Opposing forces almost missed each other

Lieutenant Colonel Charles Mawhood, the British officer in command at Princeton, was ordered by Cornwallis to send reinforcements to his position at Trenton. Leaving a small garrison at Princeton, Mawhood began marching up the Post Road towards Trenton shortly after dawn. The army marching north from Washington traveled primarily on a parallel, lesser-known route that ran through the Thomas Clark ranch - a route largely out of sight of the Postal Service. Late at night, Washington sent a small detachment under Hugh Mercer to capture and destroy the Stony Brook Bridge along Post Street. It was this detachment that was seen by scouts attached to the Mawhood columnist. Mawhood, now aware of a new threat near Princeton, pivoted its forces and approached Mercer at Clarke Ranch.

One can imagine what would have happened if this chance meeting had not taken place. The Mawhood was supposed to be on its way to Trenton, and Washington would find only a small, vulnerable garrison at Princeton.