The Princeton Battlefield in Princeton, Mercer County,

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, is where American and British troops fought each other on January 3, 1777, in the Battle of Princeton during the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

. The battle ended when the British soldiers in

Nassau Hall Nassau Hall, colloquially known as Old Nassau, is the oldest building at Princeton University in Princeton, New Jersey, Princeton, Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. In 1783 it served as the United States Capitol building for four months. ...

surrendered. This success, following those at the

Battle of Trenton The Battle of Trenton was a small but pivotal American Revolutionary War battle on the morning of December 26, 1776, in Trenton, New Jersey. After General George Washington's George Washington's crossing of the Delaware River, crossing of the ...

on December 26, 1776, and the

Battle of the Assunpink Creek The Battle of the Assunpink Creek, also known as the Second Battle of Trenton, was a battle between Thirteen Colonies, American and Kingdom of Great Britain, British troops that took place in and around Trenton, New Jersey, on January 2, 1 ...

the day before, helped improve American morale. With

Princeton Battlefield State Park

Princeton Battlefield State Park is a

state park State parks are parks or other protected areas managed at the sub-national level within those nations which use "Federated state, state" as a political subdivision. State parks are typically established by a state to preserve a location on accou ...

located in Princeton. The park preserves part of the site of the Battle of Princeton (January 3, 1777), which was a victory for General George Washington's revolutionary forces over British forces. The park is maintained by the New Jersey Division of Parks and Forestry, and is located on Mercer Road (Princeton Pike), about 1.5 miles south of

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

and 3.8 miles north of Interstate 295/95. The park was established in 1946 on approximately . Highlights of the park include the Princeton Battlefield site; the Clarke House Museum; the site of the Mercer Oak, a tree which stood in the middle of the battlefield until recent years; the Ionic Colonnade designed by Thomas U. Walter (fourth Architect of the U.S. Capitol); and a stone patio marking the grave of 21 British and 15 American soldiers killed in the battle. A poem was written for the site by Alfred Noyes, Poet Laureate of

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. The park's hiking trails lead to the Delaware and Raritan Canal and to the adjacent property of the

Institute for Advanced Study The Institute for Advanced Study (IAS) is an independent center for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry located in Princeton, New Jersey. It has served as the academic home of internationally preeminent scholars, including Albert Ein ...

. The Princeton Battle Monument is located in town near

on non-adjacent park property at Stockton Street and Bayard Lane.

Clarke House Museum

The Thomas Clarke House Museum was built in 1772 by the third generation of

Quakers Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestantism, Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally ...

at Stony Brook. The house is furnished in the Revolutionary period and contains military artifacts and battle exhibits, as well as a research library. During the battle

Hugh Mercer Hugh Mercer (January 16, 1726 – January 12, 1777) was a Scottish brigadier general in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. He fought in the New York and New Jersey campaign and was mortally wounded at the Battle of Pri ...

was brought to the Clarke House and treated unsuccessfully by

Benjamin Rush Benjamin Rush (April 19, 1813) was an American revolutionary, a Founding Father of the United States and signatory to the U.S. Declaration of Independence, and a civic leader in Philadelphia, where he was a physician, politician, social refor ...

Threatened development

Part of the battlefield is now a state park, while other portions remain under threat of development. For several years, the

has been attempting to build faculty housing on the portion of Princeton Battlefield known as Maxwell's field. The Princeton Battlefield Society is protesting the project in court, and national and local preservation organizations are working to prevent construction on the property. The American Battlefield Trust, based in Washington, D.C., has reached agreement with the institute to purchase almost 15 acres of the land for $4.5 million, more than $1 million above the site's appraised value. The Trust and its partners had already acquired and preserved of the battlefield. 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 The National Park Service (NPS) is an List of federal agencies in the United States, agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, within the US Department of the Interior. The service manages all List ...

and the Mercer County Open Space Assistance Program. The completed purchase ended the long dispute over how and whether the battlefield land would be developed.

Princeton Battlefield / Stony Brook Village Historic District

In 1989 the National Register of Historic Places designation of the Battlefield was expanded to form the Princeton Battlefield / Stony Brook Village Historic District. Princeton's original settlers were Quaker farmers along the Stony Brook immediately to the south and west of the battlefield. The Stony Brook Meeting House and Cemetery was well established at the time of the revolution and in full sight of the battle. The meetinghouse and associated farms are part of the contiguous preserved area that includes the battlefield.

Gallery

File:PrincetonBattleb.jpg, The Princeton battlefield with its map File:Princeton Battlefield - The Clarke House.jpg, The Clarke House File:Historic American Buildings Survey Nathaniel R. Ewan, Photographer April 24, 1936 WEST ELEVATION - Stony Brook Quaker Meetinghouse, Quaker Road, Princeton, Mercer County, NJ HABS NJ,11-PRINT,5-1.tif, The Stony Brook meetinghouse in 1936 from the

Historic American Buildings Survey The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

References

External links

Official website

Save Princeton Battlefield

{{authority control American Revolutionary War sites National Historic Landmarks in New Jersey Historic districts in Princeton, New Jersey State parks of New Jersey Parks in Mercer County, New Jersey Museums in Princeton, New Jersey American Revolutionary War museums in New Jersey Institutions accredited by the American Alliance of Museums National Register of Historic Places in Mercer County, New Jersey Historic districts in Mercer County, New Jersey New Jersey Register of Historic Places American Revolution on the National Register of Historic Places Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in New Jersey