Camden, South Carolina, August 16, 1780 Piquet/Cartouche By Jeff Glasco Revised August 8, 2016 Camden is an interesting battle given the disparity in quality of troops and leaders. The British have an elite brigade commanded by Webster and the rest is of mixed quality. Their commander, Cornwallis, is a superior rated commander, which gives them a large advantage over the American commander, Gates, who put in a pretty dismal effort in the historical battle, and thus earns a poor rating. The American Army has an good quality Continental division and a large militia division of generally poor troop quality and leadership. Piquet works well in highlighting the advantages a smaller, but well led, army has over a larger army that has poor leadership and many low quality troops. Battalion Scale: Infantry Stands Infantry Skirmishers Cavalry Artillery 1 45-89 30-59 30-59 1-2 2 90-164 60-109 60-109 3-4 3 165-239 110-159 110-159 5-6 4 240-360 160-240 160-240 --- 5 361-435 241-290 241-290 --- 6 436-510 291-340 291-340 --- Orders of Battle: British Southern Army: (13.25 units/3 = 4 cards) Lieutenant General Lord Charles Cornwallis (Superior) Loyalist Brigade: Lieutenant Colonel Francis Rawdon (Skilled) Royal Artillery (2 x 3-pdr): 1 stand, Regulars (+1), L SB Royal North Carolina Regiment (267): 4 stands, Trained Militia, SBM Bryan's Loyalist Militia 1 (331): 4 stands, 2nd Rate Militia, SBM Volunteers of Ireland (303): 4 stands, Regulars, SBM British Legion Infantry (126): 3 stands*, Regulars (-1), SBM British Legion Artillery (1 x 3-pdr): 1 stand, Regulars (-2), L SB Regular Brigade: 1 Byran s North Carolina
Lieutenant Colonel James Webster (Skilled) Royal Artillery (2 x 6-pdr): 1 stand, Regulars (+1), M SB British Light Infantry 2 (3 cos = 148): 3 stands*, Elites, SBM 23 rd Regiment of Foot (8 cos = 292): 4 stands, Elites, SBM 33rd Regiment of Foot (298): 4 stands, Elites, SBM Reserve Brigade: Lieutenant Colonel Alexander McDonald (Average) 71st Highland Regiment (292): 4 stands, Regulars (+1), SBM 1 st Bn/71 st Highland Regiment (154) 2 nd Bn/71 st Highland Regiment (110) +Corps of Guides and Pioneers (28) Royal Artillery (2 x 6-pdr): 1 stand, Regulars (+1), M SB British Legion: Lieutenant Colonel Banastre Tarleton (Skilled) British Legion Dragoons (181): 1st Squadron: 2 stands, Regulars, Swords 2nd Squadron: 2 stands, Regulars, Swords American Southern Army: (18.25 units/4 = 5 cards) Major General Horatio Gates (Poor) Colonel Otho Williams (ADC 3 ) (Skilled) Continental Artillery (attach to below commands): Meredeth's (Virginia) Co/Continental Arty (2 x 2-pdr): 1 stand, Regular, VL SB Dorsey s (Maryland) Co/Continental Arty (2 x 3-pdr): 1 stand, Regular, L SB Booker s (Maryland) Sec./Continental Arty (2 x 6-pdr): 1 stand, Regular, M SB Water s (Maryland) Sec./Continental Arty (2 x 6-pdr): 1 stand, Regular, M SB Advance Brigade: Colonel Charles Armand (Average) Armand s Legion Cavalry (3 troops = 60 4 ): 2 stands, Regulars, Swords Armand s Legion Foot (2 cos = 60): 2 stands*, Regulars, SBM Nelson's Virginia State Cavalry Regiment (62): 2 stands, Trained Militia, Swords Pinckney s S.C. Volunteer Mounted Infantry (70): 2 stands, 2nd Rate Militia, Swords Porterfield s Virginia Light Infantry 5 (100): 2 stands*, Regulars, SBM Armstrong s Militia Light Infantry 6 (136): 3 stands*, Trained Militia, SBM Militia Division (1800-68): Major General Richard Caswell (Poor) 2 Companies from 71 st Highland (70), and 16 th ROF (78). Cornwallis muster does not include the New York Volunteers who some historians credit as being present. 3 Can command any American units. 4 I would paint one stand like Armand's Legion and one stand like Pulaski's Legion as the unit contained a fair number of survivors from Pulaski's Legion. 5 Formed from detachment of Virginia State Garrison Regiment 6 Formed from 68 picked men from Stevens' Virginia Brigade and 68 men from Caswell's North Carolina Militia
1 st North Carolina Militia Brigade: Brigadier General John Butler (Poor) Left Wing/Butler's NC Militia: 4 stands, 2nd Rate Militia, SBM Right Wing/Butler's NC Militia: 4 stands, 2nd Rate Militia, SBM 2 nd North Carolina Militia Brigade: Brigadier General Griffith Rutherford (Poor) Left Wing /Rutherford's NC Militia: 4 stands, 2nd Rate Militia, SBM Right Wing /Rutherford's NC Militia: 4 stands, 2nd Rate Militia, SBM 3 rd North Carolina Militia Brigade: Brigadier General Isaac Gregory (Poor) Left Wing /Gregory's NC Militia: 4 stands, 2nd Rate Militia, SBM Right Wing /Gregory's NC Militia, 4 stands, 2nd Rate Militia, SBM Virginia Militia Brigade (700-68): Brigadier General Edward Stevens (Average) Left Wing /Stevens Virginia Militia: 4 stands, Trained Militia, SBM Right Wing /Stevens Virginia Militia: 4 stands, Trained Militia, SBM Continental Division (@1200): Major General Baron de Kalb (Skilled) 1 st Maryland Brigade: Major General William Smallwood (Skilled) 1st & 3rd Maryland Regiments (@320): 4 stands, Regulars (+1), SBM 1 st Maryland Regiment (@120) 3 rd Maryland Regiment (@200) 5th & 7th Maryland Regiments (@275): 4 stands, Regulars (+1), SBM 5 th Maryland Regiment (@125) 7 th Maryland Regiment (@150) 2 nd Maryland Brigade: Brigadier General Mordecai Gist (Average) Delaware Regiment & 2nd Maryland Regiment (@320): 4 stands, Elites (-1), SBM Delaware Regiment (@200) 2 nd Maryland Regiment (@120) 4th & 6th Maryland Regiments (@300): 4 stands, Regulars (+1), SBM 4 th Maryland Regiment (@160) 6 th Maryland Regiment (@140) Game Information and Special Rules: Notes: 1. American Strengths: The number of men present in of most of the American generally known, but exactly how many Continentals were present is not exactly clear. I
have followed the basic estimates of Greg Novak in creating my own estimates of how many American Continentals were present in each regiment. 2. British Strengths: These are based on archival research and accurate. 3. Two Figure Infantry Stands: Units marked with * after the number of stands in the unit are based on two figure infantry stands. They are treated as in open order formation. They may also use skirmish formation (show by separating the stands one base width). 4. Army Characterization Deck: The British draw 4 and the Americans draw 5 cards from the Army Characterization Deck to determine morale chips and any Effect Cards (disregard the Stratagem Cards). Victory Conditions: The first side to break and retreat off the table (see Major Morale Check rules in Piquet) is the loser. The side that remains on the table is the winner Game Length: The battle began at dawn, roughly 7 am. The historical battle lasted only one hour (2 Piquet turns), but the game should go on until one side breaks and retreats from the field. Sunset was roughly 8 pm, so theoretically the game could go on for a total of 26 turns, but one side should break far before sunset (13 hours of battle). Set Up: 1. Americans: The Americans set up within 24" of the northern portion (upper) of the board. The Americans set up first. The four American artillery stands can be attached to any brigade before the game starts or defined as independent units directly under the command of a division or army commander. The American division commanders can affect any unit in unit in their division. 2. British: The British set up in the southern portion (lower) 18" of the board. The upper edge of the map is roughly north. Terrain (see map below, north is upper edge of the map): 1. Wooded Areas: treat as Class II terrain for movement and visibility in them is limited to 4". Remember that most of the table is wooded, so there will be many close action engagments. 2. Marsh Areas: treat as Class III terrain for movement, but units do not get a benefit in fire or melee combat while in them. The march areas do impact line of sight. 3. Hills: the hills have an impact on line of sight, but are not steep enough to have an impact on any unit s movement (treat as Class I terrain for movement). The only except to this is a unit may not cross two contours in the same move (stop on contacting the second contour line). 4. Farm: The actual farm building is Class III/Wooden Building. The fields should be treated as Class I/Open terrain, but are surrounded by a Class II wooden fence.
5. Map Size: Each square on the map equals 12" (300 yards x 300 yards using the normal Piquet Field of Battle ground scale of 1" = 25 yards. The overall map is 5' x 8'. For a smaller table, you can omit the eastern most foot of the table.
Sequence Decks (use the following decks for each side): *The Confused Withdrawal card can only be used against American militia brigades, not either of the Continental brigades. Standard Deck British Americans Card 1776-83 1778-83 Artillery Move 2 2 Artillery Reload 2 2 Cavalry Move in Open 3 3 Deployment 2 2 Dressing Lines 1 3 Elites Reload 1 1 Heroic Moment 2 2 Inf-Cav Move in III/IV 2 2 Infantry Move in Open 3 3 Maneuver 2 2 Melee Resolution 3 2 Regulars Reload 1 1 Militia Reload 2 2 Native Mobility 1 1 Officer Check 3 2 Basic Deck Total 30 30 Optional Cards 1776-83 1778-83 Brilliant Leader 2 0 Command Indecision 0 1 Confused Withdrawal 0 1 Optional Card Total 32 32
Sources: CO 5/100 Military Dispatches 1780 PRO 30/11/103 Charles Cornwallis Papers WO 34/126 Report Re Clinton's Troops 1780 (British muster for August 15, 1780) Atkinson, Christopher T. "British Forces in North American, 1774-1781: Their Distribution and Strength." Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research, 16 (Spring 1937), 3-23; 18 (Autumn 1940), 163-166; 20 (Winter 1941), 190-192. Berg, Fred Anderson. Encyclopedia of Continental Army Units. Harrisburg, Pa.: Stackpole Books, 1972. Blanco, Richard L., ed. The American Revolution 1775-1783, An Encyclopedia, 2 vols. New York: Garland Publishing Inc., 1993. Cornwallis, Charles. Answer to Sir Henry Clinton's Narrative of the Campaign in 1781 in North America. Philadelphia: John Campbell, 1866.. "Official Account of the Army Under His Command At the Battle Near Camden on the 16th Day of August 1780, in a Letter to Lord George Germaine." (British OB information) Lumpkin, Henry. From Savannah to Yorktown: The American Revolution in the South. New York: Paragon House, 1981. Nebenzahl, Kenneth, ed. Atlas of the American Revolution. Chicago: Rand McNally & Co., 1974. Novak, Greg. The American War of Independence: A Guide to the Armies of the American War of Independence, Volume 2: The Southern Campaign. Calumet, PA: Old Glory Corp. (Good on estimate of American Continental forces). O'Kelley, Patrick. Camden Order of Battle (unpublished manuscript). (Very detailed, especially on the militia forces of both sides). Tarleton, Banastre. A History of the Campaigns of 1780 and 1781 in the Southern Provinces of North America. London: T. Cadell, 1787. Ward, Christopher, The War of the Revolution, 2 vols. New York: MacMillian, 1952.