The Battle of Princeton was the last major battle fought by the Continental army for nearly six months.

As soon as they arrived in Princeton, the Americans started robbing the town and the abandoned British supply carts. When Washington learned Cornwallis was coming, he decided he had to leave Princeton. Washington wanted to advance to New Brunswick and seize a 70,000-pound British pay chest, but Major Generals Henry Knox and Nathanael Greene dissuaded him from doing so. Instead, on the evening of January 3, Washington moved his army to Somerset Courthouse, marched to Pluckemin by January 5, and arrived at Morristown by dusk the next day for winter encampment. The Battle of Princeton was the last major battle fought by the Continental army for nearly six months.

As an alternative, Washington ordered the army to winterize in the security of the Watchung Mountains in New Jersey and then began to reassemble the force. Although there were almost daily clashes between American detachments and British hunting parties, the Battle of Short Hills on June 26, 1777, was the next significant event.