nd. These posts were in a line from Charlestown by the way of
Camden and Ninety-six, to Augusta in Georgia. Camden was the most
important, and there Lord Rawdon had taken post with 900 men.

On the 20th of April, 1781, General Greene appeared before Camden, which
was a village situated on a plain, covered on the south by the Wateree,
a river which higher up is called the Catawba; and below, after its
confluence with the Congaree from the south, assumes the name of the
Santee. On the east of it flowed Pinetree Creek; on the northern and
western sides it was defended by a strong chain of redoubts, six in
number, extending from the river to the creek. Lord Rawdon's force was
so small that the approach of Greene to Camden necessitated the
abandonment of the ferry on the Wateree, "although the South Carolina
Regiment was on its way to join him from Ninety-six, and that was its
direct course; he had, however, taken his measures so well as to secure
the passage of that regiment upon its arrival three days after."[8]

General Greene, whose force amounted to 1200 men, determined to await
reinforcements before attacking, and on the 24th of April he retired to
Hobkerk's Hill, an eminence about a mile north of Camden, on the road to
the Waxhaws. Here Lord Rawdon resolved to attack him, and on the morning
of the 25th, with 900 men, he marched from Camden, and, by making a
circuit, and keeping close to the edge of the swamp, under cover of the
woods, he gained the left flank of the Americans, where the hill was
most accessible, undiscovered.

The alarm was given, while the Americans were at breakfast, by the
firing of the outposts, and at this critical moment a reinforcement of
American militia arrived. So confident was General Greene of success
that he ordered Lieutenant-Colonel Washington, with his cavalry, to turn
the right flank of the British and to charge them in the rear, while
bodies of infantry were to assail them in front and on both flanks.

The American advanced parties were driven in by the British after a
sharp skirmish, and Lord Rawdon advanced steadily to attack the main
body of the enemy. The 63rd Regiment, with the volunteers of Ireland,
formed his right; the King's American Regiment, with Robertson's corps,
composed his left; the New York volunteers were in the centre. The South
Carolina Regiment and the cavalry were in the rear and formed a
reserve.[9]

Such was the impetuosity of the British that, in the face