Historic Camden Revolutionary War Site
Welcome to Historic Camden
Historic Camden Revolutionary War Site is located at the original site of Camden, the oldest inland town in South Carolina. Established in 1733, colonial Camden emerged as the trade center of the backcountry by the 1760s.
On June 1, 1780, Camden’s citizens surrendered to General Charles, Lord Cornwallis and 2,500 British soldiers. For the next eleven months the garrisoned town served as the principal British inland post while the brutal 1780 - 81 Southern Campaign ravaged the Carolinas.
Two major battles were fought nearby: the Battle of Camden (August 1780) and the Battle of Hobkirk’s Hill (April 1781). Commanders associated with Camden include American generals Horatio Gates, Nathanael Greene, and Baron Johann de Kalb, and British commanders Lord Cornwallis, Lord Rawdon and the infamous Banastre Tarleton.
The British burned most of the town when they evacuated in May 1781. Undaunted, the citizens rebuilt Camden just north of here.
This 107 ~ acre museum includes five historic buildings, two of which contain exhibits, reconstructions of several British fortifications unearthed during archaeological investigations, and the reconstructed Kershaw mansion, which served as British headquarters. Historic Camden is the starting point for your tour of the area’s Revolutionary War sites.
You’re invited to spend a few peaceful hours where the British spent a rough year.
Marker can be reached from Broad Street.
Courtesy hmdb.org
