Battle of Camden

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Battle of Camden

Date	August 16, 1780
Location	Camden, South Carolina
Result	British victory

Combatants

Britain

United States

Commanders

Charles Cornwallis

Horatio Gates
Johann de Kalb†

Strength

2,239

3,052

Casualties

68 killed
245 wounded
64 missing

1,000 killed or wounded
1,000 captured
132 missing

Southern theater, 1775–1783
Gunpowder Incident – Great Bridge – Moore's Creek Bridge – Rice Boats – Alligator Bridge – Beaufort – Kettle Creek – Briar Creek – Stono Ferry – Savannah – Charleston – Camden – Kings Mountain – Cowpens – Guilford Court House – Hobkirk's Hill – Eutaw Springs – Yorktown

The Battle of Camden was an important battle in the Southern theatre of the American Revolutionary War. On August 16, 1780, British forces under Lieutenant General Charles Cornwallis routed the American forces of Major General Horatio Gates about six miles (10 km) north of Camden, South Carolina, strengthening the British hold on the Carolinas.

1 Background
2 Battle
3 Aftermath
4 References and links

[edit] Background

The threatening situation in the Carolinas alarmed the Continental Congress and General George Washington, and measures were taken to protect the distressed section. However, before Cornwallis could be stopped, he successfully faced four antagonists—Generals Gates, Greene, Lafayette and Washington. They found in him the most capable and dangerous opponent of the war. Greene called him "the modern Hannibal."^{[citation needed]}

With Benjamin Lincoln's surrender of nearly all the Continental soldiers in the South, a new force had to be supplied to meet the British veterans. Two thousand men, mainly the Maryland line (1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th Maryland Regiments), were hurried down from Washington's camp under Baron Johann de Kalb; Virginia and North Carolina put new men into the field, and the entire force was placed under command of General Gates. American forces numbered 4,100, of which only half of them were fit for duty, against 3,000 trained British soldiers.

[edit] Battle

Gates' force marched towards Camden, South Carolina, on August 15, and on August 16, he encountered Cornwallis north of the town at 2 a.m. Each army by a night march attempted to surprise the other and fought a confused skirmish. At daybreak, both armies deployed face-to-face. Gates placed Baron de Kalb's regular troops on his right flank and the militia on his left and ordered De Kalb forward. Cornwallis, meanwhile, sent his right flank forward as well, and 2,000 of Gates' inexperienced militia fled. The British regulars wheeled around and flanked De Kalb, mortally wounding the baron in the swirling action. Gates was utterly routed and fled the battlefield. The reputation he had won at Saratoga was ruined on this occasion by overconfidence and incompetence.

American casualties at Camden were 1,000 killed, wounded or captured, with another 132 missing, and included the loss of General De Kalb. The American army also lost most of the supplies currently in the Southern Department, and all of its artillery. British losses were 313 killed and wounded, and 64 missing.

[edit] Aftermath

General Nathaniel Greene, standing next to George Washington as the ablest and most trusted officer of the Revolution, succeeded Gates in command of the southern army and started recruiting additional troops.