The Battle of Hobkirk Hill
This article was written by Hobkirk Hill Chapter, NSDAR, Organizing Regent Mary Douglas Ancrum Shannon (1840-1920) and published in the January 1909 issue of the NSDAR publication "The American Monthly Magazine."
Mary Ancrum Shannon (1840-1920)
The dreary winter passed, and the sweet, leafy spring-time came on, with the glow and budding beauty of the Southland, and with it fresh hopes began to spring in the hearts that had been chilled and benumbed, yet had never known fear. The 25th of April, 1781, was to bring red-handed war once more into our midst, and the struggle on the heights of Hobkirk Hill was the effort of an oppressed people to break the shackles which bound them. General Nathaniel Greene had been put by Washington in command of the American forces in the south and sent to drive Rawdon from his position at Camden. Finding him too strongly fortified in his entrenchments for attack, General Greene made a detour and took position on a sandy ridge, about a mile above the town, known as
Nathanael Greene painted by John Trumbull (1756-1843),
Public Domain Image
Hobkirk Hill. Today the most desirable residence portion of the city and the site of two of the largest tourist hotels in the state, but at that time covered with dense undergrowth. Here he awaited reinforcements from Sumter. A deserter from the Maryland regiment gave Rawdon his first information of the approach of the American army, and he hastily gave orders for advance. Every man capable of bearing arms, even the drummers and musicians, were enlisted in ranks, and at 10 o'clock on the morning of April 25th, leaving the sick and helpless, the band of 900 sallied forth.
Cautiously advancing through the woods which concealed their movements, they expected to take advantage of the surprise which they planned. What was their amazement to find two cannons facing them at the crest of the hill, and for a moment his ranks staggered and threatened to break. General Greene conceived a maneuver, which had it been carried out, would probably have crushed Rawdon. The 2nd Maryland regiment under Colonel Ford and the 1st Virginia under Lieutenant Colonel Campbell, forming the extreme ends of the American line, were ordered to descend the hill and enclose the enemy, while the 1st Maryland regiment under Colonel Gunby and the 2nd Virginia regiment under Lieutenant Colonel Hawes was to charge bayonets, in the centre. Just at this crisis, the veteran regiment which had covered itself with glory at Cowpens, became panic stricken. It is thought that the death of their leader, Captain Beatty, caused dismay, or Gunby's order to fire and fall back was misconstrued, but confusion seized their ranks, and they fell back in disorder, conveying the demoralization to the troops in the rear, who considered the movement a signal for retreat.
Sketch of the Battle of Hobkirk‘s Hill, near Camden, on the 25th April, 1781, Courtesy of The Library of Congress
Despite the desperate efforts of the gallant John Eageri Howard, and Gen. Otho Williams, the troops could not be at once rallied, and when they were at length reformed and returned to the charge, the British had appeared on the brow of the hill, with shouts of victory. General Greene now summoned to the scene the light infantry, a picked troop of young Irishmen, all under 30 years of age, who under Captain John Smith had been placed in reserve; they, eager for the fray, hastened to the rescue of the artillery. General Greene is said to have dashed up alone in advance of the troop amid a perfect hail storm of deadly missiles, and dismounting, seized a rope and dragged with all his might. The gunners returned, encouraged by such an example, and the light infantry, now reduced to 14 men, their brave leader fallen, were about to yield to the terrible onslaught, when Colonel William Washington, who had been placed with his cavalry to guard a point at some distance, came rushing down the road, drove back the British, mounted the cannons upon the limbers, and bore them off in triumph! General Greene in his report to Congress, says: "Colonel Washington never shone upon any occasion more than this!"
The Battle of Hobkirk’s Hill by F.C. Yohn (1875-1933)
The New York Public Library Digital Collections
It is true that Lord Rawdon gained possession of the battlefield, but his losses were too serious to warrant his following up his advantage. Johnson in his life of Greene, relates that in the dusk of evening, Colonel Washington had his revenge on Coffin, who had been left in charge of the field. Concealing his men in the woods, he sent off a few to attack him, Coffin pursued, and the men in the ambuscade, rising unexpectedly, drove him back to the headquarters in the town, with a loss of 20 men. Owing to this brilliant stratagem, the battle ground that evening remained in the hands of the Americans. According to Tarleton, the British loss at Hobkirk Hill was 258. Johnson credits the American army with a loss of 270. McCrady says "In no battle in the Revolutionary war were so many Tories engaged." Although the engagement could not be classed as a victory for the Americans, yet its significance made it of great importance, for immediately afterwards, Rawdon being convinced that his position was no longer tenable, gave orders for the evacuation of his stronghold, and moved rapidly southward, to rejoin Cornwallis, in Charleston. The town he had so harshly oppressed was now given to the flames, and the work of destruction was complete. Yet the people were free once more, and from the ashes a new Camden arose, her tried veterans undaunted by suffering and loss, ready to sustain the pledge of "their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor" for the cause of liberty!”
—MARY ANCRUM SHANNON, Regent, Hobkirk Hill Chapter, NSDAR, Camden, South Carolina
“It is a matter of tradition that Hobkirk Hill derived its name from an old man by the name of Hobkirk, who lived on the ridge prior to the date of the battle. In confirmation of this, an old grant has been found (state archives, see image) of one hundred acres to Thomas Hobkirk, in Fredricksburg Township, “near Pine Tree,” dated September 8, 1769, which locates him near Camden.”
Excerpt from Historic Camden: Part I, Colonial and Revolutionary, by Thomas J. Kirkland and Robert M. Kennedy; Published in 1905.
South Carolina State Archives, Plat Book 11, p. 179
Hobkirk Hill Chapter, NSDAR
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