 Cornwallis rode into New Jersey on New Year 's Day 1777 and gathered together the scattered British and German garrisons at Princeton , where an army of 8 @,@ 000 came together . Leaving 3 @,@ 000 men in posts at Princeton and Maidenhead , Cornwallis advanced with the remaining 5 @,@ 000 down the main road to Trenton early on January 2 , where Washington had established a strong position on the south side of the Assunpink Creek . He rejected advice from the Hessian Colonel Carl von Donop , who proposed a two @-@ column approach that would turn Washington 's right flank . 
