The Battle of Princeton took place on January 3, 1777. It was not one pitched battle as it had been against the Hessians at Trenton, a town in New Jersey located a few miles to the west of Princeton. It was instead a series of skirmishes, with the tide of battle swinging back and forth until the final American charge.
George Washington vs. Lord Cornwallis
Following his victory at Trenton, Gen. George Washington, commander in chief of the Continental Army, retreated back across the Delaware River, only to re-cross it several days later with 6,000 militia and Continental soldiers. His plan was to take position at Trenton and from there attack the British garrison at Princeton, New Jersey.
Gen. Lord Cornwallis, based in Princeton, set out with 8,000 British regulars to attack Washington's defenses at Trenton. Rather than face Cornwallis in a pitched battle, Washington decided to evacuate Trenton during the night, march on back roads to Princeton, and attack the British garrison left behind by Cornwallis.
American and British Troop Movements
Early on the morning of January 3rd, as the American army was approaching Princeton, Washington sent Gen. Hugh Mercer and 350 soldiers to destroy a bridge over Stony Creek, to delay Cornwallis whom he knew would be in pursuit once Cornwallis realized what Washington had done. He also sent ahead his trusted general John Sullivan to reconnoiter the environs of Princeton.
A British force under the command of Lt. Col. Charles Mawhood was positioned to the west of Stony Creek, between Cornwallis and Washington. When he sighted the main American army from a hilltop, he marched quickly to cross the bridge at Stony Creek. Gen. Mercer, realizing that Mawhood was coming up on him and marching to Princeton, moved his forces to strike Mawhood before it reached Washington's main army. When he discovered he was unable to out-flank Mawhood, Mercer decided to join forces with Gen. Sullivan.
The Battle of Princeton
As Mercer was being pursued by Mawhood's British regulars, Gen. John Cadwalader marched in with 1,100 militia. As Mawhood gathered his troops in battle-line formation to confront the Americans, Gen. Sullivan was engaged nearby in a separate skirmish with British detachments. When the British opened fore on Mercer and Cadwalader, and then charged with bayonets, the American lines broke and the militia began to flee. It was then that Washington's main army appeared on the battlefield. Riding his horse against the flow of retreating militiamen, and waving his hat in the air, he urged them to turn around and fight. Inspired by their commander's bravery, they charged the British positions, joined now by Sullivan's forces.
Now it was the British who turned and fled. A battalion of British dragoons put up a good front, but they too were overwhelmed by the advancing rebels. A number of British fled back to Princeton and took refuge in Nassau Hall at Princeton College. Capt. Alexander Hamilton blasted the building with cannon and the British came out under a white flag.
Aftermath of the American Victory
As a result of the American victory, Lord Cornwallis retreated with his army to New Brunswick, thereby abandoning New Jersey to the Americans. As was the case in Trenton, it was not a major defeat for the British, whose losses totaled fewer than 500 men. But as with Trenton, the psychological effect was to further demoralize the British and give new confidence and new enlistments to the American cause.
Sources:
The Winter Soldiers: The Battles for Trenton and Princeton by Richard M. Ketchum, Holt Paperbacks, May 1999
A Guide to the Battles of the American Revolution by Theodore P. Savas and J. David Dameron, Savas Beatie, August 2006
