Aftermath
No Americans had been killed during the battle, although as mentioned previously, two may have died from exposure. There had been only a handful of men wounded during the action. Meanwhile, 106 Hessians had been killed or wounded, at least 600 had been captured (depending on the source) and the rest had managed to escape. Following the battle, General George Washington had the captured men and supplies shipped across the Delaware River to Pennsylvania, then followed with his army at 12:00 P.M. By 12:00 P.M. on December 27, 1776, Washington's troops were back in their camp in Pennsylvania. 1,000 men in Washington's army reported as ill by the end of that day.
General Washington had succeeded in his goal. The victory lifted the morale of his army and was the first major victory against British Army regulars, even if they were Hessian troops. Continuing rumors had all the British and Hessian garrisons across New Jersey on alert for several days for an army that was nowhere near. When the Continental Congress heard of the victory, they had renewed confidence in their Commander-in-Chief and it bolstered enlistments and reenlistments for 1777. With his reenlistments, Washington was able to fight and win the Battle of Princeton, New Jersey on January 3, 1777, before he entered winter quarters at Morristown, New Jersey.
