Battle of Camden

The Battle of Camden, also known as the Battle of Camden Court House, was fought on August 16, 1780, as part of the Southern theater of the American Revolutionary War. A British army of 2,100 regulars and militia under Lieutenant-generalLord Cornwallis engaged an American army of 4,000 regulars and militia under Major GeneralHoratio Gates four miles north of Camden, South Carolina. The battle resulted in a major British victory, with Cornwallis' force suffering just over 300 casualties while Gates' suffered almost 2,000.

As a result of the battle, Britain's hold on the Carolinas, inaugurated by their earlier capture of Charleston, was further strengthened. Gates never held a field command again, but avoided being investigated or court-martialed due to his political connections. News of the battle was greeted with acclaim among the British and despair among the Americans, while European nations began to doubt the United States' ability to win the war. However, the Americans withdrew into the Southern interior and began engaging in asymmetrical warfare against the British, which ultimately culminated in the decisive American victory at the 1781 Yorktown campaign that ended the war.