Taking Higher Ground At Hobkirk’s Hill

The wooded wetlands are a portion of the latest property being protected at Hobkirk’s Hill Battlefield.

South Carolina Battleground Preservation Trust

Recipient: Kershaw County, South Carolina

Amount: $78,647.37

Acres: 1.72

This third award to Kershaw County over two years will expand the protected land at Hobkirk’s Hill Battlefield. In total, ABPP has awarded $915,535 to preserve nearly 23 acres.

After delivering the Continental Army its most serious defeat of the war with the capture of Charleston in May 1780, British forces in the south were placed under the command of Major General Lord Charles Cornwallis. The American forces continued to lose on the battlefield, suffering defeat at Camden that August, but the British could not control the countryside and Cornwallis retreated to North Carolina. Rather than fight the war on Cornwallis’ terms, Major General Nathanael Greene set his sights on South Carolina and established his camp on the crest of Hobkirk's Hill overlooking Camden on April 19, 1781. Before the week was out, though the defeated Patriots ceded the hill, the British abandoned Camden and were in retreat to Yorktown.

Reflecting on the British victory at Hobkirk’s Hill, Britain’s North American Commander-in-chief General Sir Henry Clinton later claimed, “This was perhaps the most important victory of the whole war, for defeat would have occasioned the loss of Charleston, the Carolinas, and Georgia.” Clinton’s gloss on his forces’ tactical win at Camden, South Carolina finds the high ground in a trajectory of losses in the American South. Within months, Patriot forces won back Georgia, the Carolinas, and Charleston and, ultimately, Britain’s surrender at Yorktown.

The preservation partnership of Kershaw County, South Carolina Battleground Preservation Trust and Katawba Valley Land Trust, protects a larger portion of this American Revolutionary War battlefield. Battlefield Land Acquisition Grants from the NPS American Battlefield Protection Program empower preservation partners nationwide to acquire and preserve threatened Revolutionary War, War of 1812 and Civil War battlefields. In addition, the program administers three other grant opportunities: Preservation Planning Grants, which are open to all sites of armed conflict on American soil, the Battlefield Restoration and Battlefield Interpretation Grant opportunities. This financial assistance generates community-driven stewardship of historic resources at the state, Tribal and local levels.

Battlefield Land Acquisition Grants empower preservation partners nationwide to acquire and preserve threatened Revolutionary War, War of 1812 and Civil War battlefields. In addition, the program administers three other grants: Preservation Planning Grants, which are open to all sites of armed conflict on American soil, the newly authorized Battlefield Restoration and Battlefield Interpretation grant programs. This financial assistance generates community-driven stewardship of historic resources at the state, tribal and local levels.

Get Your Project Funded

Check out the American Battlefield Protection Program's website for more information about various grant offerings and eligibility.

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