The Battle of Camden

August 16, 1780

“In the deepest distress

and anxiety of mind, I am obliged to acquaint you Excellency with the defeat of the troops under my command”

Brigadier General Horatio Gates

The War in the South

Heading South

General Washington

Major General Baron de Kalb

De Kalb on the Move

Lt Colonel Otho Holland Williams

Major Thomas Pinckney

Colonel Charles Tufin Armand

And now, Horatio Gates

Brigadier General Horatio Gates

“…highly favored by Congress, in having [Gates] appointed to command-in-chief in these Southern States.”

Governor Abner Nash

To the surprise and concern of many of his officers, he rashly “ordered the troops to hold themselves in readiness to march at a moment’s warning. The order was a matter of great astonishment to those who knew the real situation of the troops.”

What Route to Take?

Supplies Needed

On August 3, Gates implored Virginia Governor Thomas Jefferson to forward supplies. “Flour, Rum, and Droves of Bullocks should without delay be forwarded to this Army,” Gates begged, though a lack of wagons made transportation difficult.

Thomas Jefferson

Pressing On……

Arriving at Rugeley’s Mill

Risky Plans

British Moves

I resolved to take the first good opportunity to Attack the Rebel Army.”

Lord Charles Cornwallis

First Meeting

It is done….

LossesBRITISH“Return of the killed, wounded, and missing, of the troops under the command of Lieutenant-general Earl Cornwallis, in the

battle fought near Camden, South Carolina, on the 16th of August, 1780.Total. 1 captain, 1 lieutenant, 2 serjeants, 64 rank and file, killed; 2 lieutenant colonels, 3 captains, 8 lieutenants, 5 ensigns,

13 serjeants, 1 drummer, 213 rank and file, wounded; 2 serjeants, 9 rank and file, missing.” Total British Casualties: 324 (68 killed, 245 wounded, 11 missing.)

AMERICANTarleton: Americans lost 2,070 men (70 officers and 2,000 rank and file.) Stedman: “Between eight and nine hundred of the enemy were killed in the action, and in the pursuit, and about one

thousand made prisoners, many of whom were wounded.”Otho Williams gives the combined losses for the Continentals of killed, wounded, and missing, in both Camden and Fishing

Creek, as 872, or 711 Rank and File. American losses as given by Rankin: 800-900 killed, 1,000 prisoners, of these were 162 Continentals killed, 12 South

Carolina militia killed, 3 Virginia militia killed, 63 North Carolina militia killed. Ramsay: “Two hundred and ninety American wounded prisoners were carried into Camden, after this action, of this number

206 were continentals, 82, were North Carolina militia, and 2 were Virginia militia.” Lossing: The exact loss sustained by the Americans in the engagement on the sixteenth, and Sumter's surprise on the

eighteenth, was never ascertained. The estimated loss was as follows: exclusive of De Kalb and General Rutherford, four lieutenant colonels, three majors, fourteen captains, four captain lieutenants, sixteen lieutenants, three ensigns, four staff, seventy-eight subalterns, and six hundred and four rank and file. They also lost eight field-pieces, and other artillery, more than two hundred baggage wagons, and the greater part of their baggage. That of Gates and De Kalb, with all their papers, was saved. The loss of the British was severe. Gates estimated that more than five hundred of the enemy were killed and wounded; Stedman says the British loss was three hundred less than the Americans. A great many of the fugitive militia were murdered in their flight. Armed parties of Tories, alarmed at the presence of the Americans, were marching to join Gates. When they heard of his defeat, they inhumanly pursued the flying Americans, and butchered a large number in the swamps and pine barrens.”

Ward: The Continentals lost 650 killed wounded or captured; the North Carolina militia 100 killed and wounded, 300 captured; 3 Virginia militia wounded.

North Carolina’s Role

North Carolina TroopsBrigadier General Richard CaswellNorth Carolina Division

Brigadier General John Butler1st Brigade of North Carolina Militia

Colonel John CollierRandolph County MilitiaMajor Joseph Sharpe

Captain ChambersWake County Militia

Captain David McFarlandCaswell County Militia

Captain Joseph JohnsonOrange County Militia

Captain John GravesCaswell County Militia

Colonel PorterfieldCaptain Trice

Orange County MilitiaColonel Etherington

Northampton County Militia Major Robert PeeblesCaptain Samuel Lockhart

North Carolina Troops Cont’dBrigadier General Griffith Rutherford2nd Brigade of North Carolina Militia

Colonel Martin Armstrong Surry County Militia

Captain William MeredithCaptain Absalom Bostick

Colonel George AlexanderLincoln County Militia

Major Joseph DixonCaptain William Armstrong

Lincoln County MilitiaCaptain Samuel Givins

Mecklenburg County MilitiaCaptain Samuel Reid

Rowan County MilitiaColonel Francis Locke

2nd Rowan MilitiaCaptain Richmond Pearson

Colonel John Lynch Lieutenant Colonel David Love

North Carolina Troops Cont’dBrigadier General Isaac Gregory3rd Brigade of North Carolina Militia

Lieutenant Colonel Henry “Hal” DixonCaswell County Militia

Lieutenant Colonel Stephen Moore Captain Daniel Odom

Captain Edward YarboroughNorth Carolina Continentals

Captain RayOrange County Militia

Colonel William Polk Captain Joshua Hadley

Rowan County MilitiaColonel Benjamin Exum

Captain David RoachCraven County Militia

Captain John MaconWarren County Militia

Colonel William BrickellFranklin County Militia

Captain Harrison MasonCaptain Julius AlfredCaptain John Patterson

NC Notables

Richard Caswell

Griffith Rutherford

Henry “Hal” Dixon

Isaac Gregory

Dr. Hugh Williamson