Johann Ewald, a Hessian captain, served in several significant Revolutionary War battles, including White Plains, Bound Brook, and the failed attack on Fort Mercer. He later fought at Yorktown, where he surrendered with the British forces. His detailed wartime diary and maps provide invaluable insights into his experiences in America.
Ferguson, inventor of the Ferguson rifle, commanded a group of Cornwallis' Loyalists he had recruited. Ferguson threatened to invade the mountains beyond the legal limit of settlement westward. The locals organized a militia and fought against the loyalist forces on October 7, 1780 in the Battle of King’s Mountain.
Rebekah Howe Fiske Merriam, a witness to the fighting during the Battles of Lexington and Concord, lived through significant personal and historical events, later remarrying and passing away in 1845.
William Franklin, the loyalist governor of New Jersey and son of Benjamin Franklin, remained devoted to Britain throughout the American Revolution, even as his father supported the revolutionary cause.
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 site of the 1775 Battle of Williamson's Fort and a critical outpost for the British after they captured Charleston in 1780, the colonial town of Ninety Six was also the setting of a 28-day siege in 1781. Here, Nathanael Greene’s Patriots attacked the heart of Loyalist commander John Cruger’s defenses — the Star Fort.
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 Battle of Mount Holly, also known as Iron Works Hill, fought on December 23, 1776, was a minor skirmish in which Hessian Colonel Carl von Donop occupied the town, diverting his forces from Trenton and indirectly contributing to Washington’s victory there three days later.
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.
Colt's Neck, occupied by Patriots until October of 1778, was a privateer outpost utilized as a staging point for planning and executing the capture of several British naval vessels.
A proving ground for the Patriot cause, the infamous Battle of Bunker Hill was the first pitched battle between New England soldiers and the British. Although the British claimed the field, some 1,000 British soldiers and Marines were wounded or killed in action.
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.
After crossing the Delaware, George Washington's ten-day campaign culminated in a decisive victory at the Battle of Princeton on January 3, 1777, proving his army could defeat the British. The battle saw Washington's forces overcome initial setbacks to rout the British and shift the momentum of the war
One of the oldest public buildings in the United States, the Old State House was the seat of government in Massachusetts leading up to the Revolution and after the consolidation of the States. Infamously, the Boston Massacre happened just beyond its steps.
Known worldwide as the nation's largest living history museum, Colonial Williamsburg operates the restored eighteenth-century capital of colonial Virginia.
Nassau Hall, once the largest stone building in the colonies, housed the College of New Jersey, now known as Princeton. During the Battle of Princeton in 1777, British troops fortified the building as a last stand defense.
