george washington led the british in the battle of princeton.
george washington led the british in the battle of princeton.
who led the british in the battle of princeton?
george washington
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
samuel brady also fought at the battle of princeton on january 3, 1777. leading up to this battle of princeton, there had been a second battle of trenton, sometimes referred to as the battle of the assunpink creek, which took place on january 2, 1777. general washington expected the british to counter-attack, after his victory over the hessians at trenton. he decided to mount a stand against that counterattack at trenton. on december 30, 1776, washington positioned his troops on high ground south of trenton, defending the far bank of a creek called assunpink creek. on january 2, 1777, the bulk of the british army arrived late that afternoon under the command of british general charles cornwallis and came face to face with washington's defenses. only assunpink creek separated them. cornwallis ordered a charge across a bridge that spanned the creek. the british took heavy casualties in several unsuccessful attempts to take the bridge. samuel brady almost had to have been on the firing line of this defense, since belle swope places him at the battles before and after it. anyway, when night arrived, the continentals still were solidly on the far side of that bridge. the british fell back to regroup and deal with their hundreds of casualties. ever contemptuous of the tattered americans, cornwallis pronounced to his battered force, "rest for now. we'll bag the fox in the morning." that night, washington burned his campfires bright and slipped away in the night, leaving the british to their blissful slumber. washington then night marched his army around cornwallis and to attack the british at princeton, new jersey. the british forces in princeton were principally passing through on their way to join cornwallis in trenton. washington attacked them. samuel brady was in the thick of this battle. this attack turned into a back and forth battle in an orchard in which both sides took many casualties and the issue for the americans became much in doubt. washington personally and at great personal risk rushed up on horseback to lead the charge to save the day for his faltering army and, at the same time, to inflict a defeat on the british forces on hand. cornwallis was shocked to hear gunfire and cannonade in his rear. he rushed his army to princeton, to find that washington's army had again slipped away.
samuel brady