After the British victory at the Battle of Camden in August 1780, Major Patrick Ferguson was dispatched to the Southern Colonies. His task was to recruit members to fight for the Loyalist militia and protect Cornwallis’s left flank as he attempted to move through the Carolinas.
Despite the prominent role Cornwallis played in the Revolution, Henry Clinton was blamed for the loss of the American colonies following the surrender at Yorktown.
In 1779, after a stalemate in the north, Cornwallis went south as second in command to Sir Henry Clinton. Clinton captured Charleston in May 1780. Cornwallis pressed on to defeat General Horatio Gates at Camden, South Carolina, on August 16, 1780.
Captain Isaac Davis, a Massachusetts Minuteman leader, was the first American officer killed in the Revolutionary War at the Battle of Concord on April 19, 1775.
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.
The primary approach to Norfolk, Virginia, was over Great Bridge, which spanned the Elizabeth River. On the morning of December 9, 1775, British soldiers attacked Patriot forces near the bridge in an attempt to seize the bridge and run off the rebels.
A 94-foot monument now marks the spot that where the Battle of Monmouth commenced on June 28, 1778. A series of bronze plaques line the monument that depict famous scenes from the engagement.
Francis Marion was a skilled military leader during the American Revolutionary War, known for his guerilla tactics and strategic maneuvers in the Southern Campaign. His contributions to the war effort and his enduring legacy as a symbol of American resilience and military ingenuity remain today.
Located on the Pennsylvania side of the Delaware River, this park commemorates Washington's planning of his famous crossing that re-ignited the spark of liberty.
The sound of liberty rang from this bell in the early morning of April 19, 1775, to call forth the Lexington militia. Today, a reconstructed belfry stands as a reminder of the militia's bravery and determination at the Battle of Lexington and Concord.
The plantation & gardens bears witness to 350 years of American history. Learn about the Europeans who colonized South Carolina, and the enslaved people who worked in the rice fields and gardens.
Eighteenth-century Moncks Corner was a crossroads settlement of stores and taverns at the intersection of the Cherokee Path (the Indian traders’ path) and the road from Charleston to Santee. A powder magazine was established in 1760 and the village was occupied as a store depot by the British during the Revolutionary War.
The mansion once housed George Washington, who utilized it as his headquarters in the freezing winter of 1779.
An ordinary farmhouse within Monmouth, it became a hotspot during the Battle of Monmouth as Charles Lee mounted a defense against advancing British troops.
Once the training ground for British troops in Boston, it was from here that Regulars marched toward Lexington & Concord, sparking the American Revolution.
This last major battle of the war in the South succeeded in driving the British out of rural South Carolina.
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.