Battle Tour

The Battles of Trenton and Princeton were seminal events in American history (and therefore world history). Most of the key events took place right here in Trenton, and in nearby locations including Pennington, Ewing, West Trenton, Princeton, Hamilton, and Lawrenceville.

Living in this area, most of us know a little about the battles. But it turns out that with some research and careful analysis, you can pretty much see exactly where these events took place. We depended mostly on David Hackett Fischer’s magnificent, Pulitzer-Prize-winning history, Washington’s Crossing.

Hidden Trenton is now sharing the fruits of this research with you, free for download.

Our Self-Guided Tour to the Battles of Trenton and Princeton tells you the story of the battles in satisfying detail, and gives you precise directions on how to visit the exact spots where the events took place. Some of the events and places will be familiar, some won’t be, but once you “take the tour”, you’ll never think about the greater Trenton area in quite the same way. This is a 60-page, profusely illustrated book (so it’s a largish download, about 8 MB). We’ve put up additional information in the form of KMZ files you can use in Google Maps and Google Earth to aid your own exploration and planning. All of the battle maps in the guide are available in kmz form, so you can load them into Google Earth and view them at any scale. In addition, we’ve provided a kmz with markers for every tour stop recommended in the guide, and another with the markers and overlays that we used to create the “Old Trenton” illustration in the beginning of the guide.

12 thoughts on “Battle Tour”

    1. Thanks for your interest. Unfortunately, given the large number of color illustrations, it’s an expensive document to print. I might be able to print a few on a high quality laser printer, but the cost in paper and toner will probably be $20+. Then I’ve got to figure out how to bind it. Is it worth $30+ to you? If so, reply here and I’ll see what I can do.

  1. For anyone interested or curious I have just finished a narration of John S. Pancake’s excellent “1777, the Year of the Hangman” in which both the battles of Trenton and Princeton are covered in relative detail.

    The audio book was just released last week on Audible.com,Amazon.com and at I-Tunes. Washington’s crossing of the Delaware is represented in the sample track. Pancake wrote extensively about the campaigns and the politics of the American Revolution. best to all, R.

  2. I was born and raised in Philly, son of a history buff. Now as Mercer Co. resident, I’ve taken an affinity for local history, especially of the Revolutionary War. I missed the last reenactment of the Crossing and Battle(s) of Trent’s town. I was hoping they’d have an reenactment of the battle of Assunpink crick.

    I hope this book/downloads expand my understanding the battles and the turning point of the first real World War.

  3. Millman,

    Wonderful site with much great information for this old Jersey boy. But a query. I can’t find a way to open any of the KMZ files. Maybe I’m not enough of a computer guy. I’ve tried other programs. Any suggestions? Thanks.

    1. Have you tried Google Earth? Based on your comment, I tried downloading the tour stops KMZ just to make sure it hadn’t gotten corrupted in the transition. It hadn’t. However, I did notice that the KMZ opened “invisibly”. I needed to go to the Temporary Places folder of Google Earth and click on the check boxes for the icons to appear. Could that be the issue?

  4. Who is the author of this handy, helpful guide?
    *****************
    Editor’s comment: Why, Millman, your friendly Hidden Trenton webmaster, that’s who.

  5. An awesome book. Concise, well-written, easy to follow, and a great tour guide if you are in the Trenton/Princeton area. With a Hessian 5th great grandfather (Johann Christoph Reiss) who fought on the British side in this battle, the story is especially relevant.

  6. Interested in the stories and sites of the battles. Have lived in the area a long time and would like to know more. Looking forward to driving a self-guided tour using your information.

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