Battle+of+Princeton



The Battle of Princeton began on January 3rd, 1777 shortly after the Battle of Trenton. This battle resulted with an American victory, defeating Britain near Princeton, New Jersey.

January 2, 1777, the first night of the Battle of Princeton, George Washington, Commander-in-Chief of the [|Continental Army], rejected a British attack at the [|Battle of the Assunpink Creek] in Trenton. That night, he deserted his position, enclosed around [|General Lord Cornwallis]' army, and went to attack the British base at [|Princeton]. [|Brigadier General Hugh Mercer], of the Continental Army, ran into two troops under the command of [|Lieutenant Colonel Charles Mawhood] of the British Army. Mercer and his troops were beat and Washington sent some men under General [|John Cadwalader] to endorse him. When the militia saw the movement of Mercer's men they also began to retreat. Washington rode up with reinforcements and encouraged the departing militia. Then he led his troops to attack Mawhood and his troops. Mawhood gave the order to draw back and most of the troops tried to flee to Cornwallis in Trenton.



__ **The Attack** __ When the British started to escape the battlefield, the American soldiers began to fire openly at them. The Americans were ready to attack and their plan was able to resist them for a short period of time. Cadwalader made an attempt for shoot back but it resulted poorly afterwards. Washington soon arrived with the continentals and other riflemen, ordering them to set up on the right side of the hill. Then he rode over to Cadwalader's men shouting, "Parade with us my brave fellows! There is but a handful of the enemy and we shall have them directly!" Then Cadwalader's men formed into battle formation facing Washington. As [|Daniel Hitchcock]'s New England Continentals arrived, Washington sent them to the right, where he had put the riflemen and the other continentals. Washington rode ahead on his horse and motioned the Americans forward. Then Mawhood shifted his troops slightly to the left to get out of the view of the American weapons fire. Washington granted instruction not to fire until he gave them the signal, and when they were thirty yards away. When the time was wise he turned around on his horse, facing his men and said "Halt!" and then "Fire!". After his command, the British also fired covering the field in a fog of smoke.

In Princeton, [|General John Sullivan] forced some British troops who had taken shelter in [|Nassau Hall] to withdraw, ending the battle. After the battle, Washington moved his army to Morristown, and with their third defeat in 10 days, the British abandoned southern New Jersey. With the victory at Princeton, confidence grew in the colonies and more men began to enroll in the army. The battle was the last major action of Washington's winter New Jersey campaign.



__**General Cadwalader**__
John Cadwalader was a general of great honor during the American Revolution. He tried to persuade others to question their rights as colonists since the beginning of the Revolution. Cadwalader was appointed Brigadier-General of the Pennsylvania Militia and commanded the Pennsylvania troops during the [|winter campaign of 1776-1777]. During the winter campaign he crossed the Delaware with Washington and fought against the British in the Battle of Princeton. As the war progressed, he was responsible of forming a militia from the eastern shore of Maryland. His militia eventually rejoined Washington as a volunteer to fight the Battles of Brandywine, Germantown, and Monmouth.



__**General Washington**__
[|George Washington] was the first president of the United States, but without his strong leadership in the Revolutionary War the United States might not exist. He is particularly famous for bringing his men across the[| Delaware River] at the Battle of Trenton, but he is also a major effect at the Battle of Princeton. General Washington was an outstanding soldier and had his fair share of training and practice before the American Revolution, but [|his war tactics] brought him to victory against the British militia.

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