THE STORY
Reported Haunting
Local legend holds that the ghost of a headless Revolutionary War soldier rides the old Hobkirk's Hill battlefield near Camden. According to the story, the mounted soldier was decapitated by cannon fire during the Battle of Hobkirk's Hill on April 25, 1781, but his frightened horse continued carrying his body from the battlefield. Later folklore claims the spectral horseman still appears around Hobkirk's Hill, sometimes emerging from the direction of the nearby swamps before riding across the former battlefield.
The Battle of Hobkirk's Hill, also known as the Second Battle of Camden, was fought north of Camden on April 25, 1781, between American forces commanded by Major General Nathanael Greene and British troops under Lord Rawdon. A long-standing Camden ghost story tells of an unidentified mounted soldier who was struck by cannon fire during the fighting and decapitated. His horse reportedly continued running with the headless body still in the saddle. The soldier's identity is unknown, and versions of the legend differ over whether he served with the American or British forces. By at least the late twentieth century, Camden folklore described a ghostly headless horseman still riding around Hobkirk's Hill. Some versions say he appears during a full moon or on foggy nights and emerges from the direction of Black River Swamp before crossing the battlefield. An older televised account of Camden history similarly recounts the decapitation story and says residents have reported seeing the headless rider around Kirkwood, although that version associates the apparition with a dark moon rather than a full moon.