General Lord Cornwallis had left 1,400 British troops under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Charles Mawhood in Princeton.

The battles of Trenton and Princeton boosted the morale of the patriot cause, leading many recruits to join the Continental Army in the spring.

In Princeton, Brigadier General John Sullivan encouraged some British troops who had taken refuge in Nassau Hall to surrender, ending the battle.

The battle (while considered minor by British standards)[7][8] was the last major action of Washington's winter New Jersey campaign.

On the night of December 25–26, 1776, General George Washington, Commander-in-chief of the Continental Army, led 2,400 men across the Delaware River.

On December 31, Washington appealed to his men, whose enlistments expired at the end of the year, "Stay for just six more weeks for an extra bounty of ten dollars."

[12] In response to the loss at Trenton, General Cornwallis left New York City and reassembled a British force of more than 9,000 at Princeton to oppose Washington.

After three failed attempts to cross the bridge over the Assunpink Creek, beyond which were the primary American defenses, Cornwallis called off the attack until the next day.

[13] During the night, Washington called a council of war and asked his officers whether they should stand and fight, attempt to cross the river somewhere, or take the back roads to attack Princeton.

Although the idea had already occurred to Washington, he learned from Arthur St. Clair and John Cadwalader that his plan to attack Princeton was indeed possible.

By midnight, the plan was complete, with the baggage on its way to Burlington and the guns wrapped in heavy cloth to stifle noise and prevent the British from learning of the evacuation.

Washington left 500 men behind with two cannon to patrol, keep the fires burning, and to work with picks and shovels to make the British think that they were digging in.

The march was difficult, as some of the route ran through thick woods and it was icy, causing horses to slip and men to break through ice on ponds.

According to a newer analysis, however, Brigadier General Thomas Mifflin was tasked with the bridge, and Mercer's forces did not break off from the main column until later.

Mawhood had moved out from Princeton to fulfill these orders when his troops climbed the hill south of Stony Brook and sighted the main American army.

[25] Fifty light infantrymen were in pursuit of Mercer's men when a fresh brigade of 1,100 militiamen under the command of Cadwalader appeared.

Cadwalader attempted to move his men into a battle line, but they had no combat experience and did not know even the most basic military maneuvers.

After making a brief stand, the British fell back again, some leaving Princeton and others taking up refuge in Nassau Hall.

Washington wanted to push on to New Brunswick and capture a British pay chest of 70,000 pounds, but Major Generals Henry Knox and Nathanael Greene talked him out of it.

[5] Washington reported his own army's casualties as 6 or 7 officers and 25 to 30 enlisted men killed, giving no figures for the wounded.

[3] The Loyalist newspaper, New York Gazette and Weekly Mercury, reported on January 17, 1777, that the American losses at Princeton had been 400 killed and wounded.

[3] A century later, British historian Sir George Otto Trevelyan wrote in a study of the American Revolution, when talking about the impact of the victories at Trenton and Princeton, that "It may be doubted whether so small a number of men ever employed so short a space of time with greater and more lasting effects upon the history of the world.

The Institute for Advanced Study, which owns the property, had planned a housing project on land where George Washington charged with his men during the battle.

[51][52] Several national and local preservation organizations worked to prevent construction on the property, and the Princeton Battlefield Society had legal action pending as of summer 2016.

The compromise arrangement was subject to approval by the Princeton Planning Board and Delaware and Raritan Canal Commission.

[54] On May 30, 2018, the Trust announced that it had finalized the purchase after raising almost $3.2 million from private donors, which was matched by an $837,000 grant from the National Park Service and the Mercer County Open Space Assistance Program.

Sculptor Clark Mills said in his speech at the statue's dedication ceremony on February 22, 1860, "The incident selected for representation of this statue was at the battle of Princeton where Washington, after several ineffectual attempts to rally his troops, advanced so near the enemy's lines that his horse refused to go further, but stood and trembled while the brave rider sat undaunted with reins in hand.

But while his noble horse is represented thus terror stricken, the dauntless hero is calm and dignified, ever believing himself the instrument in the hand of Providence to work out the great problem of liberty.

A famous story, possibly apocryphal, states that during the Battle of Princeton, Alexander Hamilton ordered his cannon to fire upon the British soldiers taking refuge in Nassau Hall.

[67] Tangentially, a few years earlier Hamilton had been refused accelerated study at the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University) housed in Nassau Hall.