ample enough to attract Richard Brinsley Sheridan who launched her career. But her greatest conquest was over the biggest pigeon she could pluck -- George, the Prince of Wales. This young monarch-to-be attended a royal command performance of A Winter's Tale where Mary played the part of Perdita. The seventeen-year-old boy fell madly in "love" with this vision, and wooed her with all the ammunition a royal youth could muster. Soon Perdita and "Florizel," as he called himself, were enjoying secret midnight trysts in a Kew Palace garden, orchestrated by the obedient Lord Malden. Malden was himself in love with Mary, but he obeyed his royal master.

After a year, Florizel tired of his conquest and was on to the next one. There was a messy business when Mary threatened to give George's ardent and highly embarrassing letters to the press. The King assented to paying Mary an annuity and the affair was wrapped up. Mary retained her position as a fashionable woman, one of the "Fair Cyprians" inhabiting the "Demi-Monde" or "little world" of highly paid and well-kept courtesans.

Eventually Lord Malden took a turn with Mary, and he was totally in love with the ex-actress. So much so, in fact, that he boasted one night to Tarleton about her faithfulness. Tarleton challenged him to a contest for Mary's affections. Needless to say, the handsome young officer charmed his way into Mary's heart, and most likely into her bed. The exact "terms" of the bet remain unknown. When Mary found out about the bet, "Her fury knew no bounds". But something significant had happened between Mary and Ban, and even though she was angry, she forgave him. In fact, she was never again free from him emotionally. For the next fifteen years they experienced an on-and-off again affair. When they were "off" Mary would wheedle her way back through publishing poetry regaling his attributes or her love. Or, very likely using guilt through her poor health. Looking over their lives, Mary comes across as being emotionally manipulative, but at least never boring.

Thus in the summer of 1782, the relationship flourished as Ban pursued horse racing with the nobility. It was a heady time. On August 20th, a cartoon titled "The Thunderer" was published by cartoonist Gillray. It depicts Ban bragging of his exploits to a thinly disguised Prince Regent, with poor Mary portrayed as a tiny figure "receiving the Army's treatment for prostitutes."

At this point Ban had thoughts of future military action by going to the defense of Gibraltar. These thoughts vanished in the social whirl. He spent the next six months with Mary, whose extravagance was exhibited through her amazing wardrobe, new carriages, and portraits by all the most famous artists of the day. They must have been happy.

[more information]

Then in January of 1783 came excitement. Lord Shelburne, Secretary of Colonial Affairs, offered Cornwallis the opportunity to go to India as governor and commander in chief. Cornwallis immediately offered Tarleton the command of his cavalry. Tarleton seemed willing to go, if not excited, writing to brother Thomas, "I apprehend the voyage to that quarter of the world is near." Mary was not happy about it, either. Ban went so far as to sell his horses and close down his house. Then Fate stepped in to deny Ban a future in India. Lord Shelburne resigned from the cabinet on February 20th, and Cornwallis lost his sponsor for the India post. There were another several months of political wrangling to see if Cornwallis would be affirmed by the new government, and while waiting, Ban partied.

He partied so heartily that his debts built to new heights. He spent money on extravagant clothes. He gambled. His creditors, anticipating his departure to India, demanded payment. And so he petitioned his family for money. Thus began a tug of war which kept going for years. So desperate he was, at the end of May he traveled to Liverpool in person. At home, his mother made no bones about it. If he wanted help, he had to give up Mrs. Robinson. Mother Jane wisely saw that Mary's influence, her lifestyle, her personal failings were poison for her beloved second son. But, like many young men before and after him, Ban would not leave his mistress. He probably didn't tell his mother why.

Finally the situation became intolerable. Mother Jane wrote Ban a letter aching with love and concern, but with last-chance commands. He was to abandon London and go to the Continent while his friends and family developed a plan for repaying his debts. He would go alone. Jane was good at guilt herself. She ends the letter:

"I wish to see a thorough reform in your conduct before you go abroad so that I may place some confidence in your promises -- You might easily imagine what heartfelt sorrow and pain and distress of mind it gives me to be reduced to the dreadful necessity of expressing myself in this manner to one who I once flattered myself would have proved so great an ornament to himself and comfort to me and all his friends..."

Cornwallis himself stepped in, writing the family several times on Ban's behalf. By June 29th Mother Jane wrote, "London can not, nor must not be your place of residence it will give me real pleasure and satisfaction to hear that Your connection with Mrs. Robinson is at an end: without that necessary step all my endeavors to save you from impending destruction will be ineffectual."

As the family worked with Cornwallis to produce a plan to "save" Ban, Mary had vanished from the social vortex. There was a simply reason. She was pregnant. How emotionally wrenching it must have been for both Ban and Mary to know of this situation, with his mother ordering him to abandon her, with his family his only financial lifeline. Countered with this was his own honor as a gentleman and the fact that he truly loved her. But he had to go or be sent to debtor's prison.

His major creditors satisfied, Ban set out for Southampton on July 24th. As Mary rushed about London trying to collect enough money to stop him, another friend returned to help. The Duc du Lauzun had returned to France and then London. He reached Mary the evening Ban left. Mary did not know Ban was gone as she had successfully raised £300 from Charles Fox -- enough to allow his safe return. Lauzun was sent out on a search of Ban's favorite haunts, but he returned with the news that Ban had left for Dover.

[more information]

Mary took the £300, hired a coach, and set out for Dover. The poor girl didn't even know she was on the wrong road -- he was bound for Southampton. She did not travel very far until she went into labor. There is speculation that she had come down with a rheumatic fever which caused the miscarriage, and the horrors of 18th century gynecology, combined with the fever, caused her extensive injury. Whatever the cause, she was paralyzed and never again could completely flex her fingers or stand without support. It is not recorded, but one presumes the baby did not live.

Not knowing this tragedy, Ban wrote his mother from Hampshire, "You desire me to write more fully about Mrs. Robinson -- the connection is closed. She is too proud to follow me and she has long been too generous .... I most solemnly assure you she has not been the cause of my bankruptcy."

In fact, Ban didn't find out Mary's plight until late September. He was bound for southern France where Cornwallis had suggested he study military science. He must have been heartbroken, and he wrote his brother Thomas, "I have been miserable, and now not happy -- Wisdom and fortitude ought to teach Philosophy -- I trust I shall attain it soon, for I have had adversity enough to chase away all passions. I reveal to you I have not forgot Mrs. R______. Oh God such a conflict I hope never again to encounter -- I hear she is dangerously ill -- But no more -- I shall grow distracted." He turned back to Calais, but stayed in France for the next several months.

Mary recuperated slowly. She must have missed him, as she wrote her poem to his glory "Ode to Valour" during this period. Thus began a series of poetic endeavors she used to wheel him back to her side.

As Ban waited for the last of his affairs to be cleared with the continued help of Cornwallis, he must have been cheered by the visit of an old friend from the war -- George Hanger put in an appearance in January, 1784, and undoubtedly he cheered Ban up. Hanger had met with a friendly reception in America after the war. Lauzun and the leading Patriot families of Philadelphia had entertained him with grace. He had helped place Loyalist veterans on land in Nova Scotia, and now he was en route home.

Mother Jane finally paid the last of Ban's debts. Cornwallis had given up on an India command and advised that Ban stay on the continent and study. He wisely surmised that a return to the heady atmosphere of London would only see his young dragoon back in trouble. Ban didn't listen, and he made for London in March. He immediately moved into Mary's house at Berkeley Square. This was extremely displeasing to his family. He appeased them by running for office.

The government had been overthrown again, and now came the great campaign which Fox engineered with the help of Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire and her friends. Among this crew was Ban. It is here that Tarleton begins his political associations in earnest, campaigning for Fox and networking among the Whigs. He made his first stand for Parliament himself, announcing his candidacy on April 1th. He lost, but Fox won, and there was great partying in celebration of this victory. A victory for Fox was a victory for the Prince of Wales.

Ban's political choice destroyed his military career, at least for a long time. As he grew more involved in Whig politics, his chances for a military post grew more dim. The East India Tea Company would not allow him to accompany Cornwallis when a new opportunity for Indian service rose in May. Ban consoled himself with days spent with the princes playing tennis and cricket.

During the summer of 1784, creditors began flying like buzzards over the Robinson-Tarleton household. To their delight, however, the Duc du Lauzun was once again in London, and he and Ban made a pair of merry pranksters about town. Lauzun offered the pair sanctuary in France with a dual purpose. Escape creditors and allow Mary the warmer climate in which to continue her recuperation. Hot on the lovers' heels was John Tarleton -- sent by the family to save his famous brother from ruin and Mrs. Robinson. They all met up in Paris in October. As Mary was in such poor health, John wrote home that he didn't expect her to survive the winter. This must have cheered Mother Jane's heart.

Thus begins a period of time when Ban and Mary lived on the Continent for a long stretch. They stayed at Lauzun's chateau in Aix-la-Chapelle. Ban gambled and lost. Again he wrote his brothers for help. Mary had survived the winter after all, and the brothers were reluctant to show Mother her second son's entreaties. No immediate help was forthcoming. By summer Ban had developed an idea. He would write his memoirs about the American War.

Writing The Campaigns was a wise thing to do. As an outgrowth of the Clinton-Cornwallis war of words, Ban had come under attack as well. In August of 1782 the Morning Chronicle had published an anonymous letter castigating Tarleton for his lack of generosity towards the soldier who saved his life during the encounter with the Indians in New York. The writer was probably Lt. Roderick McKenzie, a member of the 71st Regiment which had suffered greatly at Cowpens. A few days later had come another poison pen letter, this time it was all about Cowpens. "That unfortunate day at Cowpens" had been juggled about in the sniping between Clinton and Cornwallis. In writing his own account of the war in the South, Tarleton could at least present his side of the story.

Ban and Mary stayed in Aix-la-Chapelle during the fall of 1785 and winter of 1786. Mary was very happy. The Duke and Duchess of Chatelet entertained the pair. Mary dabbled in poetry.

In February of 1786 Lord Cornwallis finally accepted an offer to become governor general of India. Ban hurried back to London, eager to accompany his mentor to the east. However, Ban's Whig politicking had been his downfall. Prime Minister Pitt would not appoint a Whig to Indian command. And so Ban remained on half-pay. It is now that the split with Cornwallis becomes an issue. Perhaps Cornwallis did not try very hard to change Pitt's mind. In any event, Ban was very disappointed and returned to France. He wrote Clinton asking for advice in publishing his Campaigns. Clinton urged him to do so against the advice of others who believed that in Ban's book would be seen a shadow of the Clinton-Cornwallis conflict. For the rest of the year, Ban and Mary edited and polished the manuscript.

[more information]

By December he was back in London. He showed the manuscript to friends. Word leaked to Cornwallis that although Ban wasn't pointing fingers at Cornwallis, there were implications that supported Clinton's criticisms of the Southern Campaigns commander in chief. Nevertheless, the book was published on March 17, 1787. It received mixed reviews. Those who criticized pointed out that Cornwallis was not in Britain to defend himself. Some saw it as a "sneak attack" on Cornwallis' reputation. It took months for letters and a copy of the book to reach India, but Cornwallis' friends and relatives were livid. By the end of the year, Cornwallis was writing in his own defense to his family that "Tarleton's is a most malicious and false attack." How bitter this must have been to the man who had tried so hard to save his young officer from financial doom.

The book woke another displeased person. McKenzie came out of hiding and published his 137 page Strictures on Lt. Colonel Tarleton's Campaigns. It ripped every page to shreds. It seethed with hatred. It went beyond fact into the realm of fiction for the sake of revenge. McKenzie did not have as many facts at his command as Tarleton. This was purely personal.

Justly furious, Tarleton and his friends developed a counter attack. The loyal George Hanger began writing a rebuttal titled An Address to the Army in Reply to Strictures by Roderick McKenzie. Page by page, he offered factual evidence to disprove McKenzie's accusations. It was generally well received, to the point that it inspired a poem published in the World:

Hanger's new book is worth your reading --
In authorship a new proceeding!
First, he reprints what has been seen --
Then of his own you take a sup,
Strictures, he proves, should not have been,
and then he -- stops the Strictures up!
Concluding, in the way of Hanger --
"My dear McKenzie -- that's a Banger!"

Mary returned to London in January of 1788, and the two enjoyed a period of relative prosperity and happiness. During the time when Campaigns was published and throughout 1787, Ban had become a professional gambler. His military career was nonexistent, and his book had been written for pride, not for money. He won a very large bet which kept him in the financial black. He also managed to prevent a duel between Hanger and a William Beckford who accused Hanger of gossip and defamation of character. Ban and George attended cricket matches and most certainly enjoyed their lives in the social whirl about the royal princes. When Mary returned, they resided within a few doors of one another on Clarges Street. The Tarleton family seemed to have given up on pulling them apart.

This was a period of revelry. Bass reports that Ban was now a favorite of the royal brothers, with Whig "royalty" Fox and Sheridan in the mix. A witness to this group's behavior wrote, "Fox drinks what I should call a great deal. ... Sheridan excessively. ... and Grey more than any of them" but also admits "it is always accompanied with lively clever conversation on subjects of importance." Surely the glib ex-law student put in his two cents' worth. The parties became very raucous, with royal Princes passing out on the floor. When they weren't drinking, they were gambling, on Hanger's turkey versus geese race or on prize fighters. Ban and Mary sported elegant new carriages. He continued the "green" theme in psychological support of his old command. His gambling luck held for the moment.

In July, politics demanded their attention. Campaigning for office during this time included mobs fighting in the streets, broken windows, and broken bones, which was probably right up Ban and George's alley. A very funny and slightly sarcastic poem was published in early fall. A local wit decided to write epitaphs for the politically prominent, and Tarleton was not excluded. His "epitaph" read:

Coach-builders, Curricle-builders,
Harness-devisers, and Wheel Patentees
Deplore your loss. Your Colonel is no more!
Here beneath this rough hewn stone,
Called from life without a groan,
In piteous case he lies at length!
Sunk in all his manly beauty,
Perish'd all his Martial Duty,
Wither'd all his prosperous Strength.
 
Colonel T*******
Was one of those unhappy few, in whom the
General, the Drummer, and
The Suttling Wench had set their Seal,
To certify to the World that he
Was a Soldier!  
Yet why? He was sentenced to die, like Sisera,
By the hand of a woman, and, in
Consequence of that Destiny
Expired at midnight of the first of January 1796
In the arms of Mrs. _________, with his
Head where his Heels should be.

Perhaps the writer knew some local gossip, because Ban and Mary quarreled. While he was in Liverpool, her anger died and she wrote another poem to him, titled "Lines to Him Who Will Understand Them." It was published in the October 31 edition of the World newspaper. The poem pouts mightily about his perfidy, her injury at finding "the truth" (whatever that was -- did the Epitaph writer know?), and threatens to move to Italy.

It was also about this time that George III began his tragic illness. Thus began a long period when the King was either "well" or "unwell." When he was out of his mind, he could not rule and the Whigs pushed the idea of a Regency, with their own best friend and titular "Royal Whig" Prince George taking over the throne. Fox and Pitt wrangled against one another in Parliament. Pitt won and the King recovered, temporarily. A Regency Bill was passed which gave the prince little power. Pitt held the field. But the political wrangling went on for months.

Ban had been campaigning for the Whig cause. It was a chaotic period, with the Royal Princes supporting the Whigs who would give a Regency the most power, against the Tory government under Pitt's control. Ban had helped fan the flames for the Whigs, but in the Spring of 1790, he decided to make another run for office himself. He wrote a pamphlet of 58 pages titled An Address to the Freemen of Liverpool. Bass slyly suggests that the oratory, which touts Col. Tarleton's virtues as a candidate, sounded more of Sheridan's oratory than Mary's poetry. The pamphlet also ripped Pitt. After all, it was Pitt who had kept Ban from going to India with Cornwallis. He described Pitt as "An illiberal Minister who holds the reins of authority with the absolute austerity of a Roman Dictator." He compared Pitt to Fox and found Pitt wanting. Of himself he wrote, "The Colonel has the air, manners, and address of a man of rank; dignity without affectation, and politeness without pride. His breast is the seat of those passions, that warm our nature and exalt human reason: his disinterested integrity, incorruptible heart, and his invariable attachment to the interest of his country, justly entitle him to your patronage and support."

Tarleton had learned much while campaigning in 1784 and 1788. He took advice from the Duchess of Devonshire, who had scandalized London by publicly campaigning for Fox. She had kissed strange men in public! Ban kissed the girls in the fish market. He "dazzled" honest carpenters and whalers along the Mersey. On June 14th, from his mother's home, he announced his candidacy. The effort to be elected was not without its "Pittfalls." He once took himself off the ballot, only to have a ground-swell of support finally push him over the top. On June 23, after days of mob rule in the streets fighting for the various candidates, Ban beseeched for quiet. His major opposition had withdrawn. He had won the election. In doing so, he became the first Tarleton in Parliament. Having several ancestors Mayor of Liverpool, the family could be considered politically ambitious, which meant his victory was a family triumph.

He returned to London just in time to witness a startling fashion statement. The Prince Regent had taken to the new French style wearing long trousers in the mornings! Knee britches would soon be a thing of the past. Ban never left his sentiments on this earth-shattering development, but having splendid legs himself, he might have bemoaned the passing of the old-fashioned pants.

Ban and Mary were now back together, and she was writing poetry under the pen names Laura or Laura Maria. Parliament finally convened on November 25th, and Ban's career was on an upward swing. He was promoted to full colonel with increased half pay.

Most significantly, he also launched his campaign in Parliament to counter the anti-slave trade, delivering a rebuttal to bill presented by Abolishionists on December 10th. This stand was certainly in the best interests of his constituents. Liverpool lived on ocean-going commerce, even if some of that was in human flesh. It is not a pleasant aspect of Ban's personality that he would promote slavery, but he had been elected to champion his home, and this meant taking the stance he did. Oddly, the Whigs were generally anti-slave trade. This was one point where Ban and his fellow Whigs split paths.

[more information]

But the anti-slave trade forces were strong and persistent. The months ahead saw Ban fighting their leader, Wilberforce, with speeches and entreaties to Parliament to consider the commercial interests of many of its citizens. His eloquence during a speech of April 18th, 1791, impressed Fox so much that he whisked Ban off to Brooks's, that ultra-exclusive men's gambling club, the height of society. Ban had been black-balled from it years ago, but his rhetoric bought him a ticket in. Evidently Fox had not yet made slavery a Whig issue. Ban was undoubtedly pleased, as he spent a great deal of time in this tony establishment.

The next month, Mary published a book of her poems. She had managed to gather 600 very distinguished subscribers, including her old amour, the Prince Regent, and his brother. Incredibly, Mrs. Jane Parker Tarleton was also one of the subscribers. Being a poetess was evidently more proper than being an actress. Mary was in the vanguard of the Romantic movement, and her Poems was well reviewed.

While Mary relaxed in the spas of Bath, Tarleton traveled to Paris as an ambassador of the Whig party. The Whigs were sympathetic to the revolutionaries, who had yet to explode on their murderous rampaging. While there, he met with and developed a fondness for Lafayette, his old adversary. In September, he returned for the wedding of Frederick, Duke of York, and Princess Frederica of Prussia. This sumptuous affair was the social highlight of the season, but all was not well. Evidently Ban had his head turned by another, and he was involved with what Mary called, a "Low Caprice." Naturally, she wrote a poem.

She also began her first novel. During the Fall of 1791, and in February of 1792 she published Vancenza, or The Dangers of Credulity. The whole edition was sold out in one day! The plot involved love, seduction, assassinations and lingering death, all held within a Spanish castle. It was among the first of what is now known as a Gothic Novel. Even though the book was a triumph, Ban was still among the missing. She wrote another poem, this one titled "Stanzas To My Dear Valentine." He was deaf to it. Relying on her last method of desperation, she "fell dangerously ill."

Ban was enjoying life. He was busy in Parliament, fighting the slave trade issue, and gambling at Brooks's. He was being written up in the newspapers in complimentary terms. Mary was proud of him, so she wrote yet another poem, "The Adieu to Fancy" in which she says,

When I first knew thee, Fancy's aid
A mine of peerless worth display'd,
A thousand graces hourly stole
In melting visions o'er my soul.

There was no response. Mary was also broke, and she implored Fox for enough money to reach Calais, where she intended to stay for good. In writing for the loan, she concluded, "Pray, don't tell Tarleton -- he will triumph in my sorrows." And so on July 24, 1792, Mary and her young daughter Maria Elizabeth sailed from Dover to Calais. During the voyage, she wrote what was probably her most famous poem, "Bounding Billow." It was her "Farewell to Tarleton," and it was heart-breaking:

Yet, ere far from all I treasur'd,
T......., ere I bid adieu;
Ere my days of pain are measur'd,
Take the song that's still thy due!
 
Yet, I believe, no servile passions
Seek to charm thy vagrant mind;
Well I know thy inclinations,
Wav'ring as the passing wind.  
I have lov'd thee -- dearly lov'd thee,
Through an age of worldy woe;
How ungrateful I have prov'd thee
Let my mournful exile show!  
Ten long years of anxious sorrow,
Hour by hour, I counted o'er;
Looking forward till to-morrow,
Every day I loved thee more!

In Calais Mary could not hear the gossip in London. It was viciously suggested that Mary had run to keep her 18 year old daughter, from her marriage to Mr. Robinson, from the attention of the Liverpool Colonel. There has never been any evidence that this was true. In fact, the Oracle of August 3, 1792 published "Bounding Billow," and Tarleton read this paean to his wanderlust and Mary's undying love. It must have had an effect of serious proportions, because he cast his "Low Caprice" aside and sailed immediately to Calais. He arranged for Mary's return.

But he wasn't bound for home. He was bound for Paris. There is some reason to think that perhaps Ban was spying for the British government. Ban had ties to Paris. He had lived in France for awhile. He was fluent in the language. He had influential friends. At the same time he went to Paris, Colonel St. Leger was dispatched to Vienna to report on the condition of the Austrian Army. There might have been an effort to gather information in case of war.

The day Mary sailed back to London, September 2, Ban was in Paris listening to the mobs. Suddenly he was surrounded by a mob which was shouting "A la Lanterne!" They had just opened a prison and slaughtered 1200 Royalist prisoners. According to Bass, Ban "seizing his only chance to escape swinging from a lantern post, he ran to join them, shouting as loudly as any "A la Lanterne!."

The next day Ban dined with the Duc of Orleans. During the dinner there was a loud disturbance in the street. As the dinner guests looked out the window, they saw the mutilated head of the Princess Lamballe held on a pike. Within a year, Ban was the only one of the 12 left alive.

Mary had returned home on September 10th. Ban arrived on the 29th. He "rushed to Mary's house. Then, in defiance of the gossips and the gaping news-hawks, he lifted Mary in his arms, placed her in a carriage, and drove with her to the Haymarket Theatre." Mary was happy again. She gave Ban a gold ring along with a poem to celebrate the occasion.

Oh! Take these little easy chains,
And may they hold you while you live;
For know each magic link contains
The richest treasure I can give!

While the domestic scene was tranquil again, Ban was in the midst of a controversy which again pitted Tory versus Whig. Why had he gone to Paris? Newspapers speculated. The Whigs were against a war with France, but the Tories were sharpening their swords. Where did Tarleton stand? For peace, as a war would destroy Liverpool's commercial livelihood, and he was a faithful Whig, after all. However, Britain didn't have to declare war. On February 1, 1796, France declared war on Britain. As war storm clouds gathered, Ban fell very ill. He watched his comrades depart, and offered to raise a regiment. But this illness would consume many months. Fate seemed to suggest his fighting days were behind him.

It was late summer before he was well. Then Fate took another swing at him. Just back in the saddle, he sprained his knee so violently that he was an invalid again, this time until late October. Almost the whole year of 1793 had been experienced as a convalescent. Mary nursed him, her own delicate constitution making her a sympathetic companion.

1794 saw Mary publishing more poetry, this time not as well received. Undaunted, while Ban laid bets with friends regarding military events, she launched into another novel. This one was titled The Widow, Or a Picture of Modern Times. Ban enjoyed other successes. In March he had the opportunity to defend his old friend and adversary, Lafayette, in Parliament. But he was still without a military posting. As long as Pitt held power, Ban would not be allowed to fight. He was aware of the situation and sure enough of it to make a bet with Sheridan, "I have given Mr. Sheridan one guinea to receive one thousand in case I command the advance party at any of the suburbs of Paris on or before the 25th of Dec., next."

Another view of the couple can be found from satirist and Tory Charles Piggott, who wrote a disdainful sketch titled Colonel Tarleton. In it, he bashed Ban's character and reputation to a pulp, ending with, "To this end he could lately call Perdita to witness; but that elegant frail one remains now only a melancholy ruin of her former beauty; and is reduced to beguile her hours, and prop the Colonel's tottering finances, by weaving novels and fineering sonnets." Piggott then fanned the flames of the Tarleton/Cornwallis feud, with Tarleton being the loser of that tirade.

The attack seemed to make Tarleton an even more devoted Whig. His financial situation was not the best, and Mary was growing frustrated with him. He was now her only link to the world of society and power. His gambling was draining their resources, and her hatred of the vice begin to show in her writing. During the summer of 1794, they quarreled over money and Mary packed up, leaving for Old Windsor. This separation was only a brief one, and a few sonnets later, Ban was back in her good graces.

[more information]

More good news arrived in October. Ban was at last promoted to the rank of Major General.

Mulling her hatred of gambling, Mary had written a play in 1792, which she hoped her friend Sheridan would eventually produce. It was titled Nobody, and it was a "stinging satire on the gambling of her neighbors." Finally in November of 1794 it was presented with the great Barrymore as part of the cast, along with the celebrated Dorothy Jordan. But Ms. Jordan received a threatening letter just before the opening stating that "Nobody shall be damned." This was a period of time when the beautiful people were consumed with gambling. It was a national fixation. Duchesses were penniless. Dukes were broke. Nevertheless, the play went on. During the second act, a riot broke out and threw the actors off, forgetting their lines. It was a hopeless mess. Said the London Chronicle of December 1st, "Last night Nobody was brought forward a second time, and Somebody was found to applaud it, although Nobody appeared to be entertained."

Mary moved into a less fashionable house. Ban's fate was not much better. Although high up in the Whig hierarchy, his military future was condemned. By early 1795, Pitt had promoted Cornwallis to master general of Ordinance, with complete power over the army. Ban would not be on any battlefield while Cornwallis was alive. In addition, over the next year he worked within Parliament to further a call for peace and an end to the war, even calling for the dismissal of the King's ministers. This did not bring him any love from the military powers.

The first of the year also saw the wedding of the Prince Regent to Princess Caroline of Brunswick. This tragic pairing would split Britain into factions, as the groom took an immediate dislike to his bride and treated her horrendously for the rest of her unhappy life.

The year was filled with Parliamentary fighting. Mary wrote another novel, Angelina, which even at over 1,000 pages attracted mixed reviews but sold very well. She followed this up with The Sicilian Lover. Ban was still gambling with the money made by these literary efforts. The Oracle reported that during one evening, "General Tarleton at one time was out £800 but afterwards recovered £312 on one card."

Ban now faced another election campaign. This one was to break the Tarleton family apart.

Continue...