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ETV’s Award-Winning “Carolina Stories” Kicks Off Second Season with “Battle of Camden”
Program Debuts on Thursday, Sept. 28 at 9 p.m.
For Immediate Release
August 25, 2006
Watch a Clip from "Battle of Camden"
Columbia, SC...ETV kicks off its second season of the award-winning series Carolina Stories on Thursday, Sept. 28 at 9 p.m., with Battle of Camden. The hour-long documentary examines one of the most demoralizing and bloody defeats suffered by the Americans during the Revolutionary War. Paradoxically, it was this important battle that many South Carolina historians also consider to be the war’s turning point.
"A lot happened because of the Battle of Camden,” said ETV Producer Bruce Mayer. “Most of the militiamen never fired a shot before they took off and ran. It taught us that you can’t take untrained troops and put them up against a well-trained army.
"It also inspired King George III to write a proclamation saying that if you didn’t fight with the British, you would die. That plan really backfired and only served to rile people up.”
From new guerilla tactics employed by American militia to the actions of an over-confident king, the tragic events that transpired on Aug. 16, 1780 became the catalyst that led to the birth of a nation. However, Mayer believes that the battle’s importance has been largely overlooked.
“For some reason, it never received much attention,” he said. “This is bad in one respect, because not many people know about it; but there have also been benefits because the field itself has remained so pristine.”
Mayer hopes that this program will only add to the renewed interest in the historic site located six miles north of Camden, as recent efforts have been made to preserve the field and turn it into a national park. An admitted history buff, he said he became captivated by the Battle of Camden during a visit to the site many years ago, when he discovered his first musket ball.
“I realized that this really happened, there were real people here, and I was holding a musket ball that was fired on that day,” Mayer said.
Carolina Stories is a weekly series created by ETV producers that spotlights the people, events and interests of South Carolinians. The series airs Thursdays at 9 p.m. Saving Sandy Island, a documentary from the first season, won a 2006 Telly Award.
South Carolina ETV is the state's public educational broadcasting network with 11 television and eight radio transmitters, and a multi-media educational system in more than 2,500 schools, colleges, businesses and government agencies. Using television, radio and the web, SCETV's mission is to enrich lives by educating children, informing and connecting citizens, celebrating our culture and environment and instilling the joy of learning.
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For more information, contact Rob Schaller at (803) 737-6556 or rschaller@scetv.org.
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