Johann de Kalb (19 June 1721-19 August 1780) was a Major-General of the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War, most famous for his command at the battle of Camden, in which he was killed.
Biography[]
Johann de Kalb was born on 19 June 1721 in Erlangen, Bavaria, and he was fluent in German, French, and English. De Kalb joined the French Army and fought in Flanders during the War of the Austrian Succession, rising to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel during the Seven Years' War. In 1764, he retired from the army and married the heiress to a wealthy family in the cloth manufacturing business, and in 1777 he decided to head to the United States with his protege, the Marquis de Lafayette to volunteer his services to the Continental Congress during the American Revolutionary War.
American Revolutionary War[]
De Kalb being injured during the battle of Camden
De Kalb was angry that he was not going to be promoted to Major-General upon arrival, and he was preparing to return to France when Lafayette was able to secure his promotion on 5 September 1777. De Kalb led a division of Maryland and Delaware troops in the southern theater, and he was angry that Horatio Gates was given command of the southern theater instead of him. De Kalb was shot three times and bayonetted eight times at the Battle of Camden in 1780, having bravely led his Maryland and Delaware troops in a resolute stand against Charles Cornwallis and the British Army. De Kalb died of his wounds in British custody three days later, thanking the British for their generous sympathy, but saying that he died the death that he had always prayed for: the death of a soldier fighting for the rights of man.