Johann de Kalb (1721 – 1780) Johann von Robais, Baron de Kalb, born Johann Kalb, was a Franconian-born French military officer, born in Brandenburg-Bayreuth, Holy Roman Empire, now known as Erlangen-Hüttendorf, Franconia, Germany, who served as a major general in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. In July 1777, de Kalb sailed to North America with his protégé, the Marquis de Lafayette, and joined the Continental Army, where he was appointed the rank of major general. De Kalb was at Valley Forge for most of the winter between 1777 and 1778, commanding a division of Patterson's and Learned's Brigades. During this time, he wrote letters of introduction for John Adams to the French court. He was later assigned to command a division of Maryland and Delaware troops and was ordered south to the Carolinas in command of these reinforcements to engage the British during the Southern Campaign alongside Mager General Horatio Gates. During the Battle of Camden on August 16, 1780, De Kalb's horse was shot from under him, causing him to tumble to the ground. Before he could get up, he was shot three times and bayonetted repeatedly by British soldiers. Upon seeing De Kalb, Cornwallis told him, "I am sorry, sir, to see you. Not sorry that you are vanquished, but sorry to see you so badly wounded." It is reported that Cornwallis supervised the dressing of De Kalb's wounds by his own surgeons in Camden, South Carolina. As he lay dying, De Kalb was reported to have said to a British officer, "I thank you sir for your generous sympathy, but I die the death I always prayed for: the death of a soldier fighting for the rights of man." He died three days later.