NJ, USA

Quaker Road (Night March Route)

Trail

Quaker Road is the route used by Washington's army during its night march from Trenton to Princeton on January 2-3, 1777. The road, also known as the Quaker Bridge Road, ran east of the main Post Road and allowed the Continental Army to bypass British positions along the direct route. The march of approximately 5,000 soldiers through the freezing darkness over icy, rutted roads was one of the great feats of endurance of the war.

Portions of the historic road alignment are still traceable in the modern landscape.

What Happened Here

Washington's decision to use the Quaker Road rather than the Post Road was critical to the success of the Princeton operation. The Post Road was watched by British sentries, and any movement along it would have been detected. The Quaker Road, a secondary route used primarily by the local Quaker community, offered a less-observed path. A local guide, possibly a farmer familiar with the area, helped direct the army along the correct route in the darkness.

The march began around midnight on January 2-3, 1777, after Washington's army had spent the day in a tense standoff with Cornwallis's forces along Assunpink Creek in Trenton. The soldiers marched in silence, with wagon wheels muffled and campfires left burning to deceive the British. By dawn, the army had reached the outskirts of Princeton.