Historic Camden Revolutionary War Site is a national historic district and open-air museum located in Camden, Kershaw County, South Carolina, United States. The 107-acre site is also known as Historic Camden Revolutionary War Restoration, and as the British Revolutionary War Fortifications. The site is managed by a consortium of private donors and local governments. The area is also an affiliated unit of the National Park Service.
SITE FEATURES
On this site...
Following the loss of Charleston, Camden was captured and served as the main British supply post from the spring of 1780 to the spring of 1781 during the American Revolutionary War, and served as their garrison for two major engagements, the Battle of Camden and Battle of Hobkirk's Hill. Camden was also strategic in maintaining Britain's control of South Carolina's back country. At the time, Camden consisted of two city blocks of period homes and military barracks surrounded by a palisade log fence, and further protected by five redoubt and three other fortified features (a house, a jail, and a powder magazine) which were placed strategically from 100 to 1000 feet outside the town itself.
VILLAGE
EST. 1730
BATTLEFIELD
Aug 16, 1780
The desire to control this territory was great for the British, as Camden was located on a crossroads of the routes to the largest Southern cities of Charleston, South Carolina and Savannah, Georgia. The location of the principal Battle of Camden is nine miles north of the site, while several other skirmishes occurred within 20 miles (32 km) of the town. Between the summers of 1780 and 1781, the British were able to claim victory in many of these assaults, but with high casualty rates. These costly struggles both weakened the Redcoats as a unit and spurred the momentum of an anti-war movement in the British Isles.
![Betsy-Ross-full-flag.jpg](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/b9e6a4_daaafa4c1d0d4401aa8b8188f8f6382a~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_73,h_47,al_c,q_80,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_auto/Betsy-Ross-full-flag.jpg)
HISTORIC PEOPLE
![s-l1600.jpg](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/b9e6a4_6aa0c30aafb3429a8f40dda0aed93399~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_73,h_41,al_c,q_80,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_auto/s-l1600.jpg)
![General_George_Washington_at_Trenton_by_John_Trumbull_edited_edited.jpg](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/b9e6a4_fdea0b04fdcf4c9987dea75ff2f08081~mv2.png/v1/fill/w_65,h_53,al_c,q_85,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_auto/General_George_Washington_at_Trenton_by_John_Trumbull_edited_edited.png)
Horatio Gates
Major General
![General_George_Washington_at_Trenton_by_John_Trumbull_edited_edited.jpg](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/b9e6a4_8af0808e7e2442df98af88afecace012~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_54,h_65,al_c,q_80,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_auto/General_George_Washington_at_Trenton_by_John_Trumbull_edited_edited.jpg)
Charles Cornwallis
Major General