The Liberty Trail preserves and interprets North Carolina’s historic battlefields, keeping their stories alive. To protect these unspoiled sites, the American Battlefield Trust partners with numerous valued partners at the federal, state and local levels.
Explore North Carolina's Revolutionary History
Many historians consider the Revolutionary War to have been decided in the swamps, fields, woods and mountains of the South, won by the resilience and determination of Continental soldiers and Patriot militia. Although the full story of the Southern Campaigns is not widely known, the events of 1775-1782 in the Carolinas and Georgia directly led to an American victory in the war.
The Liberty Trail is a unified path of preservation and interpretation across North Carolina designed to tell this remarkable story. These important battlefields, still largely unspoiled, deserve to be preserved and remembered.
Each stop along the driving tour features unique on-site interpretation that connects visitors to the extraordinary events that came to pass nearly 250 years ago.
Our Valued Partners
Lead Sponsor
The Liberty Trail North Carolina would not be possible without the generosity of the John William Pope Foundation. The Foundation makes grants to improve the well-being of North Carolinians by advancing the ideas of limited government, individual freedom, personal responsibility, and strong communities. We are grateful for their generosity.
Additional Thanks
The Liberty Trail North Carolina would also not be possible without numerous valued partners at the state and local levels.
We invite you to visit the preserved locations along the Liberty Trail and to immerse
yourself in the extraordinary events that determined the fate of a nation.
Patriot Francis Marion earns his famous nickname — "The Swamp Fox”— after a futile chase by British Commander Banastre Tarleton
The second engagement of the Boston Campaign, the Battle of Chelsea Creek marked a stunning defeat for the British as their resources began to dwindle in Boston.
Known as an extremely important ferry crossing in the Colonial Period, Marion fortified this ferry and frequently utilized it to quickly move his troops to lay ambushes
Built in the 1740s, this building acted as a ferry house for those wishing to cross the Delaware, including the likes of George Washington and his men on Christmas night of 1776.
Established in 1767 by the Patriot supporting Moore family. Local militia gathered at Walnut Grove prior to the Battle of Cowpens. Visitors may take guided tours of the house and grounds.
The Abingdon Muster Grounds is a 9-acre park is the site where, in 1780, 400 Virginians joined other patriot militia from the western frontier in a two-week campaign that ended with a critical victory at the Battle of Kings Mountain. The Abingdon Muster Grounds is a partner site of the Overmountain Victory National Historic Trail.
At dawn on April 19, 1775, an unknown shot shattered the silence in Lexington. British Redcoats and colonial militia clashed, leaving blood on the field. In Concord, the patriots struck back, and as the British retreated, gunfire hounded them to Boston, thus sparking the American Revolution
On December 27, 1782, Patriot forces under Captain Richard Shreve and Captain Edward Thomas were surprised at a tavern by Loyalist raider Captain John Bacon, igniting a sharp skirmish. Though the militia gained the advantage, aid from local Loyalists allowed the wounded Bacon to escape, leaving casualties on both sides and marking what is believed to be the last land engagement of the American Revolution.
Frequented by many influential figures in Boston's revolutionary history, the Old South Meeting House served as a place of public discourse that contributed to the city's role in the American Revolution
The Hampton Roads Naval Museum is one of ten U.S. Navy-run museums in the country. It highlights Virginia's naval history from the American Revolution to the present.
This park features the Lands Ford crossing, used during the Revolutionary War by both British and American troops under Cornwallis and Sumter before and after pivotal battles.
Site of the Second Viriginia Convention and Patrick Henry's famous words, "Give me liberty or give me death!"
