Christopher Greene, a Rhode Island militia leader and cousin of Maj. Gen. Nathanael Greene, served with distinction during the American Revolution, including defending Fort Mercer and commanding the 1st Rhode Island Regiment. He was killed in action during a 1781 battle at Pines Bridge, remembered for his valor and the role of Black soldiers in his regiment.
Soon after Greene took command of the southern theater, the tide of war began to turn in favor of the Patriots. Greene and his men turned south to reconquer the South Carolina backcountry. Throughout 1781, Greene steadily drove the British back to Charleston, which they abandoned the following December.
Colonel Samuel Griffin, a Virginia lawyer and officer in the Continental Army, played a key role in the 1776 campaign, leading militia units in New Jersey and engaging the Hessians near Mount Holly. Stricken by illness during critical battles, he later served as mayor of Williamsburg and a U.S. congressman after the war.
A wealthy merchant and political leader from Massachusetts, Hancock was a key figure in the American Revolution, serving as president of the Second Continental Congress, signing the Declaration of Independence, and later serving as governor of Massachusetts.
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.
Known worldwide as the nation's largest living history museum, Colonial Williamsburg operates the restored eighteenth-century capital of colonial Virginia.
The Dey Mansion, built around 1770, served as General George Washington’s headquarters in 1780 during a pivotal time in the American Revolution. As one of his surviving field headquarters, it offers a lasting connection to the strategic decisions, military challenges, and historic events that shaped the fight for independence.
In September 1780, Loyalist Colonel Tye captured Patriot captain Joshua Huddy after a fierce struggle. A Patriot ambush capsized their boat, allowing Huddy to escape while Tye suffered a wound that would prove fatal.
A home to a Quaker family, it served as a hospital following the Battle of Red Bank.
Stratford Hall, the birthplace of Robert E. Lee, was home to four generations of the Lee family including his Revolutionary War hero father, Henry "Light Horse Harry" Lee
McLeroth and his 64th Regiment were escorting 200 recruits from Charleston to Camden when Marion, with about 700 men, surprised them at Halfway Swamp.
Old Santee Canal Park hosts the Berkeley County Museum and Fort Fair Lawn, where in 1780, the British attacked the Patriot army stationed at Monck’s Corner.
Major John Buttrick, whose name is now the sake of this homestead, was a fourth generation American whose great-grandfather, William Buttrick, helped establish Concord in 1635. During and after the war, John Buttrick held positions in the military and upheld civic posts during the early days of the American Republic.
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.
On May 29, 1780, British commander Banastre Tarleton engaged and overwhelmed a Patriot force under the command of Abraham Buford in a dreadful defeat for the Patriots.
This last major battle of the war in the South succeeded in driving the British out of rural South Carolina.
The mansion once housed George Washington, who utilized it as his headquarters in the freezing winter of 1779.