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In December 1780, former Quaker turned general Nathanael Greene took command of the entire Southern Department. He reported only to George Washington himself. Leadership of the southern states to that point in the American Revolution had failed, as the British held all major southern cities, including the important port city of Charleston. Greene faced the British in several key battles in South Carolina in 1781 and ultimately was able to rid the state of the British and free Charleston, but not until 1782, long after the victory at Yorktown. Join author and historian Leigh Moring as she tells the forgotten story of General Nathanael Greene and the liberation of the Lowcountry at the end of the American Revolution.

On the foggy morning of August 16, 1780, American and British armies clashed in the pine woods north of Camden, South Carolina, in one of the most important and influential battles of the Revolutionary War. An American victory would quash British plans to subjugate the southern colonies and virtually guarantee the independence of the fledgling United States. A victory for the British would pave the way for the conquest of North Carolina and Virginia.

After nearly an hour of frenzied, bloody combat, the British army emerged victorious, and American morale plummeted to its lowest point of the war. The rout at Camden was not a total loss, however, as Patriot forces eventually came away with a renewed determination to resist British advances, and the lessons from the defeat were applied to secure future victories that finally allowed the Patriots to triumph in the South.

This engaging new book presents the Battle of Camden as never before: through the eyes and words of American and British participants and contemporary observers. The events leading up to the conflict, the combat itself and the consequences of Camden are all described in striking detail. The cunning strategies of both American Major General Horatio Gates and British Lieutenant General Lord Cornwallis are revealed, as are a number of battlefield reports from soldiers on both sides. In addition to these compelling first-hand accounts, The Battle of Camden includes analysis of the battle and its effects in America and Europe from George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Lord George Germain. With this landmark text, author and historian Jim Piecuch offers a comprehensive consideration of a vital Revolutionary battle and its effects on the war for American independence.