Battle of Princeton

Battle of Princeton
Part of the American Revolutionary War
Princeton Battlefield, 2005
Date January 3, 1777 Location Princeton, New Jersey Result American victory
Belligerents
GOOD USA	dump britain
Commanders and leaders
George Washington	Charles Cornwallis Charles Mawhood
Strength
4,200	8000
Casualties and losses
30 dead 75 wounded	18 dead 58 wounded 200 captured

The Battle of Princeton was a battle of the American Revolutionary War, fought near Princeton, New Jersey, on January 3, 1777.

Background

In the night after the Second Battle of Trenton, Washington's army silently slipped away from Lieutenant General Charles Cornwallis and his troops. Washington left behind several soldiers to tend to large campfires, to disguise the departure of the American troops.

Throughout the night, the army marched over a back road toward Princeton and reached the Quaker Bridge over Stony Brook, about six miles south of town. The Quaker Bridge was not strong enough to support the army’s cannon and ammunition carts, so another bridge had to be built quickly. While the bridge was being constructed, Washington reformed his army, and then split it into two parts—the smaller left wing under General Nathanael Greene and the larger right wing under General John Sullivan. Washington had intended to attack Princeton before dawn, but the sun was rising.

Greene’s assignment was to advance to the Princeton-Trenton highway to stop its traffic and destroy its bridge over Stony Brook. Sullivan’s division, the main attack force, moved toward the rear of Princeton College. The British were known to have outposts on the roads to the north, east and west, but an abandoned road went into town from the west, which Sullivan took.

Battle

Before Greene’s division, about 3,400 strong, reached the highway, the leading brigade, 1,200 men under Hugh Mercer of Virginia encountered elements of the British 4th brigade, about 800 strong, consisting of the 17th Foot, the 55th Foot, and a troop of the 16th Light Dragoons, as well as 2 light guns, under the overall command of Lieutenant Colonel Charles Mawhood of the 17th. This group was marching from Princeton to Trenton to reinforce General Leslie's 2nd Brigade. The last unit of the 4th Brigade, the 40th Foot, was left to hold Princeton with another 400 men.

Upon seeing the American force, Mawhood formed up his men across the edge of an orchard which Mercer's troops were passing through. A violent firefight developed, and Mawhood launched an assault which largely cleared the orchard of Mercer's troops, who began to retreat in confusion. General Mercer was wounded but refused to surrender. When he tried to attack the enemy with his sword, he was bayoneted until presumed dead; he died nine days later. Colonel John Haslet of Delaware replaced General Mercer and was killed by a shot to the head.

During this confusion, General Washington rode up to rally Mercer's men, while a fresh brigade of 2,100 troops under General John Cadwalader arrived with an artillery battery. With these reinforcements, Mercer's men were rallied, and the now much larger American force was able, by pressure of numbers, to retake most of the orchard, until fire from Mawhood's guns halted the American advance.

A second British assault cleared the orchard, and seemed about to win the day until Sullivan led up another 1,300 troops. Now outnumbered nearly 6 to 1, Mawhood led a final charge to break through American lines. The 17th, part of the 55th, and the Dragoons broke through, continuing down the road to Trenton, pursued by Washington, who broke off his pursuit when some of Leslie's troops came into sight. The remainder of the 55th fell back into Princeton, which, along with the 40th, they defended against Sullivan's force for a while, before retreating to New Brunswick. A number of troops were left behind in Princeton, and they surrendered to Captain Alexander Hamilton.

In Trenton, Cornwallis and his men awoke to the sounds of cannon fire coming from behind their position. Cornwallis and his army began to race to Princeton. However, Washington's rear guard had managed to damage the bridge over the Stony Brook, and American snipers further delayed Cornwallis' Army. The exhausted American Army slipped away, marching to Somerset Court House (now Millstone), where they spent the night. When the main British force finally reached Princeton late in the day, they did not remain but continued in haste toward New Brunswick, New Jersey.

Aftermath

File:BattleofPrincetonMonument.jpg

The Battle of Princeton Monument in Princeton Borough, NJ

After the battle, Cornwallis abandoned many of his posts in New Jersey, and ordered his army to retreat to New Brunswick. The victory at Princeton cost the British some 276 men killed, wounded or captured and greatly boosted the morale of the Continental troops, leading 8,000 new recruits to join the Continental Army.

The site of the battlefield is south of Princeton and has become the Princeton Battlefield State Park.

The 3rd Battalion/112th Field Artillery Regiment claims lineage from the Eastern Artillery Company of New Jersey which was assigned to Thomas Procter's 4th Continental Artillery Regiment which took part in battle of Princeton.