Gates's Advance and Cornwallis's Reinforcement

General Cornwallis, alerted to Gates's movement on August 9, marched from Charleston with reinforcements, arriving at Camden on August 13 and increasing effective British strength to 2,239 men. Two days later—by relative dating, not an exact stated date—Gates ordered his army to take the direct road to Camden, against the advice of officers including Otho Holland Williams. Historian Piecuch has argued that Gates's rapid advance prevented Cornwallis from consolidating positions and organizing Loyalist forces, while raising South Carolina Patriot morale and, in his assessment, putting Gates's army in a position to assist partisans under Marion and Sumter.