charles cornwallis, 1st marquess cornwallis led the british to charge with bayonets in the battle of princeton.
charles cornwallis, 1st marquess cornwallis led the british to charge with bayonets in the battle of princeton.
who led the british to charge with bayonets in the battle of princeton?
charles cornwallis, 1st marquess cornwallis
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.
battle of princeton
most infantry would routinely keep bayonets fixed to their inaccurate smooth bore muskets throughout a battle. close order ranks and squares presented a hedge of bayonets to the enemy, which was especially useful for deterring cavalry. but a fixed bayonet - a pound or so of extra metal on the front of a firearm - seriously affects a firearm’s balance and hampers accurate shooting. however, mosin-nagant rifles using cruciform and dagger bayonets were arsenal zeroed with them affixed (or extended) as they affect point-of-impact via barrel harmonics, and in the case of imperial russian and soviet battle doctrine dictated they were always affixed (with few exceptions). a rifleman usually fought without a fixed bayonet since accuracy was the whole purpose of their rifled weapon. he therefore required a side-arm that could be drawn and used instantly in an emergency so his bayonet had a cutting edge and a grippable hilt. that such bayonets were far heavier than standard socket bayonets was not a disadvantage since they were rarely fixed. most riflemen found it worked better for cutting brush and roasting meat over a fire (see rifleman harris, costello's, simmons's diaries).
sword bayonet