NJ, USA
George Washington
1732–1799 · Commander-in-Chief · Continental General
1732–1799
Commander-in-Chief · Continental General
George Washington was born on February 22, 1732, in Westmoreland County, Virginia, into a prosperous planter family. His military career began during the French and Indian War, where he served as a lieutenant colonel in the Virginia militia and gained experience in frontier warfare. After the war, he managed his plantation at Mount Vernon and served in the Virginia House of Burgesses. In June 1775, the Continental Congress appointed him Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army, a position he held for the duration of the war.
By late December 1776, Washington's army was in desperate condition. A string of defeats in New York and New Jersey had reduced his force through casualties, desertions, and expiring enlistments. The army had retreated across New Jersey and into Pennsylvania, and many observers believed the Revolution was on the verge of collapse. Washington's crossing of the Delaware River on December 25-26, 1776, and the subsequent victory at Trenton on December 26 began to reverse the tide, but the campaign was far from over.
On January 2, 1777, Washington slipped away from a confrontation with Cornwallis at Trenton, leaving campfires burning to deceive the British, and marched his army north through the night toward Princeton. The march was grueling — temperatures were below freezing, roads were icy, and many soldiers lacked adequate shoes and clothing. Washington's plan was audacious: to attack the British garrison at Princeton and then move on to the supply depot at New Brunswick.
At Princeton on the morning of January 3, when Mercer's brigade was routed by Mawhood's counterattack and the American line began to collapse, Washington rode to the front on his white horse and personally rallied the fleeing soldiers. Multiple accounts describe him riding between the two lines as musket fire erupted, an exposed and conspicuous figure urging his men forward. His aide, Colonel John Fitzgerald, reportedly covered his eyes, expecting to see Washington fall. When the smoke cleared, Washington was unharmed and the Americans were charging. His personal leadership at that moment turned a potential defeat into a decisive victory.
WHY HE MATTERS TO PRINCETON
Princeton was the engagement where Washington's personal bravery was tested and proved in the most direct way. At Lexington, Bunker Hill, and Long Island, other officers commanded on the field. At Princeton, Washington himself rode into the musket fire and changed the outcome by his physical presence. The battle cemented his reputation as a leader who would share the dangers of his troops, and it completed the "Ten Crucial Days" that saved the Revolution from collapse. Washington's later return to Princeton during the Continental Congress of 1783 reinforced the town's association with his leadership.
- 1732: Born February 22 in Westmoreland County, Virginia - 1775: Appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army - 1776: Crossed the Delaware and won at Trenton on December 26 - 1777: Led the attack at the Battle of Princeton on January 3 - 1783: Received news of peace treaty while Congress met in Nassau Hall - 1799: Died December 14 at Mount Vernon, Virginia
SOURCES - Fischer, David Hackett. "Washington's Crossing." Oxford University Press, 2004. - Chernow, Ron. "Washington: A Life." Penguin Press, 2010. - Flexner, James Thomas. "Washington: The Indispensable Man." Little, Brown, 1974.
In Princeton
- Jan 1777Night March from Trenton to Princeton(Planned and led the night march, deceiving Cornwallis)
On the night of January 2-3, 1777, Washington executed one of the war's most audacious maneuvers. With Cornwallis's army camped across the Assunpink Creek preparing to attack at dawn, Washington left his campfires burning, muffled his wagon wheels with rags, and marched his entire army around the British flank on a back road toward Princeton. The march covered roughly twelve miles in freezing conditions. Soldiers who had fought at the Assunpink that afternoon marched through the night without rest. The road had frozen solid after a brief thaw, which made the march possible but punishing. By dawn, the army was in position to strike Princeton. Cornwallis awoke to find his quarry gone.
- Jan 1777Battle of Princeton(Commander-in-Chief who personally led the charge that turned the battle)
After slipping away from Cornwallis at Trenton during the night of January 2-3, Washington's army marched north and encountered British forces under Lieutenant Colonel Mawhood south of Princeton. The initial engagement between Mercer's brigade and Mawhood's 17th Foot was a brutal close-quarters fight. The British bayonet charge killed Mercer and scattered his men. Washington rode forward personally to rally the retreating troops, exposing himself to fire at close range. Reinforcements under Cadwalader arrived, and the combined American force drove the British back into Princeton and then through the town. Some British soldiers took refuge in Nassau Hall, which was struck by American artillery before the garrison surrendered. The battle cost the British roughly 100 killed and 300 captured, while American losses were approximately 25 killed and 40 wounded.
- Jan 1777Washington Rallies Troops at Princeton(Rode between the lines to rally fleeing troops and led the charge)
As Mercer's and Cadwalader's men streamed toward the rear, George Washington rode forward on his white horse to meet them. Riding between the retreating Americans and the advancing British, Washington shouted to the men to halt and reform. His personal intervention — conspicuously mounted and exposed to fire from both sides — steadied the panicking troops. As fresh Continental regiments arrived, Washington led them in a charge toward the British line. Colonel John Fitzgerald, Washington's aide, reportedly covered his eyes, certain that Washington would be killed. When the smoke cleared, Washington was unharmed and the British line was breaking. This moment became the iconic image of the Battle of Princeton and demonstrated Washington's willingness to risk his life alongside his soldiers.
- Jan 1777Cannonade of Nassau Hall(Ordered the cannonade of Nassau Hall to force British surrender)
During the Battle of Princeton, approximately 200 British soldiers retreated into Nassau Hall, the main building of the College of New Jersey. Captain Alexander Hamilton reportedly ordered his artillery to fire on the building. After several rounds struck the walls, the British garrison surrendered. Legend holds that a cannonball passed through a wall and decapitated a portrait of King George II hanging in the prayer hall. The story, whether precisely true, captured the symbolic resonance of an American cannon destroying a British king's image inside the most important educational institution in the middle colonies. Nassau Hall's damage was repaired, and the building later housed the Continental Congress in 1783.
- Jun 1783Continental Congress Meets at Nassau Hall(Received formal thanks from Congress at Nassau Hall)
The Continental Congress relocated to Princeton in June 1783 after mutinous soldiers in Philadelphia surrounded Independence Hall demanding back pay. Congress met in Nassau Hall from June to November, making Princeton briefly the capital of the United States. During this period, Congress received the official news that the Treaty of Paris had been signed, formally ending the war. Washington was summoned to Princeton, where Congress thanked him for his service. The episode — Congress fleeing its own soldiers, governing from a college building — illustrated both the fragility of the new nation's institutions and their resilience.
- Aug 1783Congress Thanks Washington at Princeton(Received formal thanks and commission for portrait from Congress)
On August 26, 1783, the Continental Congress, meeting at Nassau Hall in Princeton, formally passed a resolution thanking George Washington for his service as Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army. Washington traveled to Princeton and was received by Congress in a ceremony at Nassau Hall. Congress commissioned Charles Willson Peale to paint an equestrian portrait of Washington, which was eventually completed and still hangs in Nassau Hall. The event reinforced Princeton's role as a center of national governance during the summer and fall of 1783.