The American Revolution was decisively influenced by The Liberty Trail’s diverse terrain, spanning swamps, fields, woods, and mountains. Delve into the narrative of American Independence with blog posts surrounding The Liberty Trail.
The Boston Massacre marked the moment when political tensions between British soldiers and American colonists turned deadly. Patriots argued the event was the massacre of civilians perpetrated by the...
Archaeologist Mike Yianopoulos, based in Charleston, South Carolina, uses LiDAR technology to study the Battle of Stono Ferry site, which holds both Revolutionary War and Civil War history. LiDAR...
After the stunning victory at Trenton on December 26, 1776, Washington expected a British counterattack in force. He immediately crossed his men and prisoners back across the Delaware River into...
As night fell on January 2, 1777 both armies took a breath after the daylong fighting on the King’s Highway and at Assunpink Creek. Washington had a critical decision to make, and called a council of...
On June 28, 1778, a vicious battle raged several miles west of present-day Freehold, New Jersey. It included some of the longest sustained combat of the Revolutionary War and also witnessed the...
History has not been kind to Charles Lee, the man whom George Washington referred to as “The first officer in Military knowledge and experience we have in the whole army….” He was a conundrum of a man...
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.
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.
Fort Fair Lawn was a British outpost in 1780–1781 and was the target of a daring Patriot raid on November 17, 1781, and abandoned by the British a week later.
The Royal Governor's Mansion of New Jersey is the only remaining proprietary governor's mansion of the original Thirteen Colonies still standing today. Built in the 1760s, it served as the residence gubernatorial residence of William Franklin, Benjamin Franklin's Loyalist son.
The Caldwell Parsonage is a site of tragedy outside of the battlefield of Connecticut Farms & Springfield. The events that transpired that day still have lasting legacies for the township.
Loyalists ambush a contingent of Patriot militia at a tavern in December of 1780, leading to a massacre
Originally destroyed by a fire in 1798, this faithful reconstruction stands on the former site of the Palace and offers an 18th century interpretive experience.
On December 27, 1782, Patriot forces under Captain Richard Shreve and Captain Edward Thomas were surprised at a tavern by Loyalist raider Captain John Bacon, igniting a sharp skirmish. Though the militia gained the advantage, aid from local Loyalists allowed the wounded Bacon to escape, leaving casualties on both sides and marking what is believed to be the last land engagement of the American Revolution.
Constructed in the early 1740s, this home acted as the headquarters of Baron Von Steuben during the Continental Army's cantonment in 1779. Today, it stands as one of the few remaining Dutch structures in central New Jersey.
One of the final battles of the Southern Campaign, the Battle of Guilford Courthouse cemented the British path to final defeat at the Battle of Yorktown.
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.
Fought on November 16, 1776, the Battle of Fort Washington marked the collapse of the last American stronghold on Manhattan during the New York Campaign. Surrounded and overwhelmed, the outnumbered garrison was forced into a surrender that dealt a heavy blow to the Continental Army’s position in the region.
Once a sprawling manor complex in the New Jersey countryside belonging to Major General William Alexander, all that remains are two extant structures and the cellar of the original home.
