illustration of a man from American Colonial era

The Liberty Trail History Makers

Join us in discovering the individuals who shaped the Revolutionary War in South Carolina. 

Biography

Elizabeth, Grace, and Rachel Martin, devoted Patriots during the Revolutionary War, disguised themselves to ambush a British courier, seizing crucial dispatches that they forwarded to General Nathanael Greene, aiding the American cause in the Southern campaigns.

Biography

Morgan’s main adversary was British Lieutenant Colonel Banastre Tarleton. Tarleton and Morgan’s forces faced each other at Cowpens in South Carolina on January 17, 1781. Morgan emerged victorious and secured his reputation as a skilled military tactician.

Biography

Rebecca Brewton Motte supported the Patriot cause by allowing her plantation to be used in a siege, even offering a bow to set her house on fire, which led to the British surrender at Fort Motte.

Biography

On June 28, 1776, the British attacked Sullivan’s Island. Against impossible odds and outnumbered 2,200 British troops to 435 soldiers within the fort, Moultrie successfully prevented land and sea invasions of Charleston. The British retreated to New York and would not return to South Carolina until 1780.

Explore South Carolina 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.
Battlefield
Sullivan's Island, SC

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

Historic Site | Historic House
Charleston, SC

Visit Historic Drayton Hall — Tour the nation’s oldest preserved plantation house in America still open to the public. Explore Drayton Hall's 18th-century architecture, landscapes & the people who lived here.

Historic Site | Historic House
Roebuck, SC

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.

Battlefield
Camden, SC

Patriot Leader Nathanael Greene Is repulsed but not defeated in his campaign to chase the British from the South Carolina backcountry

State/County Park
Lancaster, SC

Andrew Jackson State Park combines history, art and community activities into a setting that has made it one of the state’s most popular parks.

Historic Site |
Charleston, SC

An architectural treasure in its own right, the South Carolina Historical Society Museum is housed in a National Historic Landmark building and features interactive exhibits on the people, places, and movements that shaped the state and nation.

Battlefield |
Camden, SC

The Battle of Camden was a devastating defeat suffered by the Americans in the British military offensive in the South.

Battlefield
Manning, SC

Now under the man-made Lake Marion, British Lieutenant Colonel John Watson and Patriot Brigadier General Francis Marion, the “Swamp Fox,” skirmished in Wyboo Swamp near Santee Road.

Historic Site | Historic House
Georgetown, SC

Built circa 1740, Hopsewee Plantation was one of the South’s major rice plantations and the birthplace of Thomas Lynch, Jr., one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence.

Battlefield | Historic Site
Camden, SC

A former British headquarters, explore the reconstructed Kershaw/Cornwallis House, British redoubts, and programs about colonial life.

Historic Site | Historic House
Charleston, SC

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

Battlefield
Camden, SC

An ingenious Patriot deception provokes a prominent Loyalist to surrender his outpost