Part 1; Princeton, NJ Trip: The American Revolutionary War and Battle of Princeton

William Ranney's Washington Rallying the Americans at the Battle of Princeton

At the end of March, we visited our friend Emery and his girlfriend Theresa in Princeton, New Jersey, and we got a tour of the town and saw historic and haunted places. In part 1 of the Princeton Trip blog, you'll learn about a Princeton's ties to the  American Revolutionary War and the Battle of Princeton, which actually took place along a Assanpink creek that runs next to Emery's house! In fact, we sensed ghosts of soldiers there (that's he next blog!) 

WHAT WAS THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION - For those in the U.S. who need a history refresher, the American Revolutionary War, also known as the American War of Independence, was an 18th-century war between Great Britain and its Thirteen Colonies which declared independence as the United States of America.

View of the battleground near Princeton, New Jersey

WHAT WAS THE BATTLE OF PRINCETON? The Battle of Princeton was a battle of the American Revolutionary War, fought near Princeton, New Jersey on January 3, 1777 and ending in a small victory for the Colonials. 

General Lord Cornwallis had left 1,400 British troops under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Charles Mawhood in Princeton. Following a surprise attack at Trenton early in the morning of December 26, 1776, General George Washington of the Continental Army decided to attack the British in New Jersey before entering the winter quarters. 

On December 30, he crossed the Delaware River back into New Jersey. His troops followed on January 3, 1777. Washington advanced to Princeton by a back road, where he pushed back a smaller British force but had to retreat before Cornwallis arrived with reinforcements. The battles of Trenton and Princeton were a boost to the morale of the patriot cause, leading many recruits to join the Continental Army in the spring. 


NEXT: The Ghostly Corpse at Assanpink Creek