A passionate advocate for liberty, Adams rallied resistance to British rule, organized protests like the Boston Tea Party, and championed colonial rights. He later signed the Declaration of Independence and served as Massachusetts’ governor.
William Alexander, known as “Lord Stirling,” was a wealthy New Yorker who claimed a Scottish title and became a key Continental Army officer during the Revolutionary War, earning distinction at the Battle of Long Island and later serving in major campaigns like Princeton and Brandywine. Despite his aristocratic airs, he proved a loyal patriot and capable commander, ultimately dying of gout in 1783 just before the war’s end.
Enlsaved in the midst of the American Revolution, James Armistead was recruited by Patriot forces to spy on Cornwallis and the British War Department during the Siege of Yorktown.
Regarded as the first martyr of the American Revolution, Crispus Attucks was the first to fall in the Boston Massacre on March 5, 1770. Of African and Native American descent, he became a powerful symbol of the fight for liberty, later embraced by abolitionists as a hero of both American independence and the struggle for equality.
Uncovering History
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.
On May 29, 1780, British commander Banastre Tarleton engaged and overwhelmed a Patriot force under the command of Abraham Buford in a dreadful defeat for the Patriots.
Known worldwide as the nation's largest living history museum, Colonial Williamsburg operates the restored eighteenth-century capital of colonial Virginia.
After the Siege of Charleston in 1780, the British established a headquarters at the Kershaw/Cornwallis House. Today the house and grounds are open to tours.
The home of a prominent Philadelphia merchant, this was the largest home built in New Jersey during the Revolution. During the Continental Army's encampment at Middleburg, it served as George Washington's Headquarters.
The site of the 1780 battle of Musgrove’s Mill where a small force of Patriot militia fought and defeated a larger force of Loyalist and Provincial soldiers in a short but pivotal battle.
The Battle of Monmouth took place on June 28, 1778, between the Continental Army and British forces, and is now preserved as Monmouth Battlefield State Park.
The mansion once housed George Washington, who utilized it as his headquarters in the freezing winter of 1779.
The Battle of the Capes occurred around the mouth of Chesapeake Bay in 1781. The naval battle occurred between the French and the British navies. Even though the battle lasted two hours, it played a significant role in the Siege of Yorktown's success, ultimately leading to the United States' independence.
This tavern marked the turning point of Washington's advance against Henry Clinton's column. It was here that the order was given to Charles Lee to attack the next morning, June 28, 1778, thus commencing the Battle of Monmouth.
Used by both sides during the Battle of Lexington and Concord, the Munroe Tavern, it was most famously used Hugh Percy during his relief march to aid the retreating British column from Concord.
Fort Fair Lawn was a British outpost in 1780–1781 and was the target of a daring Patriot raid on November 17, 1781, and abandoned by the British a week later.
The Battle of Camden was a devastating defeat suffered by the Americans in the British military offensive in the South.