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

Colonel Charles Tufin Armand

Major Thomas Pinckney

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 moments
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 Rugeleys 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.

Losses
BRITISH
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.)

AMERICAN
Tarleton: 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 Carolinas Role

North Carolina Troops

Brigadier General Richard Caswell
North Carolina Division
Brigadier General John Butler
1st Brigade of North Carolina Militia
Colonel John Collier
Randolph County Militia
Major Joseph Sharpe
Captain Chambers
Wake County Militia
Captain David McFarland
Caswell County Militia
Captain Joseph Johnson
Orange County Militia
Captain John Graves
Caswell County Militia
Colonel Porterfield
Captain Trice
Orange County Militia
Colonel Etherington
Northampton County Militia
Major Robert Peebles
Captain Samuel Lockhart

North Carolina Troops Contd

Brigadier General Griffith Rutherford
2nd Brigade of North Carolina Militia
Colonel Martin Armstrong
Surry County Militia
Captain William Meredith
Captain Absalom Bostick
Colonel George Alexander
Lincoln County Militia
Major Joseph Dixon
Captain William Armstrong
Lincoln County Militia
Captain Samuel Givins
Mecklenburg County Militia
Captain Samuel Reid
Rowan County Militia
Colonel Francis Locke
2nd Rowan Militia
Captain Richmond Pearson
Colonel John Lynch
Lieutenant Colonel David Love

North Carolina Troops Contd

Brigadier General Isaac Gregory
3rd Brigade of North Carolina Militia
Lieutenant Colonel Henry Hal Dixon
Caswell County Militia
Lieutenant Colonel Stephen Moore
Captain Daniel Odom
Captain Edward Yarborough
North Carolina Continentals
Captain Ray
Orange County Militia
Colonel William Polk
Captain Joshua Hadley
Rowan County Militia
Colonel Benjamin Exum
Captain David Roach
Craven County Militia
Captain John Macon
Warren County Militia
Colonel William Brickell
Franklin County Militia
Captain Harrison Mason
Captain Julius Alfred
Captain John Patterson

NC Notables

Richard
Caswell

Griffith Rutherford

Isaac Gregory

Dr. Hugh Williamson

Henry Hal Dixon