Vol. 1 No. 4 ___________________ ____ December 2004 Seasons Greetings fellow Revolutionaries! This poem is your holiday gift from Southern Campaigns and poet Clarence Mahoney: The Battle of Camden Armand's horsemen looked so fine And seeds of his defeat were sown. by Clarence Mahoney Sabers scabbar'd, riding tall. Copyright 2004 The Patriots strength was on Gates right, North Carolinians under Caswell, All Continental Army troops, In the war for Independence, Virginian troopers led by Stevens, Opposing lesser Tory forces. Five years past the first shot heard, Militia, brave but all untested, To his left deployed militia, With Whigs and Tories in attendance, Joined up under Gates' commission. And when the order came to fight Their fabric of allegiance rent, (By the British they'd be bested Courageousness became an issue. In South Carolina there occurred And retreat without permission.) A battle lost, but now minds bent In the center by the road Toward freedom's cause, clear and un- Obeying hunger's strong demand Artillerymen began to load blurred. They ate the only food on hand. And on command their guns delivered Corn mush followed by molasses Cannon shot hurled headlong flaming. On one steamy August evening, Served for dinner on that eve. Caused affliction, gore, and horror. Moonlit, breezeless, quiet, eerie, Through the gut it quickly passes, Shrieks and screams and hideous ruin Up the Waxhaw Way from Camden, Causing bowels to relieve. Rode the fearsome British Legion. A mixture of dismay and pride Thirteen dozen loyal horsemen, Gates sent them south at ten that evening Swept the men on either side Led by ruthless green-coat Tarleton. To reconnoiter, and believing As some were wounded, others died Recent letters sent from Sumter Rolling in a gulf of blood. Four companies of foot were next, Described small forces under Rawdon Yet persist they must - it was their fate With muskets and sharp bayonets. Thought he'd take defensive posture To reap revenge for full-blown hate. Then Royal Fusiliers, and more. And cut the British supply cordon. Nineteen Cannoneers with wicks, On and on the columns came, Fraser's highlanders, and six-score The road just north of Sanders creek Seasoned Redcoats, strong and ready, Of loyal troops from Ninety-Six. Rises slightly 'tween two swamps. Pausing now to fire a volley. Thus forms a likely place for battle, Then charging with "Huzza"s and whoops, With his Volunteers of Ireland, Where tactics and deployment matter. Fixed their bayonets, no folly, 'Midst the line was Francis Rawdon, Sandy soil, not fit for cattle And frightened the Virginian troops. And at the rear dragoons and wagons. And open pines let forces scatter. Royalists all, two thousand strong, Sensing fear in Steven's corps, With abundant food and well-filled flagons, In the early predawn hours, The British right advanced in force Expected battle come the dawn. Silent but for nature's creatures, With bayonets and flying lead. Peering down the sand path gleaming Amidst the terrible sights and sound, Commanding all was Lord Cornwallis, Through the shadows in the moonlight. Both North Carolina and Virginia fled, Confident and skilled in battle. Hark! Is that a shadow moving? Left unfired firearms on the ground. He had heard that gathered Rebels, Who would venture out in darkness? Further north, were southward moving Muskets roared with firm intent. Toward Camden - and not with pebbles! - Y'gad! It is the opposition! And soon the American line was bent To hit at times of their own choosing. Meeting headlong without warning! Like a door upon its hinge. Armand's horsemen, Tarleton's legion, Then through that hinge crack open wide Fifteen miles or so from Camden, Pistols firing, sabers slashing. British cavalry impinged, Up that road at Rugeley's mills, Prisoners taken, unclear progress. Surrounds DeKalb on every side. Patriot troops assembled, meeting Pull back! The fighting to renew Here to fight, but not so eager. Ere sunlight finds the morning dew. As Leonidas at Thermopylae, Green corn and peaches they were eating Despite poor odds he had to try Because their rations were so meager. In accord with British customs, Resisting forces or' whelming. Honored and experienced forces, "Save the Baron" came the cry General DeKalb was ever steady Formed up on their line's right end. Through the gun smoke cloud descending All his men were trained and ready; This classic stance Gates should have On his troops who stood nearby. Continentals of the Maryland Line, known, And Delaware, nine-hundred all. But erred that day beyond a mend, But now DeKalb, unhorsed, on foot, 1 Led his troops despite his wounds. Renewing will, they'd not relent. (If thoughtless student be our role) Well outnumbered and outflanked, Repeats itself and then when needed, Saw his forces torn asunder. In the coming fourteen months, Puts on our head the burning coal. Better leader, under-ranked, Battles proved the lessons learned. Let's not pretend we didn't care, Suffered Gates strategic blunder. Cowpens, Guilford, Hobkirk's Hill: But study fore and aft in tandem Some won, some lost, but stronger still And of that knowledge be aware, Helmeted and filled with passion, Grew the indomitable will. To remember always, Camden. Through bullets, bayonets, and sabers, Until the British at Yorktown He charged ahead without receding. Piped "The World Turned Upside Down". - The End - To conquer Rawdon's force intended. Eleven wounds, alive but bleeding, In looking back at this we see Post-script: Alas, he fell. The battle ended. A stronger lesson could not be. This battle lost, remembered still Camden's battle was consequence Helps guide the journey of mankind. Into the thicket, bog, and hollow Of when the leader over-reaches, The tale relates mistakes absurd. Where Tarleton's horsemen couldn’t follow, And acts without intelligence. Of misread facts, and leaders spurned The beaten fighters backed away This lesson hard our history teaches. But in the end, the final word, In fear and with discouragement. This poem extols the glory earned. They'd live and fight another day Now when history goes unheeded, ANNOTATIONS by Clarence Mahoney Camden, a battalion surrendered to the Patriots at Cowpens and the second battalion finally surrendered at Yorktown. The Battle of Camden, S.C. occurred in the early morning of August 16, 1780 approximately five years after the first shots Ninety Six, S.C. - One of five key towns held as strong points in the were fired in April, 1775 in Massachusetts. After three years the backcountry of South Carolina. Like Camden, it began in the War for American Independence had ground to a standstill. Under 1760's, was a trading post located about 96 miles from the Cherokee political pressure from parliament to get the war finished, British town of Keowee, and was occupied by the British in June 1780. leaders developed a Southern Campaign strategy. Believing that What the British army called Provincials - regular infantry units most southern colonists were loyal to the crown, they reasoned that recruited from Loyalists - were stationed there. by showing force these loyalists (Tories) would join to put down the rebellion by the patriots (Whigs). Britain first took Savannah and Lt. Colonel Francis Rawdon (Lord Francis Rawdon–Hastings) - invaded Georgia, then South Carolina by way of capturing Commanding officer of the Camden garrison in 1780. He was an Charleston, and intended to continue moving northward through the Anglo-Irish aristocrat who commanded a Provincial infantry other colonies, all the while building up greater strength as more and regiment called the Volunteers of Ireland that had been recruited more loyal colonists were expected to join the fight. from Tories in the Philadelphia area many of whom were of Irish When this British strategy became apparent to the ancestry. Lord Rawdon had fought at Bunker Hill, and went on to American Continental Congress, and to chief military leader Gen. distinguish himself as a military officer in subsequent battles and George Washington, they sent an army southward under the other wars. command of Gen. Horatio Gates. Once Charleston fell to the British in May 1780, this American army under Gates was the only Lt. General Charles Cornwallis (Lord Cornwallis, the Earl of large organized military force that might counter the British Cornwallis) - Military Governor and representative of the crown in strategy. [Note: For much more information see: the Carolinas. He was second in command of all British Forces www.battleofcamden.org] under General (Sir) Henry Clinton. Cornwallis came to Camden and assumed overall command when he heard that the American Lt. Colonel Banastre Tarleton - a 25 year old red-headed, army under Maj. General Horatio Gates was advancing toward courageous, ambitious, action-oriented, arrogant, and ruthless leader Camden. He was one of the most famous British leaders ever. He of horse-mounted soldiers. Those who carried sabers and charged became a Marquis and served as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, then as directly into battles were the cavalry. Those who carried muskets ambassador plenipotentiary to France. His last post was Governor and dismounted to fight at battles were the dragoons. Soldiers who General of India rode horses were organized into "companies of horse", while those who marched to battle were organized into "companies of foot". A Rugeley's Mills - An assembly of mills, inn, stores, etc. owned by unit combining the two types of horse-mounted fighters served "Tory Colonel" Henry Rugeley, located on the road to the Waxhaw under Tarleton as the "British Legion". They were nearly all settlement north of Camden. Like many other residents of the area, American born, but loyal to the crown. The British Legion Col.