The Liberty Trail—South Carolina

Discover The Liberty Trail South Carolina

America’s independence was secured in South Carolina across its swamps, fields, woods and mountains. These events of 1779-1782 directly led to victory in the Revolutionary War. We call this history The Liberty Trail.

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The Liberty Trail

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Exploring the history and stories of the American Revolution.
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Liberty Trail History Makers

The Revolutionary War was a war unlike any other — one of ideas and ideals, that shaped “the course of human events. Explore the history and personalities from this pivotal time in American history.
Biography

Soon after Greene took command of the southern theater, the tide of war began to turn in favor of the Patriots. Greene and his men turned south to reconquer the South Carolina backcountry. Throughout 1781, Greene steadily drove the British back to Charleston, which they abandoned the following December.

Biography

In 1779, after a stalemate in the north, Cornwallis went south as second in command to Sir Henry Clinton. Clinton captured Charleston in May 1780. Cornwallis pressed on to defeat General Horatio Gates at Camden, South Carolina, on August 16, 1780.

Biography

Colonel Henry Rugeley was a prominent South Carolina Tory who earned a commission in the British army after the siege of Charleston in 1780.

Biography

Ferguson, inventor of the Ferguson rifle, commanded a group of Cornwallis' Loyalists he had recruited. Ferguson threatened to invade the mountains beyond the legal limit of settlement westward. The locals organized a militia and fought against the loyalist forces on October 7, 1780 in the Battle of King’s Mountain.