Princeton

By Mark Tully

On December 8th, 1776 the Fourth Brigade, including the 55th regiment, moved on towards Trenton with General Howe in hopes of overtaking the fleeing Continental Army. The brigade was accompanied by two battalions of light infantry and three battalions of Hessian Grenadiers (Kemble, p 102, Stryker, p 17). The British forces arrived in Trenton too late to engage the Continental Army, and the Fourth Brigade, including the 55th, marched back in Princeton (Wickwire, p 94; Robertson, p 116). Three battalions of the Fourth Brigade (including the 55th regiment) were garrisoned at Hillsborough, New Jersey for the winter of 1776-1777 (Robertson, p 118, Marshall/Peckham, p 35). The 55th's Colonel, Major-General Grant, was placed in command of all the British Troops in New Jersey on December 16th, 1776 (Howe, p 425).

When news of the attack on Trenton reached General Grant in Brunswick on December 26th, 1776, he immediately sent word to General Howe in New York (Robertson, p 117). Several days later, on December 31st, he sent word to Howe that the Fourth Brigade would march to Princeton in the morning (Ketchum, p 336, Robertson, p 118). Grant must have gotten off to a slow start, however, for came up late on January first the British were still in Princeton, and Grant's command was superseded when Cornwallis arrived on the scene (Robertson, p 118). On January 2nd, most of the British Army marched off towards Trenton, leaving the 55th, 17th and 40th Regiments and some of the 16th Dragoons in Princeton under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Charles Mawhood (Ketchum, p 339).

Washington LOST Princeton

Modern history books tell us that the Continental Army under George Washington WON the battle at Princeton, New Jersey on 3 January, 1777. In fact, Washington didnpt achieve most of his objectives and the battle of Princeton was, at best, a draw.

After the Continental victory at Trenton Cornwallis, with about 8,000 British and German regulars, converged on Princeton and immediately prepared to advance on Trenton to squash the Continental Army once and for all. Washington was aware of Cornwallis' advance, and on the first of January, 1777 he sent a detachment under French General Roche de Fermoy north towards Maidenhead in an attempt to delay Cornwallis. The detachment advanced north of Five-Mile Run and encountered the advancing British column just south of Maidenhead at about noon on the 2nd.

Some of the continentals under Colonel Haussegger immediately fled as the British approached, and Haussegger himself surrendered and spent much of his time in captivity trying to persuade other American prisoners to join the British cause. Roche de Fermoy abandoned his brigade and quietly slipped back to Trenton. This left Colonel Edward Hand to take charge -- which, at least from Washington's perspective, was probably the best thing that could have happened. Colonel Hand's riflemen did an admirable job of slowing the British advance, and if anyone deserves credit for saving Washington's army from destruction it is Hand. Thanks to his brilliant delaying action it was dark by the time the British forces arrived in Trenton, and by then the Continentals had had time to set up a strong defense on the west side of Assunpink Creek. In the dark, Cornwallis could not determine how strong the enemy lines were and, despite the urgings of Quartermaster Sir William Erskine, he resolved to wait until dawn to launch his attack.

Washington was in a desperate situation. He was trapped by a superior foe with his back to the Delaware. He could re-cross the river but the Delaware was easily fordable in several places near Trenton and Cornwallis was sure to be right behind him in full force. Washington called together his officers for suggestions and finally adopted a risky plan to escape towards Princeton along a seldom-used back road. At this point, Washington wasn't looking for a fight at Princeton -- in fact he was hoping to AVOID any action there. He was simply attempting to extricate his army from a sticky situation and rush them to the safety of the mountains around Morristown.

At one o'clock in the morning -- with the heavy cannon and baggage safely on it's way to Bordentown and Burlington -- Washington began his RETREAT southeast away from British-infested Trenton. He then swung his column northeast around the British left flank and headed towards Princeton and the safety of the mountains beyond. Washington didn't know what he would find at Princeton, but hoped to surprise any troops that might be garrisoned there and then move on to Brunswick and capture the £70,000 British war chest.

Besides saving his ragged army, capturing the war chest at Burlington was Washington's primary objective.

On the foggy morning of January 3rd, Col. Mawhood of the British 17th foot headed southwest out of Princeton on the Post Road toward Trenton. Mawhood's orders were to join General Leslie at Maidenhead and then push on to Trenton with "needed supplies". At the head of his column was a troop of the 16th Light Dragoons under Captain Thomas Trewren. Behind the dragoons were about 300 men of the 17th Regiment of foot, followed by the 55th Regiment and possibly a large detachment of invalids.

About two miles out of Princeton Col. Mawhood's column crossed the Stony Brook bridge at Worth's Mill. As the column proceeded towards Trenton it crested Millett's Hill. At this point, some of the Light Dragoons noticed a column of soldiers emerge from the woods along the back road across Stony Brook to the south -- it was General Hugh Mercer with a detachment of men sent by Washington to dismantle the Stony Brook bridge.

Washington had lost his element of surprise.

Col. Mawhood reverse marched his column -- the 55th now in front -- and raced back across the bridge to attack the Continental column. Mawhood detached part of the 55th and placed them under the command of the Junior Captain; James Taylor Trevor. Trevor's orders were to take his detachment and warn the 40th Foot still in Princeton and hopefully bring them to Mawhood's aid. Captain Trevor immediately led his force back towards Princeton. About half-way there Trevor spotted the main part of Washington's column under General Sullivan and immediately deployed into a defensive position atop a hill, now called Mercer Heights. At about the same time, Sullivan spotted Trevor's detachment and halted his column until he could determine their intentions. From his vantage point atop Mercer Heights, Trevor could clearly see Mawhood's command fiercly battling with Mercer's troops. Mawhood, on the other hand, could not see Sullivan's force and had no idea that he had stumbled onto the entire Continental Army.

Trevor had a problem. He could not go to Mawhood's aid and leave Sullivan's column to continue on to Princeton, yet he did not have enough of a force to attack Sullivan, who stood in the way of Trevor's mission -- fetching the 40th foot. Sullivan had a similar problem. He could not continue his march to Princeton, nor go to the aide of Mercer without leaving an enemy of unknown strength on his exposed flank.

It was a stand-off.

By this time Mawhood had ordered several gallant bayonet charges and the 55th and 17th had just about completely broken the Continentals when Washington suddenly appeared on the scene with reinforcements. Mawhood, now totally outnumbered and in danger of being surrounded, rallied his forces and fell back towards Maidenhead -- leaving the entire Continental Army to deal with Captain Trevor. Trevor, watching Mawhood retiring, finally realized that he had no choice but to continue on for Princeton and did so, arriving there well before Sullivan. At Princeton, command was passed from Trevor to Captain Robert Mostyn of the 40th who, despite being totally outnumbered, made a brief but gallant stand just outside of Princeton at Frog's Hollow. After some hot skirmishing with the Virginia troops under Scott, the 55th and 40th regiments, by now facing Washington's entire army and completely cut off from Mawhood, made good their escape along King's Highway to the north. The retreating British successfully made off with most of their baggage, leaving behind seven wagons of plunder they had collected and a few brass field pieces. They immediately made for the garrison at Brunswick who, now notified of the advancing Continentals, hastily prepared their defense. Captain Mostyn was killed during the action at Frog Hollow.

Did Washingtonps army win? I think not. True, as the smoke settled it was Washington's army who held the ground, but for how long? By the time the first shots were fired Lord Cornwallis and General Leslie had discovered Washington's ruse and were already hot on his heels -- in fact the British arrived in full force and regained the town within an hour without a contest. So what did Washington have to show for his "victory"?

* The British had successfully brought off almost all of their baggage and the Continentals couldn't transport the little that was left (or the abandoned British cannon) due to a lack of horses.

* Washington had lost his element of surprise -- Brunswick had been alerted and he now had to give up any attempt at capturing the £70,000 British war chest (money that was desperately needed to supply his ragged army). Washington himself greatly lamented this loss in later correspondence.

* Washington's men were exhausted -- some of them couldn't keep up with the retreat from Princeton and were captured before they got to Morristown. Also, the army's blankets had been accidentally packed off to Burlington and they would spend several very cold nights without them. Coupled with the troop's fatigue, this must have been a contributing factor in the high death toll suffered at Morristown that winter.

* Washington had also lost several of his key officers. Hugh Mercer, one of the ablest officers in the Continental Army, lay dying with seven bayonet wounds. Colonel John Haslet was dead -- his Delaware Regiment had been one of the finest fighting units of the entire war and although their enlistments had expired and they were not involved in the battle, Haslet's death demoralized his remaining officers to the extent that the regiment was never re-raised. Also dead were Captain Daniel Neil of New Jersey, one of the Army's most capable artillery officers, and Captain John Flemming of the First Virginia Regiment. In all seven of Washington's officers and about 60 men were killed at Princeton.

What did Washington gain? Historians tell us Washington's "victory" at Princeton caused the withdrawal of the British outposts in New Jersey. In fact this move was already being considered by the British -- even before Trenton. All Washington really had to show for the battle was that he got the remains of his army safely to Morristown.
The battle's close connection with the indisputable victory at Trenton has served to turn Princeton into an American victory, and it was indeed a victory in terms of morale for the Continental troops. But we mustn't loose sight of the fact that Washington was in fact RETREATING when he stumbled upon the troops at Princeton. The last thing he wanted at this point was a fight, and the engagement at Princeton blew his chances for the victory he desperately wanted and needed at Brunswick.

The entire battle of Princeton had lasted less than half an hour. Three British regiments of foot, some invalids, and a corps of Light Dragoons had temporarily halted the advance of the entire Continental army, some 6,000 strong. They had also kept the baggage train and the British war chest from falling into enemy hands. Washington's loss in officers, men, and the bungled chance at capturing the war chest surely outweighed his gains, and the brave men of the 17th, 55th, and 40th foot, and the 16th Light Dragoons certainly deserve more credit than the history books give them. (Fortescue, Howe, Stryker, Sullivan, Trevelyan, Ward)

After the Battle of Princeton, on January 5, 1777, the Fourth Brigade was withdrawn to Amboy (Robertson, p 121).

Bibliography