Battle+of+Camden

=//**The Battle of Camden- 1780**//=



//**The Battle Begins-**// The Battle of Camden was a British victory that took place in the year of 1780 and to this day it is considered one of the worst defeats in the history of the American army. Recently in the war the British had developed a strategy that involved conquering the American colonies from the bottom of Georgia to the top of New Hampshire, and had quickly began to act on this new plan. The war soon brought the British troops to the land of Charleston (located in South Carolina), at the time they were under the command of General Clinton (Clinton recently accepted the duty of British Commander-In-Chief on February 4th, 1778) [|Henry Clinton]. Under Clinton's command they successfully conquered Charlestown and continued up the chain of colonies. The battle was a victory but Clinton and his troops faced an even greater battle ahead of them as the moved through the reaming South Carolina, the weather. As you read in the passage above Clinton's troops suffered from the weather conditions, which caused them to loose many weapons and even their horses. Eventually Clinton surrendered to the storm's rage and resigned from the duty of conquering the remainder of South Carolina, it was Lieutenant General Charles Lord Cornwallis that would be leading the army in Clinton's place [|Battles].

After the British took Charleston, the continental congress elected Horatio Gates to lead the South department of the Army. After the battle of Charleston congress noticed that Major General Baron Johann de Kalb was nearest to Charleston and that he may be attacked by the British next. Congress sent Gates to tend to Kalb and his men, arriving at the base Gates realized that many of the men were injured and starving so he proposed attacking an enemy camp under the command of Lord Francis Rawdon while Kalb suggested moving past Rawdon and seeking food in a different direction obviously Gates rejected Kalb's request [|Kalb Gates]. The army was now a strange combination of survivors (from the battle of Charleston) and original soldiers. While in command Gates lead his troops to Camden on a long exhausting march, many of his troops left the march due to extreme hunger and exhaustion [|History]. Soon Lord Cornwallis heard about Gates plan to attack Rawdon instead of retrieve supplies for his troops, with that information Cornwallis fled Charleston with his men and arrived at Camden the same day as Gates, then the battle began [|Historic Battle]. The British opened fire on the Americans at dawn, damaging the American militia jurastically. After they launched their first attack the British unleashed their bayonets and attacked the Americans even more. The Americans retreated after the British attacked with Bayonets, only one line of soliders was able to fire at the British. During the battle the American's lost 300 men had 600 wounded, and 1,000 captured, this made the battle a grave dissapointment for the American colonies [|Revolution].

In the aftermath of the battle the Americans lost all of their supplies such as artillery, wagons, and baggage[| Carolina Battles]. After the army retreated Gates followed them possibly trying to regroup them but obviously failed. Hours after the battle General Gates fled to Charlotte North Carolina, later he moved onward and continued to Hillsborough North Carolina. The battle resulted in a negative affect on Patriotism in the south, knowing this congress selected a replacement for Gates named Nathenael Greene and Gates did not lead another battle for the remainder of the war but did however return to his original post in General Washington's command staff. General Kalb soon died at Camden three days after the battle [|Patrot Battles]. It is very safe to say that the battle of Camden was lost due to Gates' poor tactical battle strategies, originally being a leader of the British army it is also possible Gates was too attached to the traditional ways of war that were set by the British. Another possible contributing factor to Gates' defeat at Camden is his overconfidence in his men that possibly rushed to him to make quick decisions about placing his men on the battlefield [|Battle of Camden]. Although the British victory at Camden damaged the spirit of Patriotism all around the colonies, the Americans displayed great heart and courage when they continued to fight the British[| Strategy]

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//**Important Historical Figures-**// //Major General Lord Cornwallis-// Cornwallis was born on New Year's Eve 1738 into a very wealthy family and achieved his first experience of battle during his servitude in the seven years of war [|Cornwallis Library]. During the seven years of war [| Seven Years of War] Cornwallis worked in Germany as a ensign, he later on inherited his father's wealth (after his death)and was accepted into the House of Lords under the name Earl Cornwallis [|Earl Cornwallis]. Ironically during his time in the House of Lords Cornwallis opposed the issue of unfair taxation in the american colonies and stood against it trying to end the unfair taxing. Although his opposition was quite strong, it was not enough to prevent him from joining the army once more to battle the colonists and end their underestimated rebellion. Now a General on the British side of the revolution Cornwallis experienced a great deal of action during the war and fought many famous battles against the revolution. The most famous of these battles was Yorktown [|Battle of Yorktown]which is sometimes considered the last battle of the revolution, in fact Cornwallis is sometimes accused of losing America because his army failed to defeat Washington and his men. Other battles that he fought in were Princeton [|Princeton]and Trenton[|Trenton] (both of which were american victories). He passed away in the year of 1805.

//General Horation Gates// Gates was an Englishman just like Cornwallis, however he lived a somewhat poor life in England and somehow gained the acceptance and appreciation of the nobles, appreciation that soon allowed him the British Army [|Patriot Gates]. Now a member of the army Gates participated in many wars that took place before the revolution, such as the Expedition of Edward Braddock (serving under George Washington) [|Braddock] and even the French and Indian War [|French Indian]. Gates did however struggle to achieve a good military position in the wars and in 1772 he resigned from the army settling down in Virginia. When the Revolution broke out however Gates was urged to fight once more, he served as an Adjacent General but soon replaced General Phillip Schuyler receiving the duty of a General like he always wanted. Gates spent the majority of the war pursuing British General John Burgoyne, but faced grave defeat at the Battle of Saratoga [|Saratoga]and took a leave of absence because he was accused of undermining General Washington's authority. When he returned he replaced General Benjamin Lincoln [|Benjamin Linc] (who lost the battle of Charleston). After Gates failed humiliatingly at Camden he was relieved of duty and replaced by General Nathanael Greene.