Revolutionary Camden: South Carolina's Bloody Epicenter in the War of Independence

by Derek Smith

Overview

"Camden seems to have an evil genius about it. Whatever is attempted near that place is unfortunate." These words were spoken by American Maj. Gen. Nathanael Greene just days after his defeat at the battle of Hobkirk Hill. With the war at a stalemate in the north, the British had turned their attention to the southern provinces with renewed vigor, and in 1780, the frontier village of Camden, South Carolina, found itself at the bloody epicenter of the American Revolution.

This book is a history of Camden during the Revolutionary War, where it functioned as a keystone stronghold in the Crown's plan to quell the rebellion in the Carolinas and Georgia. The scene of two major battles and more than a dozen lesser clashes, Camden represents a brutal yet fascinating chapter in the history of the American Revolution.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781476653792
Publisher:	McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers
Publication date:	10/31/2024
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	300
File size:	7 MB
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Derek Smith was a crime reporter in Savannah, Georgia, for almost ten years and has written extensively on the Civil War. He lives in Bishopville, South Carolina.
Derek Smith was a crime reporter in Savannah, Georgia, for almost ten years and has written extensively on the Civil War. He lives in Bishopville, South Carolina.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Preface
Notable Events and Dates in Camden’s Revolutionary
War Timeline
Introduction
 1. Camden’s Beginnings
 2. “To win over the wavering” and the Gathering Storm
 3. A Scarlet Hurricane Roars Ashore: 1780
 4. “I have cut 170 Off’rs and Men to pieces”
 5. “The Carolinas have been conquered”
 6. “Our Army is like a dead whale upon the Sea Shore”
 7. “I resolved … to attack the rebel army”
 8. “The most tremendous firing I ever heard”
 9. “A perfect scene of horror and confusion”
10. “The firmest troops in the field”
11. “A prisoner of war … with one of my legs quite broke by a musket ball”
12. “We made our retreat like lost sheep”
13. Dance of the Devils
14. “The late affair has almost broke my heart”: 1781
15. “To the plains of Zama”
16. “In the flush of victory and pursuit”: Hobkirk Hill
17. “Camden” Has “an evil genius about it”
18. “He conquers by magic”
19. The Leaders in the Postwar Period
20. “Loud and long were the cheers of the multitude”
21. Women “Reapers” of the Camden Region: 1780
22. African Americans at Camden and Beyond
23. DeKalb’s First Grave: “in the ‘custom of knighthood’”
24. DeKalb, Major Benjamin Nones and the “Hebrew Legion”
Appendix: Beyond the Battles: Camden Military Lore
Chapter Notes
Bibliography
Index