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Battle of Camden
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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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.
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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.
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.
- This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
- Battle Commemoration website
- Portrait of Horatio Gates
- Portrait of Baron DeKalb
- Portrait of John Edgar Howard
- Portrait of William Smallwood
- Portrait of William Washington
- Portrait of Otho Williams