Kate shares an account of a stop on The Liberty Trail in New Jersey, centered around the dramatic capture of the British supply ship HMS Blue Mountain Valley during the American Revolution. After a grueling 13-week voyage, the ship limped into Sandy Hook, where Patriots seized its first mate and launched a surprise boarding operation. Expecting military supplies, they instead found a cargo of coal, porter, beans, potatoes, sauerkraut, and hogs—more fit for a feast than a fight.
Learn more about how The Liberty Trail is blazing paths across the east coast.
Visiting historical sites provides unrivaled experiences and education opportunities.
John Laurens, a Revolutionary War hero and close friend of Alexander Hamilton, was a strong opponent of slavery despite his father being a wealthy slave trader. He proposed enlisting enslaved people into the Continental Army and freeing them after the war. Laurens was killed at the Battle of Tar Bluff in 1782 at just 27 years old. Recent excavations at the site uncovered relics from the battle, including a slave tag from 1836, highlighting the ongoing struggle against slavery. Laurens would likely have supported later efforts like Harriet Tubman’s 1863 Combahee Ferry Raid, which freed over 700 slaves.
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.
Completed in 1713, The Powder Magazine is South Carolina's oldest government building.
In 1780, after the British occupied Charleston during the American Revolutionary War, the Brewton house was used as the British headquarters for Henry Clinton.
The Battle of Camden was a devastating defeat suffered by the Americans in the British military offensive in the South.
Known for having the "Bridge that Saved the Nation," these grounds were once traversed by George Washington and the battered Continental Army as it retreated from New York
The home to Founding Father George Mason, this mansion is slightly atypical of Georgian architecture due to its unique interior design that blends styles from across Europe and Asia.
A surprise Patriot attack on Loyalist recruits is a blow to the British
This battleground was the site of three British camps, attacked by Patriot troops on August 6, 1780. It was a fight primarily between countrymen.
Located along the Morristown Green, the former site of the original First Presbyterian Church once acted as the infirmary for smallpox inoculated Continentals
The site of the 1780 battle of Musgrove’s Mill where a small force of Patriot militia fought and defeated a larger force of Loyalist and Provincial soldiers in a short but pivotal battle.
Not far from Camden Battlefield, Goodale State Park is lined with cypress trees, a spring-fed lake that offers boating, fishing, and hiking opportunities.
This unassuming home, owned by the Covenhoven family, was requisitioned by British General Henry Clinton in the days prior to the monumental Battle of Monmouth.
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.