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Washington Strikes Back (cont.) Marching Through New Jersey The victory at Trenton is perhaps more inspiring in retrospect than it was for those on the spot. Washington may have captured three Hessian regiments at the cost of only two wounded privates, but he was also several miles from his boats and on the same side of the Delaware as the entire British army. Consequently, the Continental army abandoned the town almost immediately and headed back to Pennsylvania. Once safely there, however, Washington began to wonder if he hadn't been overly cautious. So on December 29 he began crossing the river a second time. Before long, it began to look like a dreadful mistake. The British general, Lord Cornwallis, marched toward Trenton from the north. Lacking the numbers needed to make a successful stand in the open, Washington instead resorted to subterfuge. He detached skirmishers to slow the British advance, then retreated with the bulk of his troops behind the Assunpink Creek. By the time Cornwallis reached Trenton just before nightfall, the British had time for only a half-hearted attack, which the Americans repulsed. During the night, Washington quietly withdrew, taking his army past the British flank and deep into its rear. By dawn, the Continentals approached Princeton, where Cornwallis had left a rearguard of three regiments. In a quick, seesaw battle, the Americans attacked, fell back, recovered and ultimately routed the British garrison. Many of the British defenders took refuge in Nassau Hall of Princeton's small college, until a Continental artillery bombardment forced their surrender.
The battle at Princeton cost Washington more dearly than had his success at Trenton. Brigadier General Hugh Mercer, one of his ablest subordinates, received seven bayonet wounds in the early stages of the fight. According to legend, Mercer refused to be carried from the battlefield and lay beneath an oak tree encouraging his troops until victory was assured. The battlefield remains a quiet spot, little affected by "the behests of Mammon" that worried Lossing, despite lying within a short walk of Princeton University. It boasts no modern visitor center or grand statues of generals on horseback—rather it has the dignified air of hallowed ground. On the afternoon that I visited the battlefield, even the sunbathers and Frisbee players stayed to the fringes, as if not wanting to defile the spot where Mercer fell. The Clarke House Museum stands at one edge of the small battlefield. In the 1770s it was the home of Thomas Clarke, whose family cared for General Mercer for several days before he died of his wounds. Today it displays a collection of artifacts and offers tours of the interior, which served as a hospital following the battle. A John Clarke—apparently a descendant of Thomas—welcomed Lossing during his visit to Princeton and allowed him to sketch the farm and the adjacent battlefield. Glancing at Lossing's engraving, it's not hard to orient yourself in the approximate spot where he must have stood while drawing, although the scenery has changed substantially. Trees now interrupt the view, and several buildings in Lossing's rendition no longer exist. Instead, a simple marble monument marks the graves of 21 British and 15 American soldiers. Most appallingly, the famous "Mercer Oak" under which the general supposedly lay while the lifeblood poured from his body, is nothing but a rotted stump, upon which a modest replacement—still very much a "Mercer sapling"—does its inadequate best in a stand-in role. The victory at Princeton tempted Washington to push his luck even further, but discretion prevailed. Realizing his troops had reached their physical limits, he opted to find quarters for the winter. He took the army north to the strategically located town of Morristown, the last stop on his winter campaign. The army arrived there on January 6, 1777, the general's eighteenth wedding anniversary. The National Historical Park at Morristown primarily commemorates the Continental Army's encampment during the winter of 1779-1780—the second time Washington quartered his army there. Relics of the 1776-1777 encampment are scarcer. Washington took up quarters in Arnold's Tavern, no longer standing. Visitors seeking a glimpse of what life for the commander-in-chief was like at Morristown can, however, tour the house where Washington set up his headquarters in 1779. By contrast, log huts illustrate the camp life of the common soldiers, and a film in the visitor center dramatizes a typical day in a winter encampment. The park's most prominent feature from 1777 lies atop the crest of a steep ridge. In May, when warmer weather allowed for greater activity, the army fortified these heights overlooking the town. After the war, the fortifications were dubbed "Fort Nonsense," reflecting the rumor that Washington ordered their construction simply to give the troops something to do. It's a good story, but the rumor probably has more nonsense in it than the fort. Morristown marked the end of the winter campaign, but also a new beginning. Looking back on the campaign with the benefit of 70 years' hindsight, Lossing remarked that at Morristown, Washington "sent out detachments to harass the British, and with such spirit were those expeditions conducted that, on or before the 1st of March, not a British or Hessian soldier remained in the Jerseys, except at New Brunswick and Amboy. Under the circumstances, it was a splendid triumph, and greatly inspired the friends of the republican cause."
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