[4] Throughout the winter months, a guerrilla war of sorts went on, in which American militia companies, sometimes with Continental Army support, harassed British and German outposts and ambushed their foraging and raiding expeditions.

[5] One of the forward bases used for these operations was at Bound Brook, located on the Raritan River upriver from New Brunswick, the major British camp in New Jersey.

[7] In February 1777, the Bound Brook outpost consisted of 1,000 men under the command of Major General Benjamin Lincoln, but this was reduced by expiring militia enlistments to 500 in mid-March.

[1] Lieutenant General Lord Charles Cornwallis, in command of the British forces in New Jersey, had had enough of the ongoing petite guerre, and organized a reprisal action against the Bound Brook outpost.

The right flank, under the command of Major General James Grant, consisted of the Hessian jäger corps, grenadiers from the English Brigade of Guards, and a detachment of British light dragoons.

[18] The British plan was marred by the early skirmishing involving Ewald, and the too-late arrival of the companies sent to cut off the road to Morristown; many Americans escaped via this route.

[1] The Continental Army response was immediate; Washington sent a large force under Major General Nathanael Greene to reoccupy Bound Brook.

[3] Washington reported that "[t]he enemy lost the post at Eleven O'Clock the same day, & our people took possession of it again", and that the army's losses were "trifling and not worth mentioning".

[22] Washington, concerned that the attack presaged an early start to the campaign season, worried that his troops were not yet in place to deal with major British movements.

[25] On June 12 Howe marched a significant force (more than 18,000 men) out of New Brunswick, through Bound Brook, and as far as Somerset, apparently in an attempt to draw Washington out of the hills.