Sunday, April 4, 2004: Camden Campaign Battle Sites Field Trip: Post-symposium guided field trip to Camden Campaign battle sites (by separate reservation, seating is limited to 40): Rocky Mount, Beckhamville, Fishing Creek, Hanging Rock, Flat Rock, Rugeley’s Mill and Fort.

On Sunday, April 4th, we will depart by motor coach from the main parking lot at Historic Camden at 9:00 am sharp and drive to the Great Falls, SC area. Here we start our tour by walking the site of SC Militia Commander, Col. Thomas Sumter’s August 1, 1780 unsuccessful attack on the fortified British outpost at Rocky Mount. This fort was held by the Volunteers of New York, loyalist provincial troops, commanded by Lt. Col. George Turnbull. Then we will take a coffee break at the Great Falls Community Center for a presentation by Mickey Beckham on the first blows of the SC backcountry civil war following the May 12, 1780 fall of Charleston. We will drive by the June 2, 1780 Beckhamville (Alexander’s Old Field) Battlefield. Our next stop for a presentation will be at the site of Col. Thomas Sumter’s August 18, 1780 defeat at the hands of Lt. Col. Banastre Tarleton’s British Legion at Fishing Creek. About noon we will have a box lunch (included in tour ticket) at the historic Heath Springs railroad station; then we will walk the Hanging Rock Battlefield, site of two battles fought on August 1, 1780 and August 6, 1780, the second Battle of Hanging Rock ended in Col. Sumter’s great Patriot victory over the Prince of Wales American Regiment of provincial loyalist. We will return to Camden on a portion of the old Great Waxhaw Road to see the Flat Rock, the site of NC Militia cavalry Maj. William Richardson Davie’s July 21, 1780 successful interdiction of a supply convoy from Camden to the British outpost at Hanging Rock. Next we will see the site of Tory Col. Henry Rugeley's mill and fort, where Gen. Horatio Gates assembled his “Grand Army” on August 14 and 15, 1780 prior to the Battle of Camden and where Col. William Washington’s cavalry captured a fortified Loyalist outpost with a “Quaker Gun” on December 2, 1780. Finally, we will cross Gen. Nathanael Greene’s April 25, 1781 Hobkirk Hill Battlefield on our return to Historic Camden. We will arrive back in Camden about 4:00 pm.
(Note: These specific field trip battlefield sites are all located on private property and are subject to change based upon landowner permission, weather and road conditions.)

Host and commentator: Charles B. Baxley
Battlefield Guides:
Rocky Mount: Clyde McFadden
Beckhamville: Mickey Beckham
Fishing Creek: Charles B. Baxley
Hanging Rock: David P. Reuwer

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