The Legacy of the Battle of Princeton

The Legacy of the Battle of Princeton. The Road to Independence. The Battle of Princeton, which took place on this site, was the final battle of General George Washington’s brilliant campaign to salvage the American Revolution. Between December 25, 1776 and January 3, 1777, a period historians call the Ten Crucial Days, the Continental Army embarked on a daring offensive that shocked the British high command, revived faith in the cause of independence and established Washington as a heroic military leader and symbol of American determination.

At the beginning of December, the British had driven Washington and his man out of New York City and New Jersey. Their victory was almost a forgone conclusion - even among the Americans. Plague by defeat and desertion, a demoralized Washington admitted, privately that if the situation did not improve, “the game is pretty near up.”

In just ten days, everything changed. Between the armies crossing of the Delaware River on December 25 and the Battle of Princeton on January 3, Washington demonstrated that a volunteer army employing clever tactics could best highly trained English and Hessian regulars. His daring attacks in Trenton and Princeton shocked the British and forced them to abandon much of New Jersey. The Battles of Trenton, Assunpink Creek and Princeton improved morale on a grand scale and paved the way to securing French backing in the war. After the Battle of Princeton, for the first time, many Americans began to see themselves as a part of something larger - a nation.

Though it would take another six-and-a-half years before the war ended and Great Britain recognized the United States of America, these Ten Crucial Days uplifted the colonists’ spirits and bolstered their fading resolve at a pivotal time in the struggle for independence.

Produced with the support of an award of Federal funds from the American Battlefield Protection Program, administered by the National Park Service.

[Caption]:
Alonzo Chappel, The Battle of Princeton, ca. 1828-1887 Engraving.
The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs: Print Collection, The New York Public Library