The Liberty Trail History Makers

Treacherous waters and Patriot fire foil a British attack on Charleston Harbor

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.

Yorktown was George Washington's decisive victory over General Lord Charles Cornwallis. Learn about the last major land battle of the American Revolutionary War.

In 1780, after the British occupied Charleston during the American Revolutionary War, the Brewton house was used as the British headquarters for Henry Clinton.

Historic home of Henry K. Van Rensselaer, Lieutenant Colonel, 6th Regiment of the Albany County militia at the Battle of Fort Anne.

In March of 1781, much of the Continental Army was hunting for the traitor, Benedict Arnold. In mid-March, Lafayette was sent south from the Elk River in Maryland with a detachment of troops to...

Patriot forces under Marinus Willett struck a decisive blow against Loyalist troops led by John Butler in one of the war’s final northern engagements. Though the enemy slipped away under cover of darkness, the clash shattered Loyalist strength in the Mohawk Valley and effectively ended organized resistance on that frontier.

The Johnson Hall State Historic Site was the home of Sir William Johnson, the British Superintendent of Indian Affairs in the Province of New York and a Major General who fought in King George’s War and the French and Indian War.

One of the many forts that dotted the landscape around Charleston, Patriots seized this fortification and raised the Moultrie flag, which bears resemblance to the modern standard of South Carolina.

Loyalists ambush a contingent of Patriot militia at a tavern in December of 1780, leading to a massacre

Fort Ontario was a staging ground for the British’s 1777 invasion of New York. It served as a base of operations for British, Native, and Loyalist raiding parties targeting upstate New York. In 1782, the British committed a full-time garrison to the fort.

President James Monroe invited the Marquis de Lafayette to visit the United States, his adopted country. Lafayette’s tour of all 24 states in 1824 and 1825 drew large crowds and sparked a renewal of...