Battle of Princeton

Battle of Princeton
Princeton Battlefield, 2005
Conflict: Revolutionary War
Date: January 3, 1777
Location: Princeton, New Jersey
Outcome: American Victory
Combatants
United States	Britain
Commanders
General George Washington	Lieutenant General Charles Cornwallis Lieutenant Colonel Charles Mawhood
Strength
1,400	1,200
Casualties
40	195
Northern Campaign 1775–1777 Lexington and Concord – Boston – Bunker Hill – Long Island – Kip's Bay – Harlem Heights – Pell's Point – White Plains – Fort Washington – Trenton - Trenton II – Princeton - Forage War

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

Lieutenant General Charles Cornwallis had left 1,400 British troops under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Charles Mawhood in Princeton, New Jersey. Following a surprise victory at the Battle of 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 winter quarters. On December 30, he crossed the Delaware River back into New Jersey. His troops followed on January 3, 1777. Washington's Army was cornered at Trenton by the larger British army led by Gen Cornwallis. Washington's army built up their campfires that night before silently slipping away after midnight. An unsuspecting Cornwallis slumbered. He had failed to post adequate scouts to detect movements by Washington's army. Washington advanced to Princeton by a back road, where he attacked and defeated a smaller British force shortly after sunrise. Cornwallis, awakening to the sounds of cannon fire behind his position, wheeled his army to race to Princeton. But Washington's rear guard destroyed the bridge at Stony Brook, and snipers further delayed Cornwallis' army while the Continentals slipped away.

The victory at Princeton cost the British some 500 men killed, wounded or captured and greatly boosted the morale of the Continental troops, leading 8,000 new recruits to join the Continental Army. General Hugh Mercer of the Continental Army suffered multiple bayonet wounds and died nine days after the battle.