Historic Camden Revolutionary War Site | |
Location | Camden, South Carolina, United States |
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Coordinates | 34°14′02″N80°36′12″W / 34.23389°N 80.60333°W |
Area | 107 acres (0.43 km2) |
NRHP reference No. | 69000170 [1] |
Added to NRHP | July 29, 1969 |
Historic Camden Revolutionary War Site is a national historic district and open-air museum located in Camden, Kershaw County, South Carolina, United States. Roughly 40 minutes away from Columbia, the state capitol, it is one of the state's largest tourist attractions. The 107-acre site is also known as Historic Camden Revolutionary War Restoration, and as the British Revolutionary War Fortifications. Camden contains preserved structures and grounds that are representative of the Southern theater of the American Revolutionary War. 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.
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. [2]
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 (14 km) 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.
The site was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1969. [1] [3]
Camden is significant due to the role it played during the war. It was a direct result of England's attempt during late 1779 to attempt to gain control of all the southern colonies. [4]
Included within the park are a variety of reconstructed and refurbished structures from the colonial-era town site. Many of the restored buildings contain Revolutionary War artifacts recovered from the site. [5] [6]
The museum has a Facebook page that provides visitors with updates, announcements, historical facts about the site, and photos and video of reenactments.
Each year during the first weekend in November, Camden hosts its most popular event, "Revolutionary War Field Days". The reenactments held throughout the weekend depict military operations of both British and American forces. They are widely popular, and hundreds of re-enactors gather from more than 20 states every year. The Camden reenactments are some of the oldest Revolutionary War reenactments in the United States. The events are historically accurate and accompanied by live commentary.
Throughout the weekend the re-enactors remain in character, and visitors are encouraged to walk through the camps. The guests are greeted with a historically accurate depiction of the 18th-century battleground. They may experience blacksmithing, campfire cooking, and live dance demonstrations. [8]
The museum also offers various guided and unguided tours along with a .7-mile nature trail and picnic area. [9]
Historic Camden also allows people to volunteer at the site. Camden is mainly funded by charitable donations and small local government funding, so volunteers are key to maintaining it and its facilities.
Kershaw County is a county located in the U.S. state of South Carolina. As of the 2020 census, its population was 65,403. The county seat and largest city is Camden. The county was created in 1791 from parts of Claremont, Lancaster, Fairfield, and Richland counties. It is named for Col. Joseph Kershaw (1727–1791), an early settler and American Revolutionary War patriot.
Camden is the largest city and county seat of Kershaw County, South Carolina. The population was 7,764 in the 2020 census, and the 2022 population estimate is 8,213. It is part of the Columbia, South Carolina, Metropolitan Statistical Area. Camden is the oldest inland city in South Carolina, and home to the Carolina Cup and the National Steeplechase Museum.
The Battle of Guilford Court House was on March 15, 1781, during the American Revolutionary War, at a site that is now in Greensboro, the seat of Guilford County, North Carolina. A 2,100-man British force under the command of Lieutenant General Charles Cornwallis defeated Major General Nathanael Greene's 4,500 Americans. The British Army, however, suffered considerable casualties.
The Battle of Camden, also known as the Battle of Camden Court House, was a major victory for the British in the Southern theater of the American Revolutionary War. On August 16, 1780, British forces under Lieutenant General Charles, Lord Cornwallis routed the numerically superior American forces led by Major General Horatio Gates about four miles north of Camden, South Carolina, thus strengthening the British hold on the Carolinas following the capture of Charleston.
William Richardson Davie was an American statesman, politician, military general, Founding Father of the United States and slave owner who served as the 10th Governor of North Carolina from 1798 to 1799. A member of the Federalist Party, Davie also served as a delegate to the Constitutional Convention as a representative of North Carolina. He is also one of the key founders of the University of North Carolina.
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The southern theater of the American Revolutionary War was the central theater of military operations in the second half of the American Revolutionary War, 1778–1781. It encompassed engagements primarily in Virginia, Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina. Tactics consisted of both strategic battles and guerrilla warfare.
Fort Klock, a fortified stone homestead in the Mohawk River Valley of Upstate New York, was built c.1750 by Johannes Klock, and is a good example of a mid-18th century fortified home and trading post, seeing use during the French and Indian War and the American Revolutionary War The fort is located at 7203 Route 5 roughly two miles (3 km) east of the Village of St. Johnsville, New York. Fort Klock is part of a 30-acre (12 ha) complex that includes the historic homestead, a renovated Colonial Dutch Barn, blacksmith shop, and 19th-century schoolhouse. The site is maintained by Fort Klock Historic Restoration and is open seasonally as a living museum. The fort was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1972.
The siege of Fort Watson was an American Revolutionary War confrontation in South Carolina that began on April 15, 1781 and lasted until April 23, 1781. Continental Army forces under Henry "Light Horse Harry" Lee and South Carolina militia under Francis Marion besieged Fort Watson, a fortified British outpost that formed part of the communication and supply chain between Charleston and other British outposts further inland.
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The Camden Battlefield is the site of the Battle of Camden on 16 August 1780, a British victory by General Charles Cornwallis over a mixed force of Continental Army regulars and state militia forces led by General Horatio Gates. The battlefield sprawls over an area estimated to be 2,000 acres (8.1 km2) about 6 miles (9.7 km) north of Camden, South Carolina, bounded on the north by Lake Shamokin, and extending south. Flat Rock Rd (S-28-58) passes roughly through the center of the battlefield, and United States Route 521 marks its eastern boundary. The American Battlefield Trust and its partners have acquired and preserved more than 294 acres of the battlefield as of mid-2023. It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1961.
Mulberry Plantation, also known as the James and Mary Boykin Chesnut House is a historic plantation at 559 Sumter Highway south of Camden, South Carolina. Declared a National Historic Landmark in 2000, it is significant as the home of American Civil War chronicler Mary Boykin Chesnut, who produced some of the most important written accounts of the war from a Confederate perspective. The main house, built about 1820, is a fine example of Federal period architecture.
Musgrove Mill State Historic Site was the site of the Battle of Musgrove Mill, an action in the American Revolutionary War, which occurred on August 19, 1780, near the Enoree River, on what is the border between Spartanburg, Laurens, and Union Counties in South Carolina, approximately seven miles from Interstate 26.
Carter Hill is a historic plantation complex located near Camden, Kershaw County, South Carolina. The overseer's house was built about 1840, and now incorporated into the main house built about 1875. The overseer's house was a one-room house, that incorporates architectural elements in the Greek Revival style. The main house reflects the rural Victorian architectural style predominant after the American Civil War. Also on the property are a log building, a frame building, a pump house, a smokehouse, a dovecote, a hen house, and a barn constructed at various times during the 19th century. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1992.
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