CAMDEN  , a

town and the county-seat of Kershaw county, South Carolina, U.S.A., near the Wateree river, 33 M . N.E. of Columbia . Pop . (189o) 3533; (1900) 2441; this decrease was due to the separation from Camden during the decade of its suburb "Kirkwood," re-annexed in 1905; (191o) 3569 . It is served by the Atlantic Coast Line, the Seaboard Air Line and the Southern railways . Camden is situated about too ft. above the river, which is navigable to this point . The town is a winter resort, chiefly for Northerners . Cotton, grain and rice are produced in the vicinity, and there are some manufactories, including cotton mills, a cotton-seed oil mill and planing mills . Camden, first known as Pine Tree Hill, is one of the oldest interior towns of the state, having been settled in 1758; in 1768 the present name was adopted in honour of Lord Chancellor Camden . The town was first incorporated in 1791; its present charter dates from 1890 . For a year following the capture of Charleston by the British in May 178o, during the War of Independence, 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 the 16th of

August Gen . Horatio Gates, with an American force of about 3600, including some Virginia militia under Charles Porterfield (1750-1780) and Gen . Edward Stevens (1745-1820), and North Carolina militia under Gen . Richard Caswell (1729-1789), was defeated here by the British, about 2000 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 800 or goo killed and r000 prisoners, besides arms and baggage . On the 3rd of December Gates was superseded by Gen . Nathanael Greene, who after Cornwallis had left the Carolinas, advanced on Camden and arrived in the neighbourhood on the 19th of April 1781 . Considering his force (about 1450) 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 the 25th of April Rawdon, with a force of only 950, took him somewhat by surprise and drove him from the field . The casualties on each side were nearly equal: American 271; British 258 . On the 8th of May Rawdon evacuated the town, after burning most of it .

On the 24th of

February 1865, during the Civil War, a part of Gen . W.T . Sherman's army entered Camden and burned stores of tobacco and cotten, and several buildings . (See AMERICAN WAR OF INDEPENDENCE.) See also T . J . Kirkland and R . M . Kennedy, Historic Camden (Columbia, S.C., 1905) .