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.
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 the training ground for British troops in Boston, it was from here that Regulars marched toward Lexington & Concord, sparking the American Revolution.
The Battle of Camden was a devastating defeat suffered by the Americans in the British military offensive in the South.
One of the last Virginia land battles of the Revolution prior to Yorktown, Green Spring saw Anthony Wayne and the Marquis de Lafayette successfully lead their troops to victory against an ambush laid by Charles Cornwallis.
As part of their Southern Campaign, the British set their sights on taking the vital port of Charleston.
The Patriots Take Provisions and Prisoners in a Surprise Attack on a British Supply Depot.
Patriot Leader Nathanael Greene Is repulsed but not defeated in his campaign to chase the British from the South Carolina backcountry
This last major battle of the war in the South succeeded in driving the British out of rural South Carolina.
Located along the banks of the Hudson, outnumbered Patriot forces quickly evacuated this site on November 20, 1776, as the British army advanced on their position.
The site of the famous "Shot Heard Around the World," the Old North Bridge served as the flashpoint of the American Revolution. To this day, historians debate who fired the first shot, here, which led to the Battle of Lexington and Concord.
Site of the Second Viriginia Convention and Patrick Henry's famous words, "Give me liberty or give me death!"
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
In 1780, after the British occupied Charleston during the American Revolutionary War, the Brewton house was used as the British headquarters for Henry Clinton.