Battle of Princeton
The Battle of Princeton was a battle of the American Revolutionary War, fought near Princeton, New Jersey on January 3, 1777, and ending in a small victory for the Colonials. General Lord Cornwallis had left 1,400 British troops under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Charles Mawhood in Princeton. Following a surprise attack at Trenton early in the morning of December 26, 1776, General George Washington of the Continental Army decided to attack the British in New Jersey before entering the winter quarters. On December 30, he crossed the Delaware River back into New Jersey. His troops followed on January 3, 1777. Washington advanced to Princeton by a back road, where he pushed back a smaller British force but had to retreat before Cornwallis arrived with reinforcements. The battles of Trenton and Princeton boosted the morale of the patriot cause, leading many recruits to join the Continental Army in the spring.
After defeating the Hessians at the Battle of Trenton on the morning of December 26, 1776, Washington withdrew back to Pennsylvania. He subsequently decided to attack the British forces before going into winter quarters. On December 29, he led his army back into Trenton. On the night of January 2, 1777, Washington repulsed a British attack at the Battle of the Assunpink Creek. That night, he evacuated his position, circled General Cornwallis' army, and attacked the British garrison at Princeton.
On January 3, Brigadier General Hugh Mercer of the Continental Army clashed with two regiments under the command of Mawhood. Mercer and his troops were overrun, and Mercer was mortally wounded. The British demanded a surrender, believing Mercer to be Washington. After he declined, Mercer was stabbed 7 times with a bayonet. Washington sent a brigade of militia under Brigadier General John Cadwalader to help them. On seeing the flight of Mercer's men, the militia began to flee. Washington rode up with reinforcements and rallied the fleeing militia. He then led the attack on Mawhood's troops, driving them back. Mawhood gave the order to retreat, and most of the troops tried to flee to Cornwallis in Trenton.
In Princeton, Brigadier General John Sullivan encouraged some British troops who had taken refuge in Nassau Hall to surrender, ending the battle. After the battle, Washington moved his army to Morristown, and with their third defeat in 10 days, the British evacuated Central Jersey. The battle was the last major action of Washington's winter New Jersey campaign.
Background
Victories at Trenton
On the night of December 25–26, 1776, General George Washington, Commander-in-chief of the Continental Army, led 2,400 men across the Delaware River. After a nine-mile march, they seized the town of Trenton on the morning of December 26, killing or wounding over 100 Hessians and capturing 900 more. Soon after capturing the town, Washington led the army back across the Delaware into Pennsylvania. On December 29, Washington once again led the army across the river and established a defensive position at Trenton. On December 31, Washington appealed to his men, whose enlistments expired at the end of the year, "Stay for just six more weeks for an extra bounty of ten dollars." His appeal worked, and most of the men agreed to stay. Also that day, Washington learned that Congress had voted to give him wide-ranging powers for six months that are often described as dictatorial.In response to the loss at Trenton, General Cornwallis left New York City and reassembled a British force of more than 9,000 at Princeton to oppose Washington. Leaving 1,200 men under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Mawhood at Princeton, Cornwallis left Princeton on January 2 in command of 8,000 men to attack Washington's army of 6,000 troops. Washington sent troops to skirmish with the approaching British to delay their advance. It was almost nightfall by the time the British reached Trenton. After three failed attempts to cross the bridge over the Assunpink Creek, beyond which were the primary American defenses, Cornwallis called off the attack until the next day.
Evacuation
During the night, Washington called a council of war and asked his officers whether they should stand and fight, attempt to cross the river somewhere, or take the back roads to attack Princeton. Although the idea had already occurred to Washington, he learned from Arthur St. Clair and John Cadwalader that his plan to attack Princeton was indeed possible. Two intelligence collection efforts, both of which came to fruition at the end of December 1776, supported such a surprise attack. After consulting with his officers, they agreed that the best option was to attack Princeton.Washington ordered that the excess baggage be taken to Burlington where it could be sent to Pennsylvania. The ground had frozen, making it possible to move the artillery without it sinking into the ground. By midnight, the plan was complete, with the baggage on its way to Burlington and the guns wrapped in heavy cloth to stifle noise and prevent the British from learning of the evacuation. Washington left 500 men behind with two cannon to patrol, keep the fires burning, and to work with picks and shovels to make the British think that they were digging in. Before dawn, these men were to join up with the main army.
By 2:00 am, the entire army was in motion roughly along Quaker Bridge Road through what is now Hamilton Township. The men were ordered to march with silence. Along the way, a rumor was spread that they were surrounded, and some frightened militiamen fled for Philadelphia. The march was difficult, as some of the route ran through thick woods and it was icy, causing horses to slip and men to break through ice on ponds.
Plan of attack
As dawn came, the army approached a stream called Stony Brook. The road the army took followed Stony Brook for a mile farther until it intersected the Post Road from Trenton to Princeton. However, off to the right of this road, there was an unused road that crossed the farmland of Thomas Clark. The road was not visible from the Post Road and ran through cleared land to a stretch from which the town could be entered at any point because the British had left it undefended.However, Washington was running behind schedule as he had planned to attack and capture the British outposts before dawn and capture the garrison shortly afterward. By the time dawn broke, he was still two miles from the town. According to the standard account of the battle, Washington sent 350 men under the command of Brigadier General Hugh Mercer to destroy the bridge over Stony Brook in order to delay Cornwallis's army when he found out that Washington had escaped. According to a newer analysis, however, Brigadier General Thomas Mifflin was tasked with the bridge, and Mercer's forces did not break off from the main column until later.
Shortly before 8:00 am, Washington wheeled the rest of the army to the right down the unused road. First in the column went General John Sullivan's division, consisting of Arthur St. Clair's and Isaac Sherman's brigades. Following them were John Cadwalader's brigade and then Daniel Hitchcock's.
Mawhood's reaction
Cornwallis had sent orders to Mawhood to bring the 17th and 55th British regiments to join his army in the morning. Mawhood had moved out from Princeton to fulfill these orders when his troops climbed the hill south of Stony Brook and sighted the main American army. Unable to figure out the size of the American army because of the wooded hills, he sent a rider to warn the 40th British Regiment, which he had left in Princeton, then wheeled the 17th and 55th Regiments around and headed back to Princeton. That day, Mawhood had called off the patrol which was to reconnoiter the area from which Washington was approaching.Mercer received word that Mawhood was leading his troops back to Princeton. Mercer, on orders from Washington, moved his column to the right to hit the British before they could confront Washington's main army. Mercer moved towards Mawhood's rear, but when he realized he would not be able to cut off Mawhood in time, he decided to join Sullivan. When Mawhood learned that Mercer was in his rear and moving to join Sullivan, Mawhood detached part of the 55th Regiment to join the 40th Regiment in the town and then moved the rest of the 55th, the 17th, fifty cavalry, and two artillery pieces to attack Mercer.