Continental Army
Washington organized his army into two columns for the attack on Trenton. After crossing the Delaware River, Brigadier General Adam Stephen's troops guarded the bridgehead while the remaining troops crossed. The divisions marched together for several miles before taking different roads into Trenton. Stephen's men led Major General Nathanael Greene's division southward along an inland road (which was accompanied by Washington and his entourage), while Major General John Sullivan's division followed a road along the river, intending to prevent the Hessians from retreating across the Assunpink Creek.
Most of the figures in this listing are derived from a return prepared by George Washington on December 22, 1776, four days before the battle. Historian David Hackett Fischer includes estimates made by either himself or other historians for strength counts that were not provided in Washington's return. The counts include all officers and musicians, in addition to the rank and file marked as present and fit for duty. Washington required everyone to carry muskets, including officers and musicians who did not normally carry them.
American casualties in the battle were very light, and are therefore not listed in the table below. Two Virginia officers, Capt. William Washington and Lt. James Monroe of the 3rd Virginia Regiment, were injured, as was James Buxton, an ensign in the 4th Virginia Regiment. (Monroe, the future United States president, suffered a wound to the neck that very nearly killed him. His life was saved by a doctor who volunteered his services to the army as it marched through New Jersey that morning.) Two privates are known to have died in the battle, and one account includes mention of two men dying from exposure on the march. The most pessimistic estimate of American casualties lists four killed and eight wounded, although Fischer points out that many more American troops probably died of non-combat causes (including illness, hypothermia, malnutrition, and exhaustion) in the days and weeks following the campaign of late December and early January.
| Continental Army | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Unit | Commander | Unit size | Notes |
| Commander-in-Chief | Maj. Gen. George Washington | Washington rode with Greene's division, and observed the battle from high ground above the town near the artillery companies. | |
| Commander-in-Chief's Guard | Capt. Caleb Gibbs | about 75 | This unit's assigned task was the protection of Washington and his papers. |
| Secretary | Lt. Col. Robert Hanson Harrison | ||
| Washington's aides-de-camp | Lt. Tench Tilghman | ||
| Lt. Col. Richard Cary | |||
| Lt. Col. Samuel Blachley Webb | |||
| Adjutant General | Col. Joseph Reed | Reed accompanied militia Brig. Gen. John Cadwalader's brigade in its failed crossing of the Delaware. | |
| Quartermaster General | Col. Stephen Moylan | ||
| Commissary General | Lt. Col. Joseph Trumbull | ||
| Paymaster General | Col. William Palfrey | ||
| Muster Master General | Col. Gunning Bedford | ||
| Director of the General Hospital | Dr. John Morgan | ||
| Chief Engineer | Col. Rufus Putnam | ||
| Greene's Division | Maj. Gen. Nathanael Greene | 2,690 | Washington rode with this division. |
| Stephen's Brigade | Brig. Gen. Adam Stephen | 541 | This brigade served as bridgehead and advance guard, and formed part of the center of Greene's line for the attack, along with Stirling's brigade. |
| 4th Virginia Regiment | Lt. Col. Robert Lawson | 229 | Col. Thomas Elliott was absent. |
| 5th Virginia Regiment | Col. Charles Scott | 129 | |
| 6th Virginia Regiment | Col. Mordecai Buckner | 191 | |
| Stirling's Brigade | Brig. Gen. William Alexander (Lord Stirling) | 673 | This brigade formed part of the center of Greene's line for the attack, along with Stephen's brigade. |
| 1st Virginia Regiment | Capt. John Fleming | 185 | No field officers were present. |
| 1st Delaware Regiment | Col. John Haslet | 108 | Col. Haslet was one of several men that fell into the Delaware during the crossing. |
| 3rd Virginia Regiment | Col. George Weedon | 181 | |
| 1st Pennsylvania Rifle Regiment | Maj. Ennion Williams | 199 | Col. Samuel Miles and Lt. Col. James Piper were captured in Battle of Long Island. According to Stryker, this unit included the remnants of Atlee's Pennsylvania State Musketry Battalion (decimated at Long Island), while Fischer places those remnants with the 6th Virginia Regiment. |
| Mercer's Brigade | Brig. Gen. Hugh Mercer | 838 | This brigade lined up on Greene's right for the attack. |
| 20th Connecticut Regiment | Col. John Durkee | 313 | |
| 1st Maryland Regiment | Lt. Col. Francis Ware | 163 | Col. John Stone was recruiting in Maryland. |
| 5th Massachusetts Regiment | Maj. Ezra Putnam | 115 | Fischer lists Col. Israel Hutchinson in command; Stryker says Hutchinson and Lt. Col. Benjamin Holden were absent. |
| Bradley's Battalion, Connecticut State Troops | Capt. Benjamin Mills | 142 | Fischer lists Col. Philip Burr Bradley in command; Stryker indicates all field officers were absent. |
| Maryland Rifle Battalion Volunteers | Capt. David Harris | 105 | Lt. Col. Commandant Moses Rawling was absent, wounded in the Battle of Fort Washington. |
| Fermoy's Brigade | Brig. Gen. Matthias Alexis Roche de Fermoy | 638 | This brigade lined up on Greene's left for the attack. At a key point in the battle, Washington ordered the brigade to extend Greene's line further to its left to avoid a potential flanking maneuver. |
| 1st Pennsylvania Regiment | Col. Edward Hand | 254 | Hand's men were first assigned to cover the Princeton road. |
| German Continentals | Col. Nicholas Haussegger | 374 | Near the end of the battle, these German immigrants called out to the Hessians in German to lay down their weapons. |
| Sullivan's Division | Maj. Gen. John Sullivan | 2,624 estimated | General Sullivan accepted the surrender of Maj. von Dechow, who was mortally wounded and seeking safety. |
| Glover's Brigade | Col. John Glover | 1,259 estimated | This brigade crossed the Assunpink Creek and took up positions on the far side of the bridge to prevent the enemy's escape across the bridge. |
| 14th (Marblehead) Regiment | Maj. William R. Lee | Fischer lists Col. John Glover in command; Stryker says Major Lee commanded while Glover led the brigade. | |
| 3rd Massachusetts Regiment | Col. William Shepard | ||
| 19th Connecticut Regiment | Col. Charles Webb | ||
| 23rd Continental Regiment | Col. John Bailey | ||
| 26th Continental Regiment | Col. Loammi Baldwin | ||
| Sargent's Brigade | Col. Paul Dudley Sargent | 865 estimated | This brigade also crossed the Assunpink Creek bridge and took up positions above the bridge to catch men trying to ford the creek. |
| 16th Continental Regiment | Capt. James Perry | Fischer lists Sargent in command; Stryker indicates Perry, the next senior officer, commanded while Sargent led the brigade. | |
| Ward's Regiment Connecticut Continentals | Col. Andrew Ward | ||
| 6th Battalion Connecticut State Troops | Col. John Chester | Stryker claims this unit did not cross the river. | |
| 13th Continental Regiment | Lt. Col. Ebenezer Clap | Col. Joseph Read was absent. | |
| 1st Regiment MacDougall's New York Continentals | Capt. John Johnson | The colonelcy was vacant with the promotion of Alexander MacDougall to brigadier general, and the other command positions were also vacant. | |
| 3rd New York Regiment | Lt. Col. Baron Friedrich von Weissenfels | Col. Peter Gansevoort was absent. | |
| St. Clair's Brigade | Brig. Gen. Arthur St. Clair | 500 estimated | This brigade entered the lower end of town, near the bridge, and engaged the Hessians on King Street. |
| 5th Continental Regiment | Col. John Stark | Stark's men led the initial attack against the jäger outpost on the river road. | |
| 8th Continental Regiment | Col. Enoch Poor | ||
| 2nd Continental Regiment | Col. Israel Gilman | Stryker lists Gilman as Lt. Col., with a vacant colonelcy. The previous colonel, James Reed had been promoted to brigadier general, and was sick at Peekskill, New York. | |
| 15th Continental Regiment | Col. John Paterson | ||
| Artillery | Col. Henry Knox | 418 estimated; 16 guns | Knox oversaw and coordinated the crossing of the Delaware River. |
| New York Company of Continental Artillery | Capt. Sebastian Baumann | 3 guns, 80–85 men | Marching with Greene's division, this company and others occupied high ground that commanded Trenton's main roads. |
| Massachusetts Company of Continental Artillery | Capt. Lt. Winthrop Sargent | 2 guns, 55 men estimated | Capt. Thomas Pierce was absent, wounded. This unit marched with Sullivan's division, and was eventually stationed on south shore of the Assunpink Creek. Its gunfire obstructed attempts by the Knyphausen regiment to ford the creek. |
| New York State Company of Artillery | Capt. Alexander Hamilton | 2 guns, 36 men | Marching with Greene's division, this company occupied high ground that commanded Queen Street, one of Trenton's main roads. |
| Eastern Company, New Jersey State Artillery | Capt. Daniel Neil | 2 guns, 63 men | This unit marched with Sullivan's division. |
| Western Company, New Jersey State Artillery | Capt. Samuel Hugg | 2 guns, 55 men estimated | This unit marched with Sullivan's division. |
| 2nd Company, Pennsylvania State Artillery | Capt. Thomas Forrest | 2 guns, 52 men | Marching with Greene's division, this company occupied high ground that commanded King Street, one of Trenton's main roads. |
| 2nd Company, Philadelphia Associators | Capt. Joseph Moulder | 3 guns, 85 men | This unit marched with Sullivan's division. |
| Philadelphia Troop of Light Horse | Capt. Samuel Morris | 25 cavalry | According to Stryker, this unit rode with Greene's division; it is not clear from sources if it was brigaded in any way. Fischer lists the unit as "not with the Continental Army". Its assignments included patrolling the area around Trenton in the aftermath of the battle and the retreat across the river. |
| Total Size | 5,422 estimated | ||
Read more about this topic: Order Of Battle Of The Battle Of Trenton
Famous quotes containing the word army:
“Here was a great woman; a magnificent, generous, gallant, reckless, fated fool of a woman. There was never a place for her in the ranks of the terrible, slow army of the cautious. She ran ahead, where there were no paths.”
—Dorothy Parker (1893–1967)