The Battle of Camden took place on the morning of August 16, 1780. The Continental Army suffered a devastating defeat. Hundreds lost their lives while hundreds more suffered injuries and/or were taken prisoner by Red Coats.
The victorious British hastily dug shallow graves and unceremoniously threw in the Patriots’ bodies. The victors respectfully buried their own dead with hands placed over their hearts. There lay the dead, hidden. The pines were harvested and harvested again. A farmer grew watermelons. The pines returned and were harvested again. Two hundred and forty-two years passed. There lay the dead, forgotten, though relic hunters occasionally found buttons and bones which had made their way to the surface.
Then, in the fall of 2022, fourteen sets of remains were located, examined, and respectfully lifted from the soil. Sciences such as forensics revealed their ages and their diets. A militiaman who fought for the British was determined to have Native American ancestry. Another was a British Highlander who had received a proper burial.
In 2023, the remains of the Camden Fourteen were placed in handmade coffins and honored with pomp and circumstance at the State Capitol, public schools, Historic Camden, and in front of the fallen hero Baron Dekalb. Thousands of people took part. Later, the British Army buried the Highlander where he had fallen. The remains of the man with Native American ancestry are in the hands of Native tribes. And the United States Army buried the other twelve in the Old Presbyterian Burying Ground at the entrance to Camden’s Quaker Cemetery. Look for the gleaming white grave markers all etched “Unknown Solider, Revolutionary War.”
In 2026, the forensics on the DNA positively identified one of the Continentals. He was Private John Pumphrey, native of Ann Arundel County, Maryland. It is doubtful Pumphrey fathered children. But descendants of his family received the news about their veteran ancestor. I met one of them at the 2026 Battle of Camden Commemoration. She lives less than ten miles from the battlefield where her ancestor died.
Two hundred and forty-six years after they died and three years after the Camden Burials, the events remain etched in my mind. What a joy it was to honor the Camden Fourteen.