THE STORY
Reported Haunting
Local legend tells of a soldier decapitated during the 1781 Battle of Hobkirk's Hill whose headless apparition is said to ride through the former battlefield area.
The Battle of Hobkirk's Hill was fought in Camden on April 25, 1781, between American forces commanded by Major General Nathanael Greene and British troops under Lord Rawdon. Camden folklore adds a supernatural story to the battlefield's history. According to the legend, a mounted soldier was decapitated by cannon fire during the fighting. His frightened horse fled toward nearby swampy ground, where it supposedly died. Generations of local storytelling describe a headless horseman emerging from the darkness and riding through the old battlefield area. The apparition is folklore rather than a historically verified account. Because much of the former battlefield is now residential, this Ghost Atlas marker is placed at a public Battle of Hobkirk Hill historical marker.