Battle of Iron Works Hill

Map, c. 1806, showing towns most relevant to the Battle: Bordentown, Moorestown and Mount Holly, NJ.

Date	December 22–23, 1776
Location	Mount Holly, New Jersey Coordinates: 39°59′42″N 74°47′13″W / 39.99500°N 74.78694°W / 39.99500; -74.78694
Result	British tactical victory American strategic victory

Belligerents

United States

Great Britain

Hesse-Kassel

Commanders and leaders

Samuel Griffin

Carl von Donop

Strength

500–600 militia

2,000 British and Hessian troops

Casualties and losses

minor (see Aftermath)

The Battle of Iron Works Hill, also known as the Battle of Mount Holly, was a series of minor skirmishes that took place on December 22 and 23, 1776, during the American War of Independence. They took place in Mount Holly, New Jersey, between an American force mostly composed of colonial militia under Colonel Samuel Griffin and a force of 2,000 Hessians and British regulars under Carl von Donop.

While the American force of 600 was eventually forced from their positions by the larger Hessian force, the action prevented von Donop from being in his assigned base at Bordentown, New Jersey and in a position to assist Johann Rall's brigade in Trenton, New Jersey when it was attacked and defeated by George Washington after his troops crossed the Delaware on the night of December 25–26.

In July 1776 forces of Great Britain under the command of General William Howe landed on Staten Island. Over the next several months, Howe's forces, which were British Army regulars and auxiliary German troops usually referred to as Hessian, chased George Washington's Continental Army out of New York City and across New Jersey. Washington's army, which was shrinking in size due to expiring enlistments, and desertions due to poor morale, took refuge in Pennsylvania on the western shore of the Delaware River in November, removing all the available watercraft to deny the British any opportunity to cross the wide river.

...
Wikipedia