The Principles of War +1The Battles of Trenton and Princeton

26DEC1776 to 03JAN1777

OC Benson IV, Melvin B.25JAN03

General George Washington

• Successful because he applied all Nine Principles of War appropriately

• Most importantly, he based his decisions on “Intelligence”

Developments prior to DEC1776

• Disastrous defeats in New York, retreat through New Jersey across the Delaware River to Pennsylvania

Continental Army at its Lowest

• Number of effective soldiers shrinks from 20,000 to under 5,000 (casualties and desertions)

• Cannon, from 300 to 18• Poor living conditions• Lack of Congressional financial support• Most enlistments up 31DEC1776• British troops fully control New Jersey, they have

everything the Continentals do not• Except General George Washington!

GW’s “Intelligence”

• British from NY down to Burlington NJ• About 1,300 Hessians quartered at

Trenton• No defensive works at Trenton• Hessian patrols were almost nonexistent• Hessians partied at Christmas

Applying the Principles of War

• Surprise - no one suspected

• Offensive – chose the time and place

• Maneuver - took away enemy’s maneuverability through positioning

• Mass – more than the enemy

• Objective – definitive time and place, flexible with developments

Trenton, 25-26DEC1776

• River crossing began at dusk on the 25th about 9 miles north of Trenton

• Two other crossings planned to the south

• Weather – snow and windy

• Northern crossing took hours longer than planned, both southern crossings failed

• Arrived at Trenton 0800 26DEC

• Without knowledge of the failure of the southern crossings, battle plan went ahead

• From the north, split into two groups to envelope Trenton and prevent escape

SURPRISE!

• Short, pitched street fight, overwhelmed the Hessians

• Hessian casualties – 40 dead, 40 wounded, 900 captured (400 escaped)

http://teachpol.tcnj.edu/amer_pol_hist/fi/00000026.htm

Confusion, Luck, Opportunity

• The Units that were to have crossed on the south, hearing of the victory, then did so only to find Trenton empty of any troops, sent word back across to GW

• On 29DEC GW recrossed the Delaware and occupied a position just south of Trenton across the Assunpink Creek.

British Response

• Cornwallis arrived from NY into Princeton

• On 3JAN1777 he leaves 1,200 troops in Princeton, marching with 5,800 to Trenton

• GW had a regiment harass them to prevent arrival before nightfall

GW’s Response

• Get out of Dodge!• Leaving about 400

men to man pickets, burn fires, build defensive works, and generally make noise, GW moves with 4,000 troops towards Princeton using back roads

Attack on Princeton

• Cornwallis wakes up to find no US troops south of Trenton

• Almost at Princeton, GW sends a regiment east to destroy a bridge on the main road between Princeton and Trenton

• A battle develops, after GW himself reinforces the US troops, the British surrender

• At the same time, other US troops went into and captured Princeton

Maneuver, Maneuver• Troops exhausted, GW

moves out of Princeton as Cornwallis enters it

• Cornwallis rushes toward New Brunswick, the central supply center for British NJ

• GW moves into winter quarters at Morristown NJ, naturally defensive with the ability to protect all of northern Jersey

• British evacuate NJ

Principles Displayed

• Main ones – Surprise, Offensive, Maneuver, Mass, Objective

• Secondary – – Simplicity- not one of GW’s strong points – Economy – “winner takes all” battles,

desperate, everything put into the fight– Security – very little left for security, depended

on Surprise and Maneuver– Uniformity of Command – firmly established

Final Notes, just think . . .

• Intelligence gave Washington the information he needed to be Offensive, he knew that– Surprise was achievable– That he had more troops than Colonel Rall– More troops then were left in Princeton– He knew the road network better– Minimal troops could be left as Security

IntelligenceUse it or Lose!

9 Principles, yes, but . . .