A British foraging party of 500 men, led by Lieutenant Colonel Robert Abercromby of the 37th Foot, left New Brunswick on January 20, and headed west toward the Millstone River. They crossed over the river (it is unclear exactly which bridge they used), leaving a rear guard of Hessians with some field artillery to cover the bridge, and eventually reached Van Nest's mill at Weston, New Jersey (near present-day Manville, New Jersey), a few miles north of Somerset Court House, and near the point where the Millstone empties into the Raritan. There they seized supplies of all varieties, and prepared to return to New Brunswick.