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 Francis Marion is a forest literally steeped in history. Marion, dubbed the “Swamp Fox” by the British troops whose supply lines he disrupted with surprise attacks from the swamps.
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.
The Battles of Connecticut Farms and Springfield were small but at the same time significant. It proved that New Jersey militia would stubbornly oppose any attempt by the British to move inland. The battles also showed that militia and Continental regular troops could work well together.
Waiting on British troops to arrive on the morning of April 19, militia members used this tavern to wait for their arrival before assembling on the field of battle and sparking the American Revolution
Located on the Princeton Battlefield, this home served as a field hospital in the wake of the battle. At this site, Patriot officer Hugh Mercer died while in care from fatal wounds sustained during the decisive engagement.
The Patriots launch a misguided attack on British troops retreating from an aborted raid on Charleston
Completed in 1713, The Powder Magazine is South Carolina's oldest government building.
At dawn on April 19, 1775, an unknown shot shattered the silence in Lexington. British Redcoats and colonial militia clashed, leaving blood on the field. In Concord, the patriots struck back, and as the British retreated, gunfire hounded them to Boston, thus sparking the American Revolution
Boone Hall was influential in the history of South Carolina. Explore the house and grounds of this Colonial Plantation, as well as a live presentation of the Gullah Culture adapted by African slaves.
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.
During the British occupation of Charleston in 1781, these grounds were part of a British outpost to supply ammunition and provisions to patrolling British troops.
The Piedmont’s Kings Mountain State Park has miles of forested trails perfect for supreme Kings Mountain hiking, two fishing lakes, and sits adjacent to Kings Mountain National Military Park, one of many national park Revolutionary War sites.