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.
During the Battle of Camden, when the American line collapsed, de Kalb and his infantry remained on the field. De Kalb led a counterattack in an attempt to stem the tide but the British swarmed around the American. As Gates’s army retreated, de Kalb fell and was taken to Camden where he died in 3 days.
Peter Harris, a Catawba Indian who survived a devastating smallpox epidemic as a child, served bravely in the Continental Army during the American Revolution, fighting in key battles like Stono Ferry and Rocky Mount; despite his contributions, he later petitioned South Carolina for a pension, poignantly describing himself as "one of the lingering embers of an almost extinguished race," and was granted $60 a year just before his death in 1823.
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.
Robert Kirkwood served at major battles of the Revolution, including Monmouth, Camden, and Cowpens, where Kirkwood led his Delawareans to play a decisive role in Daniel Morgan’s victory. Kirkwood went on to lead his men at Guilford Courthouse, Hobkirk Hill, Ninety-Six, and Eutaw Springs.
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.
Middleton Place is America’s Oldest Landscaped Gardens and home to a signer of the Declaration of Independence.
Former Plantation of Henry Laurens: Merchant, Slave Trader, South Carolina Statesman, and Father of Revolutionary War Soldier John Laurens.
The Patriots Take Provisions and Prisoners in a Surprise Attack on a British Supply Depot.
A surprise Patriot attack on Loyalist recruits is a blow to the British
During the British occupation of Charleston in 1781, these grounds were part of a British outpost to supply ammunition and provisions to patrolling British troops.
Old Santee Canal Park hosts the Berkeley County Museum and Fort Fair Lawn, where in 1780, the British attacked the Patriot army stationed at Monck’s Corner.
The Patriots launch a misguided attack on British troops retreating from an aborted raid on Charleston
Completed in 1713, The Powder Magazine is South Carolina's oldest government building.
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 hid here from when British troops.
Santee State Park offers biking and hiking trails and pontoon boat tours of the flooded cypress forest on Lake Marion, named after Revolutionary War hero Francis Marion, the “Swamp Fox”.