Men Without Shoes
THE ROAD TO INDEPENDENCE RUNS THROUGH US
Men Without Shoes
They’d been running since the Battle of New York in the summer. From Long Island. From the City. Through Westchester. Across New Jersey. Into Pennsylvania.
And now, George Washington’s Army of ragged and hungry men were making a stand, first in Trenton and then in Princeton. In 10 days, the changed the history of the world.
We know who the officers were. They’re the men in shiny boots, waving swords, astride the horses.
But the men who did the fighting – the grunts of the American Revolution – who were they?
They were the Men Without Shoes – literally — ordinary Americans from Maine to Georgia who marched and fought and died for our independence.
Independence was declared in Philadelphia. It was saved in Princeton on January 3, 177, by the men without Shoes
Princeton Under British Rule
Between December 7th, 1776, and January 3, 1777, Princeton was in British hands. The occupying forces, which included Hessian mercenaries allied with the British Crown, treated the town as hostile territory.
Civilians Caught in the Crossfire
Princeton’s citizens paid the price for revolution. Families fled or hid. Property was stolen or destroyed. Sympathizers of the patriot cause were targeted. Those trying to stay neutral found themselves distrusted by both sides. The occupation turned Princeton from a quiet college town into a battlefield of ideology, class, and survival.
Even after the British left, the town was left to pick up the pieces—homes damaged, spirits shaken, and loyalties hardened.
Destruction & Disrespect
The Hessians burned the home of Continental Congressman John Dickinson Sergeant’s brand new home. He drafted New Jersey’s new State constitution on July 2, 1776.
The British looted Morven, the home of Signer Richard Stockton, left it in ruins.
They ransacked Tusculum, the home of Signer, College of New Jersey (now Princeton University) President, and Pastor at First Presbyterian Church, Rev. John Witherspoon.
The British used First Presbyterian Church—a cornerstone of the community— as a horse stable and burned its pews.
They vandalized the College’s Nassau Hall, turned classrooms into barracks, destroyed scientific equipment and stole books.
No one was safe: They burned William Scudder’s mills, stole 600 of tanner James Moore’s hides, and made off with innkeeper Jacob Hyer’s featherbeds and drank up all of his liquor.
The Crown forces stole from the neutral Quakers and pillaged even their own loyalist supporters’ homes.
Aftermath:
It would take years for the village to recover. A return to “normal life” was interrupted by American troops quartering in town. After the battle Gen. Nathanael Greene Road wrote to Thomas Paine afterward and said, “the two late actions at Trenton and Princeton have put a very different face upon affairs.” Independence was declared Jul4, 1776. It was saved on Jan, 3, 1777. Princeton residents were willing to pay the price to preserve liberty.