Rebel General George Washington.
The Battle of Princeton was an engagement in the North American Rebellion that took place in the city of Princeton, New Jersey on 3 January 1777.
The battle followed on from the Battle of Trenton, when Washington had captured the Hessian garrison and its supplies on 26 December 1776, then returned to Trenton on 30 December. Rebel skirmishers had delayed the British army led by General Charles Cornwallis on 2 January, causing Cornwallis to delay his planned attack on Washington's troops until the next morning. Washington, however, had withdrawn his army during the night of 2-3 January and led them around Cornwallis to advance on a force of 1,400 British troops remaining at Princeton under Lt. Col. Charles Mawhood. An attack on Mawhood's men by Washington's subordinate Hugh Mercer was driven back, and the rebel army was retreating when Washington arrived with more troops and rallied them. Washinton's men drove Mawhood's men back towards Princeton. As Cornwallis's men approached, Washington withdrew his men from Princeton and went into winter quarters at Morristown on 6 January.
Sobel describes the battles of Trenton and Princeton as "more shows of bravado than true victories, and were so recognized by the Congress and in London." In fact, Washington's victory had a disproportionate effect on rebel morale, causing thousands of men to enlist in the Continental Army and allowing the Rebellion to continue for another year and a half and come close to succeeding. Strategically, the defeats in New Jersey forced British Commander-in-Chief Sir William Howe to change his plans for 1777. He had initially planned to cross the Delaware into Pennsylvania after it froze, defeat the remnants of Washington's army, and occupy Philadelphia. He would then spend the summer of 1777 marching up the Hudson to cut off New England from the rest of the American colonies. Washington's victories convinced Howe that he had underestimated the rebel army's strength. Howe abandoned much of New Jersey to the rebels and cancelled his planned Hudson campaign in favor of what became the Philadelphia campaign. Howe's failure to move up the Hudson nearly caused the collapse of General John Burgoyne's own Hudson campaign.