Battle+of+Camden

Battle of Camden

Following the British defeat at Saratoga in 1777 and French entry into the American Revolutionary War in early 1778, the British decided to renew a "southern strategy" to win back their rebellious North American colonies. This campaign began in December 1778 with the capture of Savannah, Georgia, and gained further ground in January 1780, when General Sir Henry Clinton led an army and captured Charleston, South Carolina. Clinton returned to New York, leaving Earl Charles Cornwallis the task of fortifying the South and raising the anticipated large numbers of Loyalists. The Continental Army in the south, most of which had surrendered at Charleston, was completely driven from South Carolina in the May 1780 Battle of Waxhaws. Because of its crossroads location, Camden was considered a key to controlling the back country of the Carolinas. On July 27, Gates advanced into South Carolina, heading towards Camden, then garrisoned by about 1,000 men under Lord Rawdon. Gates established a camp at Rugeley's Mill, north of Camden, where he was joined by militia companies from North Carolina and Virginia. The weather was extremely hot, and a significant number of troops were put out of action by the heat and diseases like dysentery. While Gates had over 4,000 men in camp, only about 3,700 of them were effective for combat, in part because Gates further reduced their numbers by sending several hundred men in support of operations by Sumter and Marion. General Cornwallis, alerted to Gates' movement on August 9, marched from Charleston with reinforcement, arriving at Camden on August 13, bringing the effective British troop strength over 2,000 men.

On August 14th, General Charles Cornwallis joined his troops in Camden with the determination to attack Gates. He made a night advance which collided with the Americans who were also advancing to make an assault. Cornwallis arriving in Camden left an important base of operations for the British in which supplies were assembled. The Battle of Camden took place on August 16, 1780 in South Carolina. It was fought between the British and the Americans. From the American side was Major General Horatio Gates. On the British side was Lieutenant General Lord Charles Cornwallis. The British was comprised of 1,500 regulars and 500 militia. The American army was comprised of 1,500 Continental troops and some 1,500 militia. The British regulars wore red coats as headgear, a bearskin cap for grenadiers, leather caps for light infantry and cocked three cornered hats for battalion companies. The American troops wore similar uniforms in blue. The militia of each side wore what they chose. Weapons used were muskets and some light field guns. The regulars of each side were equipped with bayonets. The American losses were enormous, nearly 1,000 men killed and 1,000 men captured. The British lost less than 350 men. For the Americans, this was the most disastrous battle of the Revolution. This battle ensured the British hold on South Carolina for the time being. As with all of the British victories in war, Camden provided only a short delay before the relentless course of American success continued.

A map of the Battle of Camden

__Lieutenant General Lord Charles Cornwallis__

Cornwallis saw action in most of the major campaigns of the War of Independence. He served with William Howe on Long Island in the late summer of 1776, and then assisted in the pursuit of George Washington across New Jersey. He also was present at the American victories at Trenton and Princeton and in September 1777 the British triumph at Brandywine. Cornwallis was impatient with Howe’s lack of initiative and was later similarly critical of Sir Henry Clinton. In frustration, Cornwallis resigned his commission, but his resignation was not accepted. Clinton and Cornwallis would lead an invasion force and take Charleston, South Carolina. They were successful, but it was not an easy task. The city withstood a three month siege and finally fell in May 1780. General Clinton decided to return to New York City, and appointed Cornwallis Military Commander of the Southern forces, with instructions to neutralize any remaining American forces. Both generals agreed that with the surrender of Charleston, there were few American troops to oppose the conquest of the South. Congress sent Major General Horatio Gates south with a moderate size detachment of Continental troops to oppose Cornwallis. They met at Camden on August 16th. Cornwallis completely defeated Gates. Gates himself left the battlefield and rode 60 miles in one day to escape. A map of the plan for the Battle of Camden media type="youtube" key="HUFTcrbRyEM" height="315" width="560" align="center"

This is a video clip from the movie __The Patriot__ of the Battle of Camden A sketch of the Battle of Camden

__Major General Horatio Gates__

Despite his successes on the battlefield, it has been said that General Horatio Gates was suspected of having very little personal courage when it came to fighting. He is perhaps most noted for being in regular competition with General George Washington and hatching a plan to have him removed as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army. In November 1778, Major General Horatio Gates resigned from the Board of War and was appointed Commander of the Eastern Department. He retired afterward back to his estate in Virginia. In early 1780, he again took command of the Southern Department, which turned out to be untrained militia. On August 16th, he was attacked by the General Cornwallis and the British near Camden, South Carolina. As the British moved forward, Gates ordered the Continentals on his right to advance. Firing a volley into the militia, the British inflicted several casualties before surging forward with a bayonet charge. Largely lacking bayonets and rattled by the opening shots, the bulk of the militia immediately fled the field. As his left wing disintegrated, Gates joined the militia in fleeing. Pushing forward, the Continentals fought vigorously and repelled two assaults by Rawdon's men. The Americans were finally forced to withdraw when Cornwallis ordered Tarleton to attack their rear. In the course of the fighting, de Kalb was wounded eleven times and left on the field. Retreating from Camden, the Americans were pursued by Tarleton's troopers for approximately twenty miles. They were sorely defeated since his men were untrained. There have been debates whether it was truly his fault that his men did not know how to fight. However, he is still blamed, because he did not know what to do with his men before they got on the battlefield. His son Robert died on the battlefield in October of that same year. The Battle of Camden saw Gates' army suffered around 800 killed and wounded and another 1,000 captured. In addition, the Americans lost eight guns and the bulk of their wagon train.

A painting of the battle of Camden.