Save Princeton Battlefield, the Turning Point of the American Revolution

From the Princeton Patch: Save Princeton Battlefield, the Turning Point of the American Revolution

To the Editor,

The Battle of Princeton was FAR more important than most people realize, it truly was a TURNING POINT OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. General Washington knew that winning this battle was ABSOLUTELY CRITICAL. Many of the soldiers had completed their commissions at the end of 1776 and the Continental Congress had run out of funds to finance the war.

The week before the battle Washington sent General Cadwalader to Princeton who drew a map, now known as the “Cadwalader Spymap,” showing not only the physical features, including Bainbridge House and Nassau Hall, but markings indicating the location and number of British soldiers on the Post Road (Rt. 206). The map includes the Saw Mill Road, the “backroad” that Washington used to move the entire Continental Army into Princeton undetected. Interestingly, it appears that General Cadwalader did not physically examine this road because the map doesn’t include clearly important buildings on the road - the Quaker Meeting House, or the Thomas or William Clarke Houses.

Today, MUCH MORE IMPORTANT than the road, however, is the location of the winning COUNTERATTACK. Clear evidence dating back to the mid-1940s when Princeton Battlefield Park was set up, shows where the Counterattack took place. The original boundaries of the Park were to include the location of the Counterattack. Archaeological evidence and the mapped features of the original accounts of soldiers in the Battle have confirmed the location of the COUNTERATTACK just outside the Park boundaries.

The site of the Counterattack is NOT an appropriate location for a housing development. Instead it should be sold to the State of New Jersey for incorporation into the Park as originally intended.

Daniel Thompson
Princeton Township, Member of the Princeton Battlefield Society