Princeton Battlefield

This Revolutionary War-era battlefield is where troops under General George Washington routed British Regulars on January 3, 1777, ending a ten-day campaign that began with Washington’s crossing of the Delaware and turned the tide in the war for American independence. The battle occurred in central New Jersey amidst farms, cultivated fields, and orchards, just southwest of what was then the village of Princeton. In 1946 the Princeton Battlefield State Park was established on roughly 40 acres and included the historic Thomas Clarke House (built in 1772), where General Hugh Mercer died of wounds inflicted during the battle. In 1976 some 35 acres were added to the park and the Clarke House opened as a museum, with five more acres added to the north in 2015.

Background

The state park is bisected by Mercer Road, built in 1807. On the north side of the park, an Ionic colonnade designed by Thomas U. Walter in 1836 (originally as the façade of a Philadelphia residence, but later incorporated into the nearby Mercer Manor) marks the gravesites of British and American troops. In 1966 Princeton Battlefield State Park was listed in the National Register of Historic Places and designated a National Historic Landmark. The National Register designation was expanded to the Princeton Battlefield-Stony Brook Village Historic District in 1989, which includes the park, and encompasses some 2,850 acres.

Princeton Battlefield, Princeton, NJ, 2014. Photo courtesy The Civil War Trust.

To the east of and adjacent to the park lies the 22-acre parcel known as Maxwell’s Field, which was a site of heavy fighting in January 1777. Its topographic landscape as it appeared then is clearly visible. Still largely an open field, the land is level or slightly rolling, with gentle slopes tending towards the south, while the southern portion of the landscape is wooded. The entire property is surrounded by a thin line of trees and brush. The historical authenticity of this battleground has long been supported by archaeologists, historians, and preservationists.

Since 2003 The Institute for Advanced Study (IAS), which owned Maxwell’s Field, actively pursued plans to develop the site. In 2012 it put forth a plan to build eight townhouses and seven detached homes for faculty on Maxwell’s Field, which led to the National Trust for Historic Preservation placing it on its 2012 “11 Most Endangered Places” list.