Battle of Princeton
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The Battle of Princeton (January 3rd, 1777) was a strategic victory for General Washington's revolutionary forces over British forces near Princeton, New Jersey. The site is administered as a state park operated and maintained by the New Jersey Division of Parks and Forestry.
Background
In the night after the Second Battle of Trenton, General Washington led the roughly 6,000 man main body of his army stealthily away from Lieutenant General Charles Cornwallis and his troops. Washington left a small detachment of 500 Pennsylvania militia behind to tend to large campfires and periodically fire volleys from two cannon, to disguise the departure of the American soldiers.
Throughout the night, the army marched over a back road toward Princeton and reached the Quaker Bridge over Stony Brook, about a mile 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 the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University). 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.
Before Greene’s wing (with 3,400 men) reached the highway, the leading brigade, 1,200 men under General Hugh Mercer of Virginia, encountered 800 men who were elements of the British 4th Brigade, accompanied by 2 light guns, under the overall command of Lieutenant Colonel Charles Mawhood. The British group was marching from Princeton to Trenton to reinforce General Leslie's 2nd Brigade. The last unit of the 4th Brigade was left to hold Princeton with another 400 men.
The Battle
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. Washington then rode straight into the British fire, personally leading the attack. As Washington charged towards the British lines, he was heard yelling
"Parade with me my brave fellows, we will have them soon!"
[5] With these reinforcements, and Washington having successfully rallied Mercer's men, the 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. A number of the British soldiers broke through the Americans in a desperate bayonet charge, continuing down the road to Trenton. Washington led some of his force in pursuit of Mawhood, but they abandoned this and turned back when some of Leslie's troops came into sight. The remainder of the British fell back into Princeton, which, along with the men already there, they defended against Sullivan's force for a while, before retreating to New Brunswick. A number of troops were left behind in Princeton. Facing overwhelming numbers and artillery fire, they surrendered. The British casualty list stated 86 killed and wounded and 200 captured. The Americans suffered 40 killed and wounded.
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 County Courthouse (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
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After the battle, Cornwallis abandoned many of his posts in New Jersey, and ordered his army to retreat to New Brunswick. The battle 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.
American historians often consider it a great victory on par with the battle of Trenton, due to the subsequent loss of control of most of New Jersey by the Crown forces as well as the important political implications of the battle across the Atlantic in France and Spain, both of which would expand their military aid to the Continental forces after the battle. However, while the British were driven from the field, they were able to execute a textbook offensive breakout and managed to avert complete disaster.[citation needed]
The site of the battlefield is south of Princeton and has become the Princeton Battlefield State Park. The wounded and dying General Mercer reportedly rested under an oak tree on the battlefield. The county containing Princeton is now named for him and a picture of the Mercer Oak is on its seal. The old tree finally died in 2000 and a replacement grown from its acorns was planted on the site.
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.
References
- Fisher, David Hackett. Washington's Crossing. Oxford University Press USA, 2004, 576 pages. ISBN 0195170342
- Ketchum, Richard. The Winter Soldiers: The Battles for Trenton and Princeton. Owl Books, 1999, 448 pages. ISBN 0805060987
