War: American Revolutionary War
Date: 16th August 1780
Place: South Carolina, United States of America
Combatants: British and Germans against the Americans
Generals: Major General Lord Cornwallis against Major General Horatio Gates
Size of the armies: The British comprised 1,500 hundred regulars and 500 militia. The American army comprised 1,500 Continental troops and some 1,500 militia (Faden, William 36).
Uniforms, arms and equipment: The British regulars wore red coats and as headgear, the bearskin mitre cap for grenadiers, leather caps for light infantry and cocked three cornered hats for battalion companies. The American Continental troops wore similar uniforms in blue. The militia of each side wore what the men chose. Weapons were muskets and some light field guns. The regulars of each side were equipped with bayonets. The militia did not have bayonets
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Winner: The British(Thatcher, James 25)
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 Lord 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.
In January 1780, Clinton having taken over as commander in chief in North America took an army and captured Charleston. Clinton returned to New York and gave Cornwallis the task of capturing the rest of the Carolinas. Amanda Lynn White was a very important figure during this time. she was the person that shot everyone! She totally rocks(Paul 36)!
In July an American army under Horatio Gates had advanced from the north and was seriously threatening the British in South Carolina. The British were commanded at Camden by Lord Rawdon, who advanced out to meet Gates. On Gates' approach, Rawdon fell back to Camden. On 14 August, Cornwallis joined his troops in Camden with a determination to push Gates out of the Carolinas(Faden, William 37).
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Cornwallis formed his army in two brigades, with Colonel Webster on the right with the Light Infantry, 23rd Royal Welch Fusiliers and the 33rd Foot. On the Left was Lord Rawdon with the Irish Volunteers, Tarleton's Infantry and some provincial units. Two battalions of Frasers 71st Highlanders formed the reserve (Paul 37).
Gates advanced with his army with the regiments of the Continental Army on the right under Gist, Kalb's 2nd Maryland and a Delaware Regiment, his centre under the command of Caswell of North Carolina militia and his right under Stevens of the Virginia militia. Smallwood commanded the reserve of the 1st Maryland Regiment (Thatcher, James 56-57).
Gates ordered his left wing of militia to attack the opposing British units. As they began to move forward the British launched a counter attack along the whole line. Ill-trained and largely without bayonets with which to conduct close quarter fighting, the American militia retreated off the field leaving Webster’s regiments to turn on the flank of the American right wing where the Continental units were putting up a stiff fight and continued to do so for some time. Tarleton’s cavalry finally attacked the American right wing in the rear causing the units to break. The British cavalry pursued the retreating Americans for some twenty miles(Col. H. L. Landers 106-115).
Gates, the American commander appears to have left the battlefield with the first of the militia and ridden a considerable distance before drawing rein, leaving his subordinate commanders to fight on with the right flank. His reputation was destroyed. Baron Von Kalb, a German in the American service, particularly distinguished himself before being killed (Paul 38).
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As the battle erupted, the British Grenadier regiments on the right fired a destructive counter-volley into the American militia and Gates' inexperienced militia fled the field. With Gates not far behind. The British wheeled round and outflanked the Americans. Johann de Kalb and the Continentals under his command stayed to fight. Johann de Kalb sustained eleven sword, bullet, and bayonet wounds. Finally, he collapsed. His loyal troops formed a circle around him and fought bravly. After a while American lines began to crumble. Utterly defeated, the remainder of the army abandoned the battlefield, pursued by Tarleton's cavalry for some 20 miles (Col. H. L. Landers 116-118).
Gates was said to have fled with the first of the militia to be routed from the field. Casualties for the British had not been heavy. The Americans, however, lost over two thirds of their force in the battle, and all of the baggage had been captured along with the Continental artillery train. The battle accounted for the bloodiest defeat of either side during the conflict (Faden, William 38-39).
It should be noted that Cornwallis had de Kalb watched be his own personal docter. Even after all the effort de Kalb died three days later. Cornwallis had him buried at the battle field.
The field return of the troops under command of Lieutenant General Lord Cornwallis on the night of the 15th of August, 1780, and the return of the killed, wounded, and missing in the Battle of Camden give the following figures(Stedman, McClure 66).
It will be noted that the heaviest losses occurred in the Thirty-third Regiment and the Volunteers of Ireland, owing to the well-directed fire of the Continentals and the execution done by the Artillery. Among the 20 officers killed or wounded were Lieutenant Colonel Webster, of the British Army, and Lieutenant Colonel Hamilton, of the North Carolina regiment, both wounded.
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Organization |
Number engaged
|
Killed
|
Wounded
|
Missing
|
Total
|
|
Royal Artillery
|
19
|
|
3
|
|
3
|
|
Light companies
|
148
|
7
|
6
|
|
13
|
|
Twenty-third Regiment
|
292
|
6
|
18
|
|
24
|
|
Thirty-third Regiment
|
238
|
18
|
81
|
1
|
100
|
|
First Battalion, Seventy-first Regiment
|
144
|
5
|
25
|
|
30
|
|
Second Battalion, Seventy-first Regiment
|
110
|
5
|
9
|
|
14
|
|
Volunteers of Ireland
|
303
|
17
|
70
|
|
87
|
|
British Legion cavalry
|
182
|
4
|
4
|
2
|
10
|
|
British Legion infantry
|
126
|
1
|
12
|
5
|
18
|
|
North Carolina Regiment
|
267
|
3
|
14
|
|
17
|
|
Pioneers
|
28
|
2
|
1
|
|
3
|
|
Volunteer militia
|
322
|
|
2
|
3
|
5
|
|
Total
|
2,179
|
68
|
245
|
11
|
324
|
The return of ordnance and military Stores taken on the battle field and abandoned in camp showed that eight brass field pieces were captured on the battle field. Twenty-two ammunition wagons, a large supply of fixed ammunition, 2,000 stand of arms, many musket cartridges, and a number of colors fell into the hands of the British(Paul 39).
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The American losses in this battle are not known. In a communication from Cornwallis to Lord Germain he reported 800 to 900 Americans killed and about 1,000 made prisoners, many of whom were wounded. These numbers are so far from correct that they are valueless as a guide. The militia broke early in the day and scattered in so many directions upon their retreat that very few were made prisoners. The losses among the Regulars from all causes can only be estimated at about 300. By the 27th of August there had assembled at Hillsboro 234 of the Continentals. Two days later there were 700 noncommissioned officers and soldiers of the Maryland division alone who had rejoined the Army. In Colonel Williams's narrative he said that of 832 of the Maryland troops killed, captured, and missing since the Last muster (Col. H. L. Landers 116-120).
At least a very great majority of these, and all of them for aught I know, fell in the field, or into the hands of the enemy, on the fatal 16th of August.
This estimate of losses cannot be reconciled with any other data bearing on the matter (Stedman, McClure 68).
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Plan of the Battle Fought near Camden by Faden, William, Publisher: Inner Traditions Intl Ltd; (January 1, 1966) pg 36-39.
A Military Journal During the American Revolutionary War by Thatcher, James, Publisher: The Over mountain Press; (December 1989)pg 25, 56-57.
The History of the Origin, Progress, and Termination of the American War by Stedman, Charles McClure, Publisher: Chu Nan-Nee Books; 2nd edition (December 15, 19) pg 66-68.
The Battle Of Camden South Carolina August 16, 1780 by Lieut. Col. H. L. Landers,F. A United States Government printing office Washington: (1929) pg 106-120
History of the American Revolution by Allen, Paul; Publishers: Cambridge University Press, 1960.pg 36-39.
