with more than a
thousand inhabitants, it was chartered as a city under its present name.
During the British occupation of Philadelphia in the War of
Independence, a British force was stationed here, and Camden was the
scene of several skirmishes between the British troops and the New
Jersey irregular militia. Camden was the home of Walt Whitman from 1873
until his death.

CAMDEN, a town and the county-seat of Kershaw county, South Carolina,
U.S.A., near the Wateree river, 33 m. N.E. of Columbia. Pop. (1890)
3533; (1900) 2441; this decrease was due to the separation from Camden
during the decade of its suburb "Kirkwood," re-annexed in 1905; (1910)
3569. It is served by the Atlantic Coast Line, the Seaboard Air Line and
the Southern railways. Camden is situated about 100 ft. above the river,
which is navigable to this point. The town is a winter resort, chiefly
for Northerners. Cotton, grain and rice are produced in the vicinity,
and there are some manufactories, including cotton mills, a cotton-seed
oil mill and planing mills. Camden, first known as Pine Tree Hill, is
one of the oldest interior towns of the state, having been settled in
1758; in 1768 the present name was adopted in honour of Lord Chancellor
Camden. The town was first incorporated in 1791; its present charter
dates from 1890. For a year following the capture of Charleston by the
British in May 1780, during the War of Independence, Camden was the
centre of important military operations. It was occupied by the British
under Cornwallis in June 1780, was well fortified and was garrisoned by
a force under Lord Rawdon. On the 16th of August Gen. Horatio Gates,
with an American force of about 3600, including some Virginia militia
under Charles Porterfield (1750-1780) and Gen. Edward Stevens
(1745-1820), and North Carolina militia under Gen. Richard Caswell
(1729-1789), was defeated here by the British, about 2000 strong, under
Lord Cornwallis, who had joined Rawdon in anticipation of an attack by
Gates. Soon after the engagement began a large part of the Americans,
mostly North Carolina and Virginia militia, fled precipitately, carrying
Gates with them; but Baron De Kalb and the Maryland troops fought
bravely until overwhelmed by numbers, De Kalb himself being mortally
wounded. A monument was erected to his memory in 1825, Lafayette laying
the corner-stone. The British loss in killed, wounded and missing was
324; the American loss was about 800 or 900 kil