The Princeton Battle Monument is located in

Princeton, New Jersey Princeton is a municipality with a borough form of government in Mercer County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It was established on January 1, 2013, through the consolidation of the Borough of Princeton and Princeton Township, both of whi ...

, adjacent to Morven and Princeton's borough hall. The monument commemorates the January 3, 1777 Battle of Princeton, and depicts General George Washington leading his troops to victory and the death of General Hugh Mercer. It stands tall and was inspired by carvings on the Arc de Triomphe in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

. Designed to visually anchor the western end of Nassau Street, the monument and its park are a legacy of the

City Beautiful movement The City Beautiful Movement was a reform philosophy of North American architecture and urban planning that flourished during the 1890s and 1900s with the intent of introducing beautification and monumental grandeur in cities. It was a part of the ...

History

The Death of General Mercer at the Battle of Princeton January 3 1777

Design

President Harding dedicating the Princeton Battle Monument

An act of

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

on June 8, 1906 appropriated $30,000 to be given to the Princeton Battle Monument Association for the erection of a monument commemorating the Battle of Princeton. The association, which dated back to 1887 and included such local notables as

Allan Marquand Allan Marquand (; December 10, 1853 – September 24, 1924) was an art historian at Princeton University and a curator of the Princeton University Art Museum. Early life Marquand was born on December 10, 1853 in New York City. He was a son of ...

and

Moses Taylor Pyne Moses Taylor Pyne (December 21, 1855 – April 22, 1921), was an American financier and philanthropist, and one of Princeton University's greatest benefactors and its most influential trustee. Biography The son of Percy Rivington Pyne (182 ...

, was required to match the $30,000 with an equal sum raised independently. On February 24, 1908, having raised the requisite funds, the association commissioned prominent Beaux Arts sculptor

Frederick MacMonnies Frederick William MacMonnies (September 28, 1863 – March 22, 1937) was the best known expatriate American sculptor of the Beaux-Arts school, as successful and lauded in France as he was in the United States. He was also a highly accomplishe ...

to build the monument. The architectural design was done by Thomas Hastings of acclaimed firm

Carrère and Hastings Carrère and Hastings, the firm of John Merven Carrère ( ; November 9, 1858 – March 1, 1911) and Thomas Hastings (March 11, 1860 – October 22, 1929), was one of the outstanding American Beaux-Arts architecture firms. Located in New York City ...

. It was difficult to find an appropriate location for the monument and it was first planned for the piece of land at the corner of Mercer and Nassau Streets. That triangular plot was cleared of buildings in 1913 but ultimately used for the Princeton War Memorial. In 1914, a piece of property was donated by the Princeton Inn Company. The Inn, which stood on the current location of the Princeton Borough Hall, donated a stretch of land between Bayard Lane and Morven, from Stockton Street north to the row of chestnut trees in front of the inn. This property provided not only enough space for the monument and a park, but also a highly visible location where the monument could stand at the end of a long vista from Nassau Street. The MacMonnies design is a light-grey

bas-relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term '' relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that th ...

with George Washington on horseback as the dominant figure. Washington is depicted sternly refusing defeat and inspiring his battle-weary troops to victory. Beneath Washington is a young woman personifying

Liberty Liberty is the ability to do as one pleases, or a right or immunity enjoyed by prescription or by grant (i.e. privilege). It is a synonym for the word freedom. In modern politics, liberty is understood as the state of being free within society fr ...

, wearing a Phrygian cap and holding a banner to urge the soldiers onward. She is flanked by troopers and a drummer boy of the Continental Army. Beneath can be seen the death of General Mercer, after whom the local

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

would be named. The structure was originally intended to be bronze and granite, but by 1918 it was decided that

Indiana Limestone Indiana limestone — also known as Bedford limestone in the building trade — has long been an economically important building material, particularly for monumental public structures. Indiana limestone is a more common term for Salem Limestone, ...

would be preferable. The monument, which was carved

in situ ''In situ'' (; often not italicized in English) is a Latin phrase that translates literally to "on site" or "in position." It can mean "locally", "on site", "on the premises", or "in place" to describe where an event takes place and is used in ...

by the Piccirilli Brothers was completed in 1922 and dedicated by President Warren G. Harding. The festivities were marked by a 21-gun salute by the Princeton University Field Artillery ROTC and an invocation by the Right Reverend Paul Matthews, bishop of the

Episcopal Diocese of New Jersey The Episcopal Diocese of New Jersey forms part of Province II of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America. It is made up of the southern and central New Jersey counties of Union, Middlesex, Somerset, Hunterdon, Mercer, Monmouth ...

. The President received an honorary degree of Doctor of Laws from

Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...

the same day.

Illumination and restoration

Nighttime illumination of the monument was part of the original plan for its construction, but it was only in 2007, 85 years after the completion of the monument, that the lighting work finally got underway, after a successful fundraising effort by the Princeton Parks Alliance. Charles Stone of the New York firm Fischer Marantz Stone designed the lighting scheme. After years of neglect and unsuccessful restorations, the monument underwent a professional conservation treatment in 2006 and 2007, as part of the State of New Jersey historic preservation initiative. The treatment was carried out by Aegis Restauro, LLC led by conservators, Zbigniew Pietruszewski and Joanna Pietruszewski, and Farewell, Mills and Gatsch Architects. In September 2007, the Monument was ceremoniously rededicated when the lights were switched on for the first time.

Inscription

The inscription on the rear face of the monument, composed by Andrew Fleming West, reads:

''Here memory lingers to recall the guiding mind,''
''Whose daring plan outflanked the foe and turned dismay to hope,''
''When Washington, with swift resolve, marched through the night,''
''To fight at dawn and venture all in one victorious battle for our freedom.''

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

phrase reads:

''Saecula Praetereunt Rapimur Nos Ultro Morantes Adsis Tu Patriae Saecula Qui Dirigis''
''The ages pass away. We, too, though lingering, are hurried on. O Thou who guides the ages, stay to guard our land.''

Gallery

File:Battle of Princeton Monuent south face.jpg, The south facade; the sides of the monument show the seal of the United States and the original

thirteen colonies The Thirteen Colonies, also known as the Thirteen British Colonies, the Thirteen American Colonies, or later as the United Colonies, were a group of British colonies on the Atlantic coast of North America. Founded in the 17th and 18th cent ...

. File:Princeton Battle Monument Mall.jpg, The mall leading to the monument, which aligns with Nassau Street. The cherry trees are a modern addition and first bloomed in 2002. File:Battle of Princeton Monument (rear).jpg, The rear face of the monument showing the inscription. File:Battle of Princeton Monument north face.jpg, The north facade, note the " Toxic

Or Liberty" at bottom center File:USS Princeton (1843) Bell.jpg, The bell of the first of six ships named USS ''Princeton'' in the

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage o ...

, on board which occurred the explosion known as the USS ''Princeton'' disaster of 1844 File:''The Little Vintner of Colmar'' by Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi (Princeton replica).jpg, A replica of ''The Little Vintner of Colmar'' by

Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi ( , ; 2 August 1834 – 4 October 1904) was a French sculptor and painter. He is best known for designing ''Liberty Enlightening the World'', commonly known as the Statue of Liberty. Early life and education Barthold ...

, given to Princeton in 1988 by its sister city, Colmar, France File:Bust of Albert Einstein (Princeton).jpg, Bust of

Albert Einstein Albert Einstein ( ; ; 14 March 1879 – 18 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist, widely acknowledged to be one of the greatest and most influential physicists of all time. Einstein is best known for developing the theory ...

, who lived in Princeton from his flight from Germany in 1933 until his death in 1955 File:''Newspaper Reader'' by J. Seward Johnson Jr. (1975).jpg, The ''Newspaper Reader'' by J. Seward Johnson Jr. (1975)

References