Battle of Hobkirk's Hill

The Battle of Hobkirk's Hill was a frustrating American defeat for Nathanael Greene coming just as his reconquest of South Carolina's interior was gathering momentum. Greene had positioned his army near Camden, hoping to force the British to evacuate. Lord Rawdon, the young Irish commander of Camden's garrison, decided to attack first with about 900 men on April 25.

Rawdon used a back road to approach the American camp from an unexpected direction. The first news of his advance came from sentinels who fired and fled. Greene reacted quickly, ordering his Continentals into line of battle. The battle was initially going well for the Americans — Greene planned a double envelopment that was being executed smoothly — when Colonel Gunby ordered a withdrawal of the 1st Maryland regiment at a critical moment, apparently to consolidate a position. The withdrawal was misunderstood as a general retreat and became one. Greene tried to rally the troops but the momentum was lost.

Despite the defeat, Camden was shortly abandoned by the British anyway. Rawdon evacuated Camden in May 1781, consolidating British forces along the coast. Greene's strategy was working even when he lost battles — he was systematically stripping the British of their interior posts by maintaining continuous pressure. 'We fight, get beaten, rise, and fight again,' he wrote to Washington. It was the perfect description of the campaign.