At once the party of general officers turned their horses’ heads toward the house where Mercer was lodged. What took place there the lads never knew, but that the plan which Washington had so sketched was finally agreed upon in detail was evident before an hour had passed.
Swiftly the order was given; the teamsters and the baggage were soon silently on their way to Burlington. Intrenching tools were brought forward with great bustle, and numbers of men were set vigorously to work near the bridge and each ford, throwing up earthworks. With much clatter and loud talking this work went forward in the hearing of the British sentinels across the creek. Camp-fires were kept burning, and from time to time guards were relieved in such a manner that the enemy could not help being aware of it.
And while this was going forward, the main body of the army noiselessly slipped away toward Princeton. The progress was slow at first, because the roads were soft; but suddenly the direction of the wind altered, the cold became intense, and the wagon way froze to the hardness of iron.
The orders were that the men left behind to deceive the enemy were to continue on the Assanpink until daybreak, when they were to abandon their pretense and hasten after the army. General Mercer commanded the advance party along the Quaker Road which, being new and encumbered with stumps, made slow traveling.
It was about sunrise when the army reached the bridge at Stony Brook, three miles from Princeton. Ben Cooper and his friends, who were detailed with Mercer’s advance party, heard that officer say to one of his aides:
“We should have been entering the town by this. I’m afraid that daylight will expose our movements.”
Mercer, under orders, took up his course along the brook; Washington led the main body into a by-road which his guides claimed was a short cut into Princeton. It was Mercer’s intent to seize or destroy a bridge on the main road, so as to prevent the flight of the British when Washington attacked them.
Along trailed Mercer, following the stream, and away marched Washington by the side road; they had gone some little way toward their objective points, and still the enemy had not perceived them. However, before Mercer reached the bridge, the British 17th, under Colonel Mawhood, crossed it on the way to Trenton, where they had been ordered. The glitter of the rifle barrels of Mercer’s men attracted the attention of some one in the 17th, and Mawhood was instantly on the alert. It was impossible for the British to make out the full strength of the Americans, owing to the thick woods; but probably the British leader fancied them a detachment flying from a possible defeat at Trenton; and so made up his mind to capture them.
Swift riders were sent spurring back to Princeton to inform two additional regiments, also under marching orders, of the condition of affairs; once these were on the ground, so Mawhood reasoned, the Americans could be surrounded.
The van of Mercer’s brigade was nearing the desired bridge when Ben Cooper, riding ahead, made out the scarlet of the British through the naked trees. Instantly his holster pistol was out and he had fired a shot of warning; whirling about his mount he dashed back to the companions he had left a little while before. The alarm shot had startled the American officers into instant action; Mercer galloped up and at once saw the task before him. Like a trained soldier he glanced about for a natural advantage; some high ground to the right attracted him and he ordered his men to make for it. The regiment of Mawhood noted the vantage point about the same time and also rushed to occupy it.