 After entering Princeton , the Americans began to loot the abandoned British supply wagons and the town itself . With news that Cornwallis was approaching , Washington knew he had to leave Princeton . Washington wanted to push onto New Brunswick and capture a British pay chest of 70 @,@ 000 pounds but Major Generals Henry Knox and Nathanael Greene talked him out of it . Instead , Washington moved his army to Somerset Courthouse on the night of January 3 , then marched to Pluckemin by January 5 , and arrived at Morristown , by sunset the next day , for winter encampment . After the battle , Cornwallis abandoned many of his posts in New Jersey , and ordered his army to retreat to New Brunswick . 
