Kate Egner recounts a recent shoot at Moores Creek Bridge, North Carolina, where on February 27, 1776, Scottish Highlander Loyalists charged patriot militia in the war’s first North Carolina battle—and last recorded Highland charge. In just 30 minutes, patriots halted the attack with musket and cannon fire, paving the way for the Halifax Resolves, the first official call for colonial independence. The American Battlefield Trust, Parks Channel, and National Park Service are using AI art, historical sources, and on-site storytelling to recreate the battle and its characters, inspiring visitors to explore The Liberty Trail.
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.
Once a simple ferry site, it gained prominence after Francis Marion, the "Swamp Fox," mustered the Williamsburg militia into his ranks in August of 1780
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.
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.
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.
An ordinary farmhouse within Monmouth, it became a hotspot during the Battle of Monmouth as Charles Lee mounted a defense against advancing British troops.
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
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
A home to a Quaker family, it served as a hospital following the Battle of Red Bank.
At this bridge, American forces under Colonel Samuel Griffin and foraging parties under Hessian Colonel Carl Ulrich von Donop clashed several times throughout December of 1776.
The Cowpens Battlefield commemorates Daniel Morgan’s victory over Banastre Tarleton on January 17, 1781.
Patriot Francis Marion earns his famous nickname — "The Swamp Fox”— after a futile chase by British Commander Banastre Tarleton