Battle of Camden

Battle of Camden
Part of the American Revolutionary War
Battle of Camden – Death of De Kalb
Date August 16, 1780 Location Kershaw County, north of Camden, South Carolina 34°21′52.39″N 80°36′50.04″W / 34.3645528°N 80.6139000°W / 34.3645528; -80.6139000 Result British victory
Belligerents
Great Britain  Loyalists	United States
Commanders and leaders
Lord Cornwallis Lord Rawdon	Horatio Gates Johann de Kalb † Marquis de La Rouërie
Strength
2,100 1,500 regulars 600 militia 4 guns	4,000 1,500 regulars 2,500 militia 8 guns
Casualties and losses
68 killed 245 wounded 11 missing[1]	900 killed and wounded 1,000 captured[2] 8 guns captured 200+ wagons captured

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 inquiries or courts martial into the debacle.