After travelling south through rural Virginia in October 1780, Kościuszko proceeded to North Carolina to report to his former commander General Gates. Following Gates's disastrous defeat at Camden on 16 August 1780, the Continental Congress selected Washington's choice, Major General Nathanael Greene, to replace Gates as commander of the Southern Department. When Greene formally assumed command on 3 December 1780, he retained Kościuszko as his chief engineer. By then, he had been praised by both Gates and Greene.