Trail Sites

Liberty Trail Historic Sites

Discover the myriad of sites across The Liberty Trail where significant cultural and Revolutionary history unfolded. From military ruins to meticulously restored mansions, immerse yourself in the footsteps of our nation’s history-makers.

States of Interest:
South Carolina
Historic Site | Fort/Outpost
Charleston, SC

One of the many forts that dotted the landscape around Charleston, Patriots seized this fortification and raised the Moultrie flag, which bears...

South Carolina
Battlefield | Fort/Outpost
Gaffney, SC

A station constructed during high tensions with the Cherokee, this fortification was utilized by Loyalists until July of 1780.

South Carolina
Battlefield | Historic Site
Summerton, SC

After an eight-day siege, this strategic outpost fell to the Americans, who used an ingenious structure called Maham’s Tower to fire down into the...

South Carolina
National Park | Historic Site
Huger, SC

The Francis Marion is a forest literally steeped in history. Marion, dubbed the “Swamp Fox” by the British troops whose supply lines he disrupted with...

South Carolina
Historic Site
Pineville, SC

Francis Marion was a skilled military leader during the American Revolutionary War, known for his guerilla tactics and strategic maneuvers in the...

South Carolina
Historic Site
Sullivan's Island, SC

William Moultrie died in 1805 and was buried in the family cemetery. In 1977, his remains were moved to Sullivan's Island within Fort Moultrie.

South Carolina
Historic Site
Gaffney, SC
South Carolina
State/County Park | Historic House
McClellanville, SC

This 18th-century plantation home, on the grounds of the Hampton Plantation State Historic Site, served as a place of refuge for Francis Marion who...

South Carolina
Historic Site | Historic House
Clemson, SC

Built in 1716 for Paul de St. Julien in Berkeley County. The house was later dismantled and moved to Clemson University and functions as a house...

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

On June 28, 1776, the British attacked Sullivan’s Island. Against impossible odds and outnumbered 2,200 British troops to 435 soldiers within the fort, Moultrie successfully prevented land and sea invasions of Charleston. The British retreated to New York and would not return to South Carolina until 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.

Biography

At the Battle of Camden, British General Lord Cornwallis routed Gates’s army and captured nearly 1,000 men, including their supplies, baggage, and artillery. There was no organized retreat, and Gates rode near 170 miles north in three days to flee. It destroyed his reputation and his new southern army.

Exploring 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.
State/County Park
Lancaster, SC

Andrew Jackson State Park combines history, art and community activities into a setting that has made it one of the state’s most popular parks.

Battlefield | Historic Site
Charleston, SC

As part of their Southern Campaign, the British set their sights on taking the vital port of Charleston.

Battlefield
McConnells, SC

Huck’s Defeat occurred on July 12, 1780. The battleground is on the site of Historic Brattonsville, a former colonial plantation.

Historic Site |
Gresham, SC

Loyalists ambush a contingent of Patriot militia at a tavern in December of 1780, leading to a massacre

Historic Site
Pineville, SC

Francis Marion was a skilled military leader during the American Revolutionary War, known for his guerilla tactics and strategic maneuvers in the Southern Campaign. His contributions to the war effort and his enduring legacy as a symbol of American resilience and military ingenuity remain today.

Battlefield | Historic Site
Moncks Corner, SC

Eighteenth-century Moncks Corner was a crossroads settlement of stores and taverns at the intersection of the Cherokee Path (the Indian traders’ path) and the road from Charleston to Santee. A powder magazine was established in 1760 and the village was occupied as a store depot by the British during the Revolutionary War.

Battlefield
Pinewood, SC

McLeroth and his 64th Regiment were escorting 200 recruits from Charleston to Camden when Marion, with about 700 men, surprised them at Halfway Swamp.

Battlefield
Enoree, SC

British Lieutenant Colonel Banastre Tarleton pushed up the Enoree River hot on the trail of Patriot Brigadier General Thomas Sumter.

State/County Park
Catawba, SC

This park features the Lands Ford crossing, used during the Revolutionary War by both British and American troops under Cornwallis and Sumter before and after pivotal battles.

National Park | Historic Site
Gaffney, SC
Stretching 330-miles through four states (Virginia, Tennessee, North and South Carolina) the Overmountain Victory National Historic Trail traces the route used by Patriot militia during the pivotal...
Battlefield | National Park
Ninety Six, SC

The site of the 1775 Battle of Williamson's Fort and a critical outpost for the British after they captured Charleston in 1780, the colonial town of Ninety Six was also the setting of a 28-day siege in 1781. Here, Nathanael Greene’s Patriots attacked the heart of Loyalist commander John Cruger’s defenses — the Star Fort.

Battlefield | State/County Park
Summerville, SC

An oyster-shell, “tabby,” fortress, originally constructed here during the French and Indian War, was restored, and occupied by both the British and Patriots.