Princeton Battlefield - Princeton, NJ
N 40° 19.730 W 074° 40.485
18T E 527629 N 4464306
The Battle of Princeton was a battle of the American Revolutionary War, fought near Princeton, New Jersey, on January 2, 1777. The site is administered as a state park operated and maintained by the New Jersey Division of Parks and Forestry.
Waymark Code: WM2NPN
Location: New Jersey, United States
Date Posted: 11/26/2007
Views: 34
In the night after the Second Battle of Trenton, General 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 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 Nathaniel 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.
Street address:
Mercer Road
Princeton Battlefield State Park
Princeton, NJ USA
08550
County / Borough / Parish: Mercer County
Year listed: 1966
Historic (Areas of) Significance: Event
Periods of significance: 1750-1799
Historic function: Defense
Current function: Landscape
Primary Web Site: [Web Link]
Secondary Website 1: [Web Link]
Privately owned?: Not Listed
Season start / Season finish: Not listed
Hours of operation: Not listed
Secondary Website 2: Not listed
National Historic Landmark Link: Not listed
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Visit Instructions:
Please give the date and brief account of your visit. Include any additional observations or information that you may have, particularly about the current condition of the site. Additional photos are highly encouraged, but not mandatory.