Atlas of Battles

battle, major, early modern

Battle of Princeton

Battle of Princeton was a battle fought on 3 January 1777 at Princeton Battlefield, in what is now New Jersey, United States. It was part of the American Revolutionary War, which ran from 1775 to 1783. The recorded result: American victory. Recorded strength: 4,500; 35 guns against 1,200; 6–9 guns.

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The Death of General Mercer at the Battle of Princeton, January 3, 1777 displays several events at the Battle of Princeton. At the center, American General Hugh Mercer, with his horse beneath him, is
The Death of General Mercer at the Battle of Princeton, January 3, 1777 displays several events at the Battle of Princeton. At the center, American General Hugh Mercer, with his horse beneath him, is . John Trumbull, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
Fought3 January 1777
WherePrinceton Battlefield, New Jersey, United States40.330N, 74.675W
OutcomeAmerican victory
BelligerentsUnited StatesagainstKingdom of Great Britain
Casualties and losses25–44 killed; 40 woundedand50–100 killed; 58–70 wounded; 194–280 captured
Battlefield todayPrinceton battlefieldNPS site NJ213, 1,766 acres studied, 1,039 core
Part ofAmerican Revolutionary War1775 to 1783

Where it sits in the American Revolutionary War

Battle of Machias, 1775Battle of Gloucester, 1775Siege of Savage's Old Fields, 1775Raid on Charlottetown (1775), 1775Battles of Lexington and Concord, 1775Siege of Boston, 1775Boston campaign, 1775Battle of Lexington, 1775Battle of Concord, 1775New York Armory Raid, 1775Capture of Fort Ticonderoga, 1775Battle off Fairhaven, 1775Battle of Chelsea Creek, 1775Battle of Bunker Hill, 1775Siege of Fort St. Jean, 1775Battle of Longue-Pointe, 1775Burning of Falmouth, 1775Battle of Kemp's Landing, 1775Snow Campaign, 1775Battle of Great Bridge, 1775Battle of Great Cane Brake, 1775Battle of Quebec, 1775Battle of The Cedars, 1776Fortification of Dorchester Heights, 1776Battle of Iron Works Hill, 1776Battle of the Rice Boats, 1776Burning of Norfolk, 1776Raid on Canso (1776), 1776Battle of Moore's Creek Bridge, 1776Battle of Saint-Pierre, 1776Battle of Block Island, 1776Battle of Trois-Rivières, 1776Battle of Sullivan's Island, 1776Battle of Turtle Gut Inlet, 1776New York and New Jersey Campaign, 1776Battle of Lindley's Fort, 1776Battle of Long Island, 1776Landing at Kip's Bay, 1776Battle of Harlem Heights, 1776Battle of Valcour Island, 1776Battle of Pell's Point, 1776Battle of Mamaroneck, 1776Battle of White Plains, 1776Battle of Fort Washington, 1776Battle of Fort Lee, 1776Ambush of Geary, 1776Washington's crossing of the Delaware River, 1776Battle of Trenton, 1776Philadelphia campaign, 1777Siege of Fort Ticonderoga, 1777Battle of White Marsh, 1777Siege of Fort Stanwix, 1777Second Battle of Machias, 1777Battle of the Assunpink Creek, 1777Battle of Princeton, 1777Battle of Millstone, 1777Forage War, 1777Battle of Punk Hill, 1777Battle off Yarmouth, 1777Battle of Bound Brook, 1777Battle of Ridgefield, 1777Battle of Thomas Creek, 1777Meigs Raid, 1777Battle of Short Hills, 1777Battle of Hubbardton, 1777Battle of Fort Anne, 1777Battle of Oriskany, 1777Battle of Bennington, 1777Battle of Staten Island, 1777Battle of Setauket, 1777Siege of Fort Henry, 1777Battle of Cooch's Bridge, 1777Battle of Brandywine, 1777Battle of the Clouds, 1777Battle of Freeman's Farm, 1777Battle of Paoli, 1777Siege of Fort Mifflin, 1777Battle of Germantown, 1777Battle of Forts Clinton and Montgomery, 1777Battles of Saratoga, 1777Battle of Bemis Heights, 1777Saratoga campaign, 1777Battle of Red Bank, 1777Battle of Gloucester, 1777Battle of Matson's Ford, 1777Mount Hope Bay raids, 1778Siege of Boonesborough, 1778Battle off Barbados, 1778Battle of Quinton's Bridge, 1778Frederica naval action, 1778Battle of Crooked Billet, 1778Battle of Barren Hill, 1778Battle of Cobleskill, 1778Battle of Monmouth, 1778Battle of Alligator Bridge, 1778Big Runaway, 1778Battle of Wyoming, 1778Battle of Rhode Island, 1778Invasion of Dominica, 1778Action of 11 September 1778, 1778Baylor Massacre, 1778Battle of Edgar's Lane, 1778Battle of Chestnut Neck, 1778Affair at Little Egg Harbor, 1778Cherry Valley massacre, 1778Carleton's Raid, 1778Battle of St. Lucia, 1778Capture of St. Lucia, 1778Battle of Baton Rouge, 1779Battle of Minisink, 1779Battle of Martinique, 1779Action of 31 January 1779, 1779Battle of Beaufort, 1779Battle of Van Creek, 1779Battle of Kettle Creek, 1779Siege of Fort Laurens, 1779Siege of Fort Vincennes, 1779Battle of Brier Creek, 1779Franco-Dutch Invasion of Jersey, 1779Chesapeake Raid, 1779Battle of Moca, 1779Battle of Stono Ferry, 1779Great Siege of Gibraltar, 1779Tryon's raid, 1779Capture of Grenada, 1779Battle of Grenada, 1779Burning of Fairfield, 1779Battle of Norwalk, 1779Battle of Stony Point, 1779Battle of Paulus Hook, 1779Battle of Newtown, 1779Capture of Fort Bute, 1779Battle of Lake Pontchartrain, 1779Capture of Cayo Cocina, 1779Siege of Savannah, 1779Battle of Flamborough Head, 1779Battle of San Fernando de Omoa, 1779Battle of Guadeloupe, 1779Battle of Fort Charlotte, 1780Action of 8 January 1780, 1780Elizabethtown and Newark Raid, 1780Battle of Young's House, 1780Siege of Charleston, 1780Battle of Monck's Corner, 1780Battle of Martinique, 1780Battle of Lenud's Ferry, 1780Battle of St. Louis, 1780Battle of Waxhaws, 1780Battle of Connecticut Farms, 1780Battle of Mobley's Meeting House, 1780Battle of Ramsour's Mill, 1780Battle of Springfield, 1780Battle of Bull's Ferry, 1780Battle of Colson's Mill, 1780Battle of Rocky Mount, 1780Bird's invasion of Kentucky, 1780Battle of Hanging Rock, 1780Battle of Piqua, 1780Action of 9 August 1780, 1780Battle of Camden, 1780Battle of Musgrove Mill, 1780Battle of Fishing Creek, 1780Battle of Black Mingo, 1780Battle of Wahab's Plantation, 1780Battle of Charlotte, 1780Action of 30 September 1780, 1780Battle of Kings Mountain, 1780Battle of Shallow Ford, 1780Royalton Raid, 1780Battle of Klock's Field, 1780Battle of Tearcoat Swamp, 1780Battle of Fishdam Ford, 1780Battle of Blackstock's Farm, 1780Battle of Fort St. George, 1780Siege of Yorktown, 1781Siege of Fort Watson, 1781Siege of Fort Motte, 1781Battle of Mobile, 1781Battle of Cowpens, 1781Capture of Sint Eustatius, 1781Battle of Cowan's Ford, 1781Battle of Torrence's Tavern, 1781Battle of Fort Saint Joseph (1781), 1781Pyle's Massacre, 1781Battle of Wetzell's Mill, 1781Battle of Guilford Court House, 1781Battle of Cape Henry, 1781Battle of Hobkirk's Hill, 1781Battle of Blandford, 1781Battle of Fort Royal, 1781Siege of Pensacola, 1781Siege of Ninety-Six, 1781Siege of Augusta, 1781Battle of Spencer's Ordinary, 1781Battle of Green Spring, 1781Action of 21 July 1781, 1781Battle of the House in the Horseshoe, 1781Invasion of Minorca, 1781Battle of Rockfish, 1781Lochry's Defeat, 1781Battle of Elizabethtown, 1781Action of 2 September 1781, 1781Battle of the Chesapeake, 1781Battle of Groton Heights, 1781Capture of HMS Savage, 1781Battle of Eutaw Springs, 1781Battle of Lindley's Mill, 1781Battle of Fort Slongo, 1781Battle of Johnstown, 1781Battle of Ushant, 1781Siege of Fort Henry, 1782Battle off Halifax, 1782Battle of Videau's Bridge, 1782Battle of Saint Kitts, 1782Siege of Brimstone Hill, 1782Battle of Sadras, 1782Battle of Wambaw, 1782Action of 16 March 1782, 1782Battle of Cuddalore, 1782Battle of Delaware Bay, 1782Battle of the Saintes, 1782Battle of Providien, 1782Battle of the Mona Passage, 1782Third Battle of Ushant, 1782Naval battle off Halifax, 1782Battle of Negapatam, 1782Hudson Bay expedition, 1782Battle of the Combahee River, 1782Action of 15 September 1782, 1782Battle of Cape Spartel, 1782Battle of James Island, 1782Action of 6 December 1782, 1782Action of 12 December 1782, 1782Battle of the Delaware Capes, 1782Action of 22 January 1783, 1783Action of 15 February 1783, 1783Action of 17 February 1783, 1783Battle of Grand Turk, 1783combat off the coast of Florida, 1783Colbert raid, 1783Battle of Cuddalore, 178317751783Battle of Princeton, 1777
242 placed engagements of the American Revolutionary War in time order; taller ticks are more widely documented. Each tick is a link.

Record

Date3 January 1777
PlacePrinceton Battlefield, New Jersey, United States
40.330N, 74.675W
KindBattle, early modern
Strength4,500; 35 guns1,200; 6–9 guns
Casualties and losses25–44 killed; 40 wounded50–100 killed; 58–70 wounded; 194–280 captured
Commanders
Battle of PrincetonBattle of PrincetonBattle of TrentonBattle of the Assunpink CreekWashington's crossing of the Delaware RiverAmbush of GearyBattle of MillstoneBattle of TrentonBattle of the Assunpink CreekAmbush of GearyBattle of Millstone20 km40.330N, 74.675W
The recorded site, with the nearest other engagements in the atlas. The dashed outline is the battlefield study area mapped by the NPS American Battlefield Protection Program. Present-day coastlines, rivers and borders; towns from Natural Earth.

The ground today

Relief of the ground around the site of Battle of Princeton
Relief within about 10.0 km of the site, contours every 10 m. Copernicus DEM GLO-30, ESA.
Satellite view of the site of Battle of Princeton today
The same ground from Sentinel-2 on 2024-09-03. Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2024.

The recorded site stands at about 34 m; within 10.0 km the ground runs from 11 to 155 m, 143 m of relief, gently rolling country and today it is 66% tree cover, 16% grassland, 12% built-up.

tree cover: 66%grassland: 16%built-up: 12%cropland: 5%tree cover 66%grassland 16%built-up 12%cropland 5%
west to east, 10.0 km17 to 79 mnorth to south, 10.0 km17 to 125 m
Elevation from the Copernicus DEM GLO-30 (ESA, Airbus); land cover from ESA WorldCover 2021 (CC BY 4.0), within about 5 km of the recorded site. Computed, not recorded.

Nearest engagements

In the same war

Elsewhere in 1777

Combat data (CDB90)

Attacker: AM ARMYDefender: BR ARMY (DET.)
Strength4,8001,200
Casualties44 (0.9%)215 (17.9%)
Mission accomplishment, 1 to 1082
Outcomeattacker won
Duration1 day
Front width0.6 km0.3 km
Attacker advanced1.5 km

From the US Army Concepts Analysis Agency Database of Battles (CDB90, battle 86), public domain, in the CC0 tidy edition by Jeffrey B. Arnold. Figures are the database's estimates, compiled in 1990 from published histories, and may differ from the Wikipedia infobox above.

The National Park Service's American Battlefield Protection Program maps this as the Princeton battlefield (site NJ213): a study area of 1,766 acres, with a core area of 1,039 acres where the fighting was concentrated.

Battle of Princeton is one of 2,126 engagements of the 18th century in the atlas and one of 1,264 in present-day United States (31 in New Jersey).

Sources

Identity, coordinates, dates and the war from Wikidata Q1132579, released under CC0. Result, belligerents, commanders, strength and casualties from the infobox of the English Wikipedia article Battle of Princeton, revision 1379976177, read 2026-11-14, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0; the article's text is not reproduced here. Present-day country and state from Natural Earth. Battlefield boundary and area from the National Park Service American Battlefield Protection Program (public domain). Dates before 1582 follow the Julian calendar as recorded.