The Battle of Camden
August 16th, 1780

After a recent vacation, I (Shane Hensley) had the opportunity to stop by the Camden Battlesite. I say "site" because there is no battle "field", just two simple stones and a historical marker to mark where the American army in the south was virtually destroyed in a single day.

One of the stones marks the site where Baron DeKalb (see below) fell mortally wounded. The other is simply a marker placed by the National Parks Service stating that the battle occurred at the site. These sat about ten yards off the highway in a light forest. Further on, an odd stone that once obviously had a marker of some sort on it lay abandoned. The author would love to hear from anyone who knows what was once on the stone.

The historical marker states the facts of the battle, noting the regiments which fought and that the rebel army was defeated and scattered by Cornwallis. It's something of a letdown after walking other battlefields such as Antietam and Gettysburg.

The battle itself is fairly small, but interesting in its details. As the war moved south, Major General Baron de Kalb commanded two regiments of Maryland and Delaware Continentals. Congress decided that the "hero" of Saratoga, General Horatio Gates, should command the effort, however, and he was sent to take over and build the small force into a new army.

Gates arrived to find the local citizenry hostile to the Continentals and morale sagging. He ordered an immediate attack upon the nearest British position, 1000 Foot under Lieutenant Colonel Lord Francis Rawdon.

Gates' small force was joined by 700 Virginians and another 2000 North Carolina militia en route. Unfortunately, the ad-hoc army had little in the way of rations, and were greatly fatigued from marching directly across the barren, hilly pine forests in the hot August sun.

Realizing the danger Rawdon's force was in, Lord Cornwallis marched 1000 reinforcements to the Camden camp immediately. These troops managed to link up with Rawdon before Gates' army stumbled into them on the night of the 15th. The two armies camped within earshot and prepared to battle the following morning.

General Gates lined his troops up on a low pine-covered hill situated between two swamps. His deployment was poorly considered, as he placed the green militia on his left flank and his Continental regulars on his right.

The British sensed this weakness and pressed hard on the rebel left, routing the militia before many of them even fired a shot. This wing then pressed on the left flank of the Continentals under de Kalb where they were butchered in a pincer movement by Rawdon's regulars and "Bloody" Banastre Tarleton's cavalry (see map). Baron de Kalb himself fell with 11 wounds, and died a short while later. General Gates disgracefully ran all the way to Charlotte.

The Continentals lost 1800 of the 3100 or so engaged. The British mustered 2200 troops. Losses are unreported in this author's sources but are presumed to have been very light.

Though Camden was a terrible psychological blow to the rebel cause, Gates' deployment was studied by Daniel Morgan and Nathanael Greene, who later used the militia's weakness agains the British at Cowpens and Guildford Courthouse (see the Fields of Honor: the American War for Independence rulebook).

The map presented below shows the historical deployment at Camden. Players should feel free to alter this, especially the American player who will almost certainly lose should this setup be used.

American Army
General Horatio Gates

1st Brigade
Major General Baron de Kalb
2 Veteran Foot

2nd Brigade
General Horatio Gates
3 Green Militia
1 Mounted Militia

British Army
General Lord Cornwallis
1 Foot (in reserve; this regiment may be sent to join either brigade once the battle begins).

1st Brigade
Lieutenant Colonel Rawdon
1 Foot

2nd Brigade
Webster
1 Light Infantry
1 Foot

Cavalry Brigade
Major General Banastre Tarleton
1 Dragoons

American Command
Gates: Gates must be placed in command of the militia brigade at the start of the battle. He may be moved normally afterwards.
de Kalb: Place General de Kalb with his Brigade.

British Command
Cornwallis: Lord Cornwallis may be placed anywhere in the British deployment zone.
Tarleton: Tarleton may be placed with his Legion.
Webster: Webster is placed in command of the 2nd Brigade. His rank at this time in the war is unknown by this author, but he was likely a Captain or Lieutenant-Colonel.

An excellent map is available from A Battlefield Atlas of the American Revolution by Craig Symonds, with maps by William J. Clipson. It was published by The Nautical & Aviation Publishing Company of America, Inc. The author highly recommends this book for those gaming this period, whether with Fields of Honor or another system.