✦ History

Part of American Revolutionary War

Battle of Princeton

January 3, 1777 · Princeton

Result American victory

Revolutionary War battle near Princeton, New Jersey, on January 3, 1777, ending in a small victory for the Colonials. After his surprise attack at Trenton, George Washington marched on Princeton by a back road against 1,400 British troops under Lieutenant Colonel Charles Mawhood, pushed them back, and withdrew before Cornwallis arrived. The victories boosted patriot morale and spring recruitment.

On the map Contemporaries

American

British

United States
Great Britain
George Washington Alexander Hamilton Nathanael Greene Major General, commanded a division Hugh Mercer military commander
Charles Cornwallis military commander Charles Mawhood military commander

Strength and losses

Strength
4,500
Killed
25–44
Wounded
40
Guns
35
Strength
1,200
Casualties
215
Killed
50–100
Wounded
58–70
Captured
194–280
Guns
6–9
Guns lost
2

Units

Continental Army Aaron Burr Lieutenant Colonel Aaron Ogden Abraham Buford Alexander Hamilton General Alexander McDougall Major General Anthony Wayne Artemas Ward Major General Arthur St. Clair Benjamin Lincoln Major General Casimir Pulaski General Christopher Greene Colonel Daniel Morgan General Edward Hand George Clinton George Mathews Green Clay Henry Dearborn General Henry Knox Major General Henry Lee III Horatio Gates Hugh Mercer Brigadier General Israel Putnam General James Clinton Major General James McHenry James Monroe Major James Wilkinson James Winchester James Wood Jean François Hamtramck Colonel Johann de Kalb Major General John Armstrong Jr. General John Brooks Colonel John Francis Mercer Colonel John Glover John Hardin Colonel John Hoskins Stone John Marshall John Stark Major General John Sullivan Major General John Thomas Major General Joseph Bloomfield Joseph Warren Major General Josiah Harmar Josiah Tattnall (politician) Lachlan McIntosh Brigadier General Levin Winder Marquis de Lafayette Morgan Lewis Nathan Hale Colonel Nathanael Greene Major General Peleg Wadsworth General Peter Gansevoort Major General Philip Schuyler General Pierse Long Colonel Richard Butler Robert Magaw Colonel Samuel Smith Seth Warner Colonel Tadeusz Kościuszko Lieutenant General Thomas Knowlton Timothy Pickering General William Barton William Bradford William Darke William Eaton General William Maxwell Brigadier General William Moultrie Major General William Prescott Colonel William Sanford Pennington Major William Whipple William Woodford Brigadier General Benedict Arnold 1775–1780 Charles Lee 1775–1780 George Washington 1775–1783 William Alexander 1775–present 1st Maryland Regiment
British main army in North America

Related events 1 degree away • 2 degrees away

1777
 
Battle of Trenton
 
Battle of Princeton
 
Battle of Saratoga

Also involved 1