Combat· American Revolutionary War
Trenton-Princeton Campaign
Washington's winter counteroffensive in New Jersey turned the war around after the disasters of 1776, and Continental Marines were part of it.
Drawn from the Philadelphia battalion under Major Samuel Nicholas, they joined Washington's army for the stand behind Assunpink Creek on 2 January, where the Americans held off Cornwallis's advance, and then for the attack on Princeton the next morning. At Princeton the Marines fought on Cadwalader's flank alongside militia and Continental regulars in the assault that drove the British 17th Regiment from the field. Among the dead was the Pennsylvania Marine captain William Shippin. The campaign was one of the first times Continental Marines fought as line infantry in a major land battle, far from any ship, and it established their willingness to serve ashore wherever the army needed them.
Engagements in this conflict (1) Podcast episodes on American Revolutionary War
Record no. 165