thumb|The [[Great Wagon Road along which advance forces of both armies met on the night before the battle]]

The Battle of Camden (August 16, 1780), also known as the Battle of Camden Court House, was a major victory for the British in the Southern theater of the American Revolutionary War. On August 16, 1780, British forces under Lieutenant General Charles, Lord Cornwallis routed the numerically superior American forces led by Major General Horatio Gates about four miles north of Camden, South Carolina, thus strengthening the British hold on the Carolinas following the capture of Charleston.

The rout was a personally humiliating defeat for Gates, the American general best known for commanding the Patriot forces at the British defeat at Saratoga three years previously. His army had possessed a great numerical superiority over the British force, having twice the personnel, but his command of them was seen as disorganized and chaotic. Following the battle, he was regarded with disdain by his colleagues and he never held a field command again. His political connections, however, helped him avoid any military inquiry into the debacle or court martial.

Background

Following the British defeat at Saratoga in 1777, and the Battle of Monmouth in 1778, the French entered the American Revolutionary War in June 1778, followed by the Spanish in June 1779. With the war at a stalemate in the north, the British decided to renew their "southern strategy" to win back their rebellious North American colonies. The strategy relied on the Loyalists joining forces with British regulars to roll northward through North Carolina and Virginia, besieging the rebels in the north on all sides. This campaign repeated the successful December 1778 Capture of Savannah, with Sir Henry Clinton's successful Siege of Charleston in May 1780. British forces then campaigned in the Back Country, capturing the key towns of Georgetown, Cheraw, Camden, Ninety Six, and Augusta. Clinton returned to New York on 5 June, after the southern remnants of the Continental Army were defeated in May at the Battle of Waxhaws, tasking Lord Cornwallis with the pacification of the remaining portions of the state.

The Patriot resistance remaining in South Carolina consisted of militia under commanders such as Thomas Sumter, William Davie, and Francis Marion. Washington sent Continental Army regiments south, consisting of the Maryland Line and Delaware Line, under the temporary command of Major General Jean, Baron de Kalb. Departing New Jersey on 16 April, they arrived at the Buffalo Ford on the Deep River, 30 miles south of Greensboro, in July. Horatio Gates, the "Hero of Saratoga" arrived in camp on 25 July, to take command. Two days later, Gates ordered his army to take the direct road to Camden, against the advice of his officers, including Otho Holland Williams. Williams noted the country they were marching through "was by nature barren, abounding with sandy plains, intersected by swamps, and very thinly inhabited," and what few inhabitants they might come across were most likely hostile. All of the troops had been short of food since arrival at the Deep River. General Cornwallis, alerted to Gates' movement on August 9, marched from Charleston with reinforcements, arriving at Camden on August 13, increasing the effective British troop strength to 2,239 men. David Ramsay says, "290 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. The resistance made by each corps may in some degree be estimated from the number of wounded. The Americans lost the whole of their artillery – 8 field pieces, upwards of 200 wagons and the greatest part of their baggage." A letter from Cornwallis to Lord George Germain, dated 21 August 1780, says that his army took "about one thousand Prisoners, many of whom wounded" on August 18.

Of 48 Continental officers at Camden: 5 were killed, 4 died of wounds, 4 were wounded without being captured, 11 were wounded and captured and 24 were captured without being wounded. One of the wounded Americans that was captured was Captain Richard Dorsey of the 1st Maryland Artillery who received eleven wounds.

Dorsey had become a captain of an independent company of Maryland artillery in May 1778. Dorsey's artillery company was taken into the 1st Continental Artillery Regiment in late May 1778, and Dorsey was captured at the Battle of Camden.

These ratios would suggest that many of the Americans wounded in the battle escaped capture.

Analysis

There are many reasons given for Gates' defeat. The most prominent are the following:

Tactical evaluation

Gates, as a former British officer, was accustomed to the traditional deployment of the army's most experienced regiments on the place of honor, the right flank of the battle line. He therefore placed his Continental regiments on the line's right flank, while the masses of militia which had joined him, most of whom were Virginians that had never fought in a battle, were placed on the left flank, where they faced the most experienced British regiments. Gates was also too far behind his troops to observe the battle or communicate orders to them effectively. In a 30 Aug. letter to George Washington, Gates wrote, <blockquote>But if being unfortunate is solely a Reason sufficient for removing me from Command I shall most cheerfully submit to the Orders of Congress; and resign an office few Generals would be anxious to possess..." The site was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1961, and placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1966.

Aspects of the battle were included in the 2000 movie The Patriot, in which Ben and Gabriel Martin are seen watching a similar battle. Ben comments at the stupidity of Gates fighting "muzzle to muzzle with Redcoats". The film is not historically accurate, depicting too many Continental troops relative to the number of militia, and showing the Continentals and militia retreating at the same time.

thumb|Reburial service in Camden of a British soldier whose remains were discovered in 2022.

In 2022, the remains of 13 troops who died during the battle were discovered in shallow graves, 12 of whom were Continental Army soldiers and one being a soldier from the British Army's 71st Regiment of Foot. All 13 were subsequently reburied in 2023 with full military honours, with the Royal Highland Fusiliers of the British army taking part in the funeral.

Order of battle

British and Loyalists

The British and loyalist order of battle was as follows:

Overall Command: Lt. Gen. Lord Cornwallis

Right Brigade:

Commanding Officer: Lt. Col. James Webster

  • 23rd Regiment of Foot
  • 33rd Regiment of Foot
  • 2 guns

Left Brigade:

Commanding Officer: Col. Lord Rawdon

  • 2nd American Regiment
  • Infantry, British Legion
  • John Hamilton's Royal North Carolina Regiment
  • Samuel Bryan's North Carolina Volunteers (Loyalist militia)