At Camden, both armies formed in the area, and following traditional 18th-century practice, British commanders placed their most experienced units on the right while Gates also put his best-trained Maryland and Delaware veterans on his right and the inexperienced Virginia and North Carolina militias on his left. He failed to anticipate Cornwallis's deployment, leaving his weakest troops opposite the British 23rd and 33rd Regiments of Foot. When Cornwallis ordered those regiments to attack, Gates told the Virginia and North Carolina militias to advance and hold their fire until the British were within six paces. Lieutenant Colonel Henry Dixon's North Carolina regiment stood firm long enough to fire as many as three volleys, but the militia, untrained in bayonet fighting, panicked at the sight of elite British troops advancing with fixed blades and fled. The 1st Maryland Brigade, ordered forward in support, was quickly overwhelmed when the collapsing militia fell back into it, and although Gates, Major General Richard Caswell, and other officers tried to halt and rally the fugitives, the British pressure drove the terrified American soldiers up the road toward Rugeley's Mill.