📅 On This Day in Military History
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Days after Trenton, Washington slipped away from Cornwallis's larger army at night and struck the British rear guard at Princeton. Washington himself rode forward to rally retreating troops, reportedly to within 30 yards of British muskets, before the redcoats broke. The twin victories of Trenton and Princeton sent British and Hessian forces retreating into winter quarters.
Together with Trenton, Princeton completed Washington's 'Ten Crucial Days,' reversing the war's trajectory. The New Jersey campaign demonstrated Washington's strategic genius — using mobility to compensate for numerical weakness.
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