CAMDEN, a city of South Carolina, U.S.A., 3o m. N.E. of Columbia, near the Wateree river; the county seat of Kershaw county. It is on Federal highway 1 and is served by the Atlantic Coast Line, the Seaboard Air Line and the Southern railways. The population in 192o was (47% negroes) ; in 193o it was 5,183. It is a winter resort, in the heart of the long-leaf pine region. There are many examples of colonial architecture, in cluding the old court-house, which is now a museum. The city has a hydro-electric power plant and several factories. It was settled in 1758 and incorporated in 1791.
For a year during the Revolution, Camden was the centre of important military operations. It was occupied by the British under Cornwallis in June 178o, was well fortified and was garrisoned by a force under Lord Rawdon. On Aug. 16, Gen. Horatio Gates, with an American force of about 3,600, including some Virginia militia under Charles Porterfield and Gen. Edward Stevens, and North Carolina militia under Gen. Richard Caswell, was defeated here by the British, about 2,000 strong, under Lord Cornwallis, who had joined Rawdon in anticipation of an attack by Gates. Soon after the engagement began a large part of the Americans, mostly North Carolina and Virginia militia, fled precipitately, carrying Gates with them; but Baron De Kalb and the Maryland troops fought bravely until overwhelmed by numbers, De Kalb himself being mortally wounded. A monument was erected to his memory in 1825, Lafayette laying the corner-stone. The British loss in killed, wounded and missing was 324; the American loss was about Soo or goo killed and i,000 prisoners, besides arms and baggage. On Dec. 3, Gates was superseded by Greene, who after Cornwallis had left the Carolinas, advanced on Camden and ar rived in the neighbourhood on April 19, 1781. Considering his force (about 1,450) insufficient for an attack on the fortifications, he withdrew a short distance north of Camden to an advantageous position on Hobkirk's Hill, where on April 25, Rawdon, with a force of only 95o, took him somewhat by surprise and drove him from the field. The casualties on each side were nearly equal: American 271; British 258. On May 8, Rawdon evacuated the town, after burning most of it. On Feb. 24, 1865, during the Civil War, a part of Gen. Sherman's army entered Camden and burned stores of tobacco and cotton. (See AMERICAN REVOLUTION.) See also T. J. Kirkland and R. M. Kennedy, Historic Camden (Columbia (S.C.), 1905) .