Battle of Hobkirk's Hill - Aftermath

Aftermath

Washington and his cavalry never made it to the action. Their circuit to reach the British rear took them to Rawdon's hospital and commissary area, where they took 200 prisoners. Thus laden, they were too late to assist in the battle, and joined Greene's army on its retreat from the battlefield. Washington did, however, return in time to save the three cannons from capture. The guns were dragged from the field by 45 Maryland infantrymen. This company repelled a number of charges by loyalist horsemen under John Coffin but they suffered serious losses in the process.

The American retreat did not last long. Rawdon withdrew most of his forces to Camden, leaving only a company of dragoons at the battlefield. That afternoon, Greene sent Washington and Kirkwood back to Hobkirk's Hill, where they ambushed and drove the dragoons away; Greene turned the army around and reoccupied the site. Colonel Gunby was castigated by Greene for his actions that caused the line to break. A court martial that was immediately convened found that his "spirit and activity were unexceptionable" but that his order to fall back was "in all probability the only cause why we did not obtain a complete victory", without mentioning the failures of Washington and his cavalry's late arrival.

Rawdon returned to Camden, where Watson's men joined him on May 7. However, the ongoing presence of Greene on one flank and South Carolina militia general Thomas Sumter on another, and the fact that Marion and Lee were wreaking havoc with his supply and communications with Charleston, convinced him that he could no longer hold Camden. On May 9, Rawdon abandoned Camden, retreating to Moncks Corner.

It is notable that the future seventh president of the United States, Andrew Jackson, witnessed the battle. He was being held by the British at the Camden District jail as a prisoner of war.