French officer killed on American battlefield to get statue

CAMDEN (S.C.) -- The statue of a French soldier who died on the South Carolina battlefield during Revolutionary War will be unveiled in Camden.

French officer killed on American battlefield to get statue

CAMDEN (S.C.) -- The statue of a French soldier who died on the South Carolina battlefield during Revolutionary War will be unveiled in Camden.

Johann de Kalb was killed in the August 1780 Battle of Camden. His horse was crushed and British soldiers shot and stabbed him.

The newly opened Revolutionary War Visitor Center has De Kalb's statue. This building cost $6 million and was opened in January.

De Kalb was born into a German village. He received a French military commission during the 1740s. In 1777, he arrived in America with the Marquis de Lafayette in order to support the Patriots during the War for Independence. He was 59 when he died.

Sunday, February 2, 2012 at 2:30 p.m. A number of German dignitaries will join local officials to lay a wreath on de Kalb's grave at Bethesda Presbyterian Church, Camden at 1 p.m.

NEXT NEWS