CAMDEN, S.C. — This Veterans Day weekend, residents in Camden remembered veterans from 243 years ago. Hundreds of people gathered to watch the Battle of Camden as reenactors joined to give people a look into the past.
"It was a Revolutionary War reenactment and that was really cool. The cannons you could almost feel the vibrations," Jasper Haire said.
Through the thick smoke, Jasper and Jacob watched the Battle of Camden. With every shot fired, the two more clearly saw the war's significance.
"How accurate it felt with watching you felt like you had a, you felt like you went back in history," Jacob Gordon said.
On Aug. 16, more than 240 years ago, the British faced the Americans in a battle to gain control of the state. But the Battle of Camden became one of the most memorable for the loss the Americans experienced that day.
"When you consider that out of the top 25 revolutionary war battles, casualty producing battles, killed, wounded, missing and surrendered, South Carolina had seven of them; the top two were the siege and surrender of Charleston and the Battle of Camden," organizer Tom Oblak said.
Behind the gunsmoke, the reenactment goes beyond the battle but recreates town living at the time. Merchants like Barry Myers sold period-correct items, like his iron hooks.
"The first couple thousand are hard, but after that, not so much," he said, twisting a freshly burned iron.
Event organizers added that people get a total experience and learn the country's history hands-on.
This was the 52nd reenactment of the battle.