Reposted with permission from the Journal of the American Revolution. Written and researched by Jim Piecuch on September 12, 2024.
Losing items like buttons or keys can be frustrating, even for soldiers during the Revolutionary War. At Fort Fair Lawn, a British outpost in South Carolina, archaeologists found many objects, including a silver-plated button from the 71st British Regiment, known as "Fraser’s Highlanders." This regiment fought nearby but wasn't stationed at the fort, making the button's presence there a mystery. It could have been lost by a visiting officer or picked up by another soldier. These small artifacts help historians understand the daily lives and sacrifices of those who fought for independence.
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.
A home to a Quaker family, it served as a hospital following the Battle of Red Bank.
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
A proving ground for the Patriot cause, the infamous Battle of Bunker Hill was the first pitched battle between New England soldiers and the British. Although the British claimed the field, some 1,000 British soldiers and Marines were wounded or killed in action.
Now under the man-made Lake Marion, British Lieutenant Colonel John Watson and Patriot Brigadier General Francis Marion, the “Swamp Fox,” skirmished in Wyboo Swamp near Santee Road.
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.
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.
The oldest standing church in Boston, it once signaled lookouts in Charlestown, which triggered Paul Revere's famous ride to alert militia of the advancing British Regulars across the Massachusetts countryside.
The sound of liberty rang from this bell in the early morning of April 19, 1775, to call forth the Lexington militia. Today, a reconstructed belfry stands as a reminder of the militia's bravery and determination at 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.
The plantation & gardens bears witness to 350 years of American history. Learn about the Europeans who colonized South Carolina, and the enslaved people who worked in the rice fields and gardens.
Located on the Pennsylvania side of the Delaware River, this park commemorates Washington's planning of his famous crossing that re-ignited the spark of liberty.
An oyster-shell, “tabby,” fortress, originally constructed here during the French and Indian War, was restored, and occupied by both the British and Patriots.