Patriots defeated at Hobrick’s Hill

In early 1781 the war continues to be fought mainly in the South with most of the action in the Carolinas and Georgia. It seems as though the tide is slowly turning in our favor although the British still have a substantial army here under the command of Gen. Lord Cornwallis. We have had some 50 engagements since the beginning of the year and about a half of these have been on South Carolina soil. The months of January and February found the British gaining the upper hand in more than half of these engagements, but from March until now we have been victorious in about two of every three confrontations.

Cornwallis moved his headquarters to Wilmington, N.C. and left Gen. Lord Rawdon to defend South Carolina from our attempts to rid the area of the British and Tories. Rawdon had an army of about 9,000 composed of British regulars and Loyalists based in Camden, S.C., which is roughly half way between Augusta, Georgia and Wilmington. From there the British maintain a series of forts and posts across South Carolina and into Georgia.

The "Swamp Fox," General Francis Marion, has been making mischief throughout the eastern part of the state and has scored several victories. On April 6 General Greene detached Lt. Col. Harry Lee's cavalry to join up with Marion in an effort to capture Fort Watson which would cut the British supply line between Charleston and Augusta. He also sent Col. Andrew Pickens and a force to help Gen. Thomas Sumter's South Carolina regulars who were attempting to dislodge the British at Fort Ninety Six and Augusta. General Greene ordered the remainder of us to march on Camden.

We arrived in the area of Camden on April 20 and our scouts reported that Rawdon's position was too strong for us to wage a successful attack. We then set up our base of operations for this area at Hobkirk's Hill which lay a little over a mile north of Camden. Greene sent word for his detached forces to rejoin us at Hobkirk. The area was wooded and on our left was an impenetrable swamp. We were strung out in a line running east to west with the east end held by two regiments of the Maryland Continentals and North Carolina militia. The west was held by two regiments of Virginia Continentals and Lt. Col. William Washington's Virginia cavalry.

Marion and Lee captured Fort Watson on April 23 which cut off those British from being able to join up with Rawdon at Camden. Unknown to us Rawdon started moving out of Camden toward us on the 24th. Greene made a huge tactical error by not utilizing the time from our arrival on the 20th until now to prepare defensive positions nor to set our pickets out far enough to give adequate warning time if the British were to attack us.

Before dawn on the 25th Rawdon struck. He came at us in a narrow front with his first battle line composed of three regiments; a second line of about 200 men and a third line of like number. Greene had us deployed in a battle line rather than the usual camp deployment. Gen. Huger with two Virginia regiments, the 1st under the command of Lt. Col. Hawes and the 2nd under the command of Lt. Col. Campbell, were on our right; William's had two Maryland regiments on the left which included the 1st Maryland under Col. John Gunby and the 2nd under Lt. Col. Ford with a small detachment of Delawares holding the left center. We had about 250 North Carolina militia and Washington's cavalry in reserve.

With the British coming at us with a rather narrow front, Greene ordered an advance on the British center with the Virginians and the Marylanders to wheel right and left respectively to flank the British and thus envelop them. Rawdon recognized our intent and ordered up his reserves and extended his front. He now had a wider front than we could develop and our plans went into a cocked hat.

The front became a confused mass with the Virginians forcing the British left back but Gunby became confused and ordered his men back to regroup. The British then struck at the Marylanders with a bayonet charge and they were soon routed. Ford was severely wounded and his regiment could not stand the British attach and they soon broke and ran. The British broke through our center and carried the crest of Hobkirk's Hill.

This forced us into a general retreat and had it not been for the bravery of Hawes' 1st Virginia Regiment from Huger's command our entire army may have been destroyed. Washington and his cavalry had succeeded in reaching the British rear but broke off the engagement when they saw the retreat of the patriots commencing.

Washington arrived back at the front in time to aid in fending off the British during the retreat. This was a particularly bitter loss since we held a substantial numerical superiority and the battle was on the grounds of our choice. We lost more as a result of what we didn't do than because of the valor of our troops.

Jim Bayne is immediate past president of the Virginia Society, Sons of the American Revolution. He can be reached at .