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*3 JANUARY 1777*
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(the battle of princeton was a small battle in which general george washington’s revolutionary forces defeated ‘british forces’ near ‘princeton’ (/ ‘NJ’))
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*4500 americans with 35 guns*
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*1200 brits with 6 – 9 guns*
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(on the night of ‘2 january 1777’, ‘george washington’ (commander-in-chief of the ‘continental army’) repulsed a british attack at the ‘battle of the assunpink creek’ in ‘trenton’)
That night, he evacuated his position, circled around General Lord Cornwallis’ army, and went to attack the British garrison at Princeton.
brigadier General Hugh Mercer of the Continental Army clashed with two regiments under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Charles Mawhood of the British Army)
Mercer and his troops were overrun and Washington sent some militia under Brigadier General John Cadwalader to help him.
(the militia, on seeing the flight of Mercer’s men, also began to flee)
(the next day, January 3, Washington’s army was en route to Princeton, New Jersey)
While leading a vanguard of 350 soldiers, Mercer’s brigade encountered two British regiments and a mounted unit.
A fight broke out at an orchard grove and Mercer’s horse was shot from under him.
Getting to his feet, he was quickly surrounded by British troops who mistook him for George Washington and ordered him to surrender.
Outnumbered, he drew his saber and began an unequal contest.
He was finally beaten to the ground, then bayoneted repeatedly—seven times—and left for dead.
When he learned of the British attack and saw some of Mercer’s men in retreat, Washington himself entered the fray.
Washington rallied Mercer’s men and pushed back the British regiments, but Mercer had been left on the field to die with multiple bayonet wounds to his body and blows to his head.
(Legend has it that a beaten Mercer, with a bayonet still impaled in him, did not want to leave his men and the battle and was given a place to rest on a white oak tree’s trunk, while those who remained with him stood their ground)
(the tree became known as “the Mercer Oak” and is the key element of the seal of Mercer County, New Jersey)
When he was discovered, Mercer was carried to the field hospital in the Thomas Clarke House (now a museum) at the eastern end of the battlefield.
(in spite of medical efforts by Benjamin Rush, Mercer was mortally wounded and died nine days later on January 12, 1777)
(in 1840 he was re-buried at Philadelphia’s Laurel Hill Cemetery)
Because of Mercer’s courage and sacrifice, Washington was able to proceed into Princeton and defeat the British forces there.
He then moved and quartered his forces to Morristown in victory.
Because of those victories, Washington’s army re-enlisted, the French finally approved arms and supplies to the Americans and a stunned Cornwallis pulled his forces back to New York to reassess the surprising American successes.
The “crisis” had ended, America had the means to fight, and British public support for the war slowly began to wane.
A portrait by Charles Willson Peale entitled Washington at the Battle of Princeton, January 3, 1777 displays Washington in the foreground with Hugh Mercer lying mortally wounded in the background, supported by Dr. Benjamin Rush and Major George Lewis holding the American flag.
This portrait is the prize possession of Princeton University.
Ironically James Peale painted a version of “Battle of Princeton” which shows in the background a very indistinct portrait of Mercer being helped from the ground.
(reportedly the Trumbull sketch of Mercer was based on a son of General Mercer)
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 itself, 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 southern New Jersey.
(with the victory at Princeton, morale rose in the American ranks and more men began to enlist in the army)
(the battle (while considered ‘minor’ by ‘british standards’) was the last major action of washington’s ‘winter NJ campaign’)
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(part of the site of the battle is now “princeton battlefield state park”)
(a national historic landmark)
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👈👈👈☜*“THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR”* ☞ 👉👉👉
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💕💝💖💓🖤💙🖤💙🖤💙🖤❤️💚💛🧡❣️💞💔💘❣️🧡💛💚❤️🖤💜🖤💙🖤💙🖤💗💖💝💘
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*🌈✨ *TABLE OF CONTENTS* ✨🌷*
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🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥*we won the war* 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥