A career military officer under the French crown, the Comte de Rochambeau led 5,500 French troops to North America to aid in the Patriots' fight for independence from Britain.
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.
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.
In the final days of the Revolutionary War, Rockingham became General George Washington’s last wartime headquarters, where he penned his Farewell Orders to the Armies of the United States. As he prepared to step away from military command, news arrived that the Treaty of Paris had been signed, securing America’s independence.
A hidden gem in the borough of Princeton, the Bainbridge House was constructed in the mid-1760s and stands as a hallmark of colonial architecture. Today, it acts as a museum and interpretive center.
New Jersey militia and Continentals assaulted a British column in-and-around these grounds in mid-June of 1778, just days before a continued series of skirmishes reached their zenith at the Battle of Monmouth.
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.
The Harrington House belonged to that of Jonathan Harrington whom, according to local history, crawled back to his house to pass in his wife's arms after being mortally wounded during the Battle of Lexington and Concord
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.
Owned and operated by German immigrants, this site once housed one of the largest ironworks in the colonies that supplied the Continental Army. Started in 1766, it was in operation for over a century.
This historic house museum was the home of Thomas Heyward, Jr., one of four South Carolina signers of the Declaration of Independence.
Along the banks of the Hudson, one can walk in the steps of Cornwallis' army, which landed at this spot to chase the Continental Army through New Jersey.
A precursor movement to the Battle of Monmouth, this Quaker meeting house was surrounded by the encampment of British troops under Alexander Leslie in mid-June of 1778.
A small victory for the Continental Army, the Battle of Paulus Hook won the reassurances of the Patriots and compelled many to continue the fight for independence.
Renowned for Gen. George Washington's daring crossing of the Delaware River on a frigid Christmas night, Trenton marked the start of the Ten Crucial Days—a series of bold victories that reignited hope in the Revolutionary cause.