Why was the battle of princeton fought?
The colonial army under Washington had been pushed by the British from New York city all the way across New Jersey and into Pennsylvania. Morale was low and many of the volunteers enlistments would be up at the end of the year, depriving Washington of much needed troops. The main British army went back to New York leaving a garrison of German mercenaries to hold the towns of Trenton & Princeton. Washington’s troops crossed the Delaware river on Christmas surprised & defeated the Hessian troops in Trenton, and then moved up the line and won a victory at Princeton. These battles were bright spots for the Americans in the early part of the war, & re-invigorated the cause of rebellion in the colonies.
